No Surprises...!

The bit by the Holy Father on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day was very nice, but hardly surprising - God becoming Man and dying on the Cross for our Salvation. Admittedly, I think that one or two people may have been caught out by the mention of the Cross at a time when we traditionally focus on the birth of a little baby, but it is pretty standard fare for us Catholics. It did help to keep the whimsical element at bay, as Damian Thompson so rightly pointed out.

There has never been quite so much of a fuss made over the Thought for the Day slot, however. The Today programme devoted much interview time before and after the slot to discuss it - it must have been a very slow news day.

The excellent Fr. Ray Blake was spot on with his criticism of the interview with Archbishop Longley: I yearned for him to just say that the Truth is never going to change, so of course the teaching of the Church is the same. Instead the Archbishop wittered on about the survival of the Church being due to its ability to adapt.

One of the best summaries had to be that by Leutgeb - I now have an indelible image of Polly Toynbee and Cristina Odone going head-to-head - handbags at dawn!