SPIRITED THINKING SINCE 1888
Violet Hudson

The poisonous perils of gossip
October 04, 2020
Last month, Pope Francis declared gossip to be a “plague worse than Covid”. Pope Francis’s declaration last month that gossip is a plague worse than Covid was met by some with derision – not least by the Italian government. But three political news stories since then have added weight to his warning, showing just how
How Mrs America and I May Destroy You prove Catholicism is hard to shake
July 25, 2020
The two big hit TV shows of the summer – Mrs America and I May Destroy You, both available on BBC iPlayer – have something unexpected in common. Both its female protagonists come from Catholic backgrounds. The former is set in the 1970s during the height of the women’s liberation movement. Cate Blanchett plays Phyllis
What Obama’s book choices say about him
July 11, 2020
Barack Obama has described literature as “they’re the fabric that helps make up a life”. But what does his Reading List say about him? Most of us have heard of the “shelfie” (in case you haven’t, it is when a social media influencer posts a photograph of their bookshelf to demonstrate how well-read or woke
In defence of Catholic snobbery
July 05, 2020
British Catholics have many crosses to bear, but one of the slanders most often hurled at us is that we are terrific snobs. In the UK, we have scant little to be snobbish about – our churches tend to be modern and un-romantic, our hymns are dire compared with rousing Protestant numbers, our history is
Why John Bull and Lady Liberty will never be lucky in love
June 13, 2020
Meghan Markle has a hard time in the press. But look to literature, and you’ll see this is nothing new. Whether you love them or loathe them, there can be little doubt that the story of the artists formally known as Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex has captivated nations both sides
In praise of the Rule of Six
January 01, 1970
Much has been the carping about the government’s new “Rule of Six”. And, indeed, it is absurd. Poorly thought out and, apparently, utterly randomly chosen, the rule of six prohibits people from gathering in groups larger than this (in theory, to prevent the spread of Covid-19) – even if their family itself numbers more. Visiting
The secret army of Catholics in Hollywood
October 22, 2021
From Bond to Bart, the number of Hollywood heroes and heroines who turn out to be Roman Catholic could fill St Peter’s Square several times over. Their faith isn’t overt but if you search for the signs you will find proof of an added dimension and hidden depths
The ruinous rise of Tripadvisor
September 02, 2021
As our great churches are branded must-visit tourist attractions, can we still find solace in them?
Big top, small lives
June 01, 2021
Violet Hudson reviews Elizabeth Macneal's latest novel, Circus of Wonders
The second flood
April 01, 2021
There is no pulling of punches about what is to blame for this second flood: it lies squarely at the feet of modern life.
The year of rewilding ourselves
March 01, 2021
Violet Hudson on how a global pandemic made being in nature a spiritual activity
A joyously satirical Cluedo game of a novel
March 12, 2020
In the Crypt with a Candlestick By Daisy Waugh Piatkus, 288pp, £16.99/$21.45 In Daisy Waugh’s new novel the Todes of Tode Hall are in crisis. The despised patriarch Sir Ecgbert, the 11th baronet, has finally shuffled off his mortal coil, leaving his younger wife, Emma, despairing as to which of her three hopeless children to
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