Beautiful Mass led by our school children today. Education Service - Southwark Archdiocese of Southwark Kent Catholic Schools' Partnership

Looking forward to tomorrow? We should be! Here's my latest for The Tablet on choosing Advent hymns. Yes, there's no Gloria for four weeks but plenty of Alleluias and rejoicing, so don't let the Advent music be penitential! thetablet.co.uk/blogs/carollin…

Today we mark the anniversary of the passing of Václav Havel, the president who led Czechia back into the community of free nations and whose name continues to be respected around the world.

When water is everywhere – but there really is not a drop to drink. How to cope when the taps run dry, by Kate Keefe with photo by Ruth Gledhill thetablet.co.uk/blogs/when-wat… #catholic

When water is everywhere – but there really is not a drop to drink. musicformass.blog/2026/01/07/whe…

Nothing ordinary about the hymns for Ordinary Time... Here's my latest for The Tablet on themes and thinking in the current part of the Church's year. thetablet.co.uk/blogs/light-in…

What would it be like to be mended by a miracle? There's very little in the Gospels from the recipients of miracles, but what there is is intriguing. Here's my latest for The Tablet on deafness and modern miracles thetablet.co.uk/blogs/lenten-m…

Like Menna Rawlings I’ve left Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office but find this criticism well off the mark. We must take seriously international law and its consequences, not least for our armed forces, who need that assurance. Cf also Janan Ganesh Financial Times for the wider rationale.

How many Latin songs do you know? My Sunday congregation (not just the choir) has been learning Victimae paschali as a Lent project, and it's going well. Here's my latest for The Tablet on how and why: thetablet.co.uk/blogs/learning…

Sad. The Guardian once considered it progressive not to be racist. Not anymore I guess. The Palestinian café is great and the idea it stands for is noble. But why inject nasty antisemitic tones into the story?

Jonathan Eyal UK Embassy Bucharest Embassy of Romania in London x.com/deniskeefe/sta…

My Cambridge lecture on the impact of Brexit has now been published and is available online. The major lesson I draw from it is that things that kind of work when you're saying them don't necessarily work in print cambridge.org/core/journals/…

On this feast of the Annunciation, it is worth remembering that the Archangel Gabriel, “God’s Messenger”, is the patron saint of diplomats. At this difficult moment in world affairs, his inspiration is all the more important for those of us in this profession dedicated to peace.

Have you lit a candle for anyone recently? Sometimes it feels like the right thing to do, and on Wednesday I needed three. Here's my latest for The Tablet , with congratulations and loving prayers for the new Archbishop of Canterbury. thetablet.co.uk/blogs/lighting…

#Крагујевац је увек имао важну улогу у историји односа између 🇬🇧 и 🇷🇸. Ту је пуковник Хоџис, као први британски изасланик у #Србија 1837. кнезу Милошу Обреновићу предао своје акредитиве, а др Елизабет Рос је током #WW1 водила једну од Болница шкотских жена.

Anyone still remember the Revolution in Military Affairs? Plus ça change ...

Could not agree more:

Views may differ on whether Olly Robbins should have somehow shared that issues had arisen in vetting. But his evidence shows that in a complex situation he took his responsibilities very seriously, did not act incompetently or with malign intent, and does not merit dismissal.

I am, like most British Jews, growing really frustrated with this vague talk about “division and unity and hate.” We have a very specific problem here. An IRGC cut out is recruiting disaffected Islamist-radicalised men, many long known to the police and negligently left ambling

Parallel NSCs is a recipe for confusion, at best. All you need to make the existing NSC work is ministers brave enough to ask for challenging advice and officials bright enough to produce it.