Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Highlights from the latest Spectator | 1 April 2010

The latest issue of the Spectator is out today. Here are my top five features:

1. Can Catholicism save British Christianity? It’s our Easter issue this holiday weekend, so we’re trying out a new artist on the cover (left). And in the magazine is one of the very best pieces we’ve run since I’ve been in the editor’s chair. It’s by Matthew Parris, and is a denouncement of the Catholic Church – but on the grounds that it defies what Jesus stood for. Now, I disagree with his argument – but when he made it, during our debate on Catholicism last month, I was blown away by its power and force. It reads just as well as it sounds. If Jesus of Nazareth did not live, he says, the Catholic Church would not have invented him. As he puts it:

“Jesus of Nazareth is a colossal embarrassment to the Catholic Church. To all the pomp and circumstance, to the chanting and ring-kissing, to the rosary beads, and indulgences, and prayer by rote, to the caskets and relics and the reverencing of inanimate objects, the idolatry and the mumbo-jumbo, Jesus of Nazareth represents a permanent reproach.”

In reply, Piers Paul Reid – a Catholic author – says the Church’s message may be grim but it’s the perfect remedy to the open society. With the lurid stories coming out of Ireland and Munich, and the Pope’s visit due this September, the Church – and its place in British society – will be one of the main cultural issues this year. We have it fully covered in the Easter issue of the magazine. 2. The romance of Islam. Paul Goodman, who’s stepping down as a Tory MP at the election, is a well-know opponent of Muslim extremism.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in