Journalist and author
Robin Aitken was a journalist at the BBC for over 25 years. In 2007, he wrote the book Can We Trust the BBC? which alleged pervasive and institutional left-wing bias at the company. His third book, The Noble Liar, described Britain as a “post-Christian country”.
Writer, broadcaster, former chaplain to HM The Queen
Former Anglican vicar Gavin Ashenden was chaplain to the Queen from 2008 to 2017. He was received into the Catholic Church in 2019 and now writes and speaks as a lay apologist. He hosts the Catholic Herald’s podcast Merely Catholic.
GB News presenter
After 24 years working for Sky News, “I said a Hail Mary as my finger hesitated over the ‘send’ button of my resignation email,” Colin Brazier noted in 2021. “I’ve moved to GB News,” he told the Catholic Herald, “to try and unmuffle some of the voices who currently feel left out of national conversations. And to do so with civility and humility.”
UK editor, Magnificat; contributing editor, Humanum Review
Caldecott met her late husband, Stratford, at university in Oxford. They both converted to Catholicism in the early 1980s, and wanted to use their work in publishing to “communicate something of the beauty of the Catholic faith that [they] had discovered together”. They founded the Centre of Faith and Culture in Oxford, and the editorial and educational provider Second Spring, named after John Henry Newman’s famed homily of 1852 in which he speaks about a coming revival of Catholicism in England.
Journalist, author, academic
John Cornwell studied English Language and Literature at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford and is best known for his investigative journalism. He has written widely on the Catholic Church and the modern papacy. From 2009 to 2017, he was director of the Rustat Conferences, which brought together academics with those from politics, business, the media and education to discuss the issues of the day. He also writes on scientific, ethical and religious issues for the Sunday Times and religious affairs publications.
BBC correspondent
Canadian-born Lyse Doucet began working for the BBC in 1983. Now the BBC’s chief international correspondent, she has reported from across the world, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jerusalem and Syria. She was awarded an OBE in 2014 for her services to British broadcast journalism.
Presenter, ITV News at Ten
Julie Etchingham’s career started as a teenager when her local radio station invited Catholic students to make a programme on the Stations of the Cross. From this, she was invited to work for BBC radio. She has interviewed Pope Francis and world leaders such as Hillary Clinton. She was presenter of the year at the Royal Television Society Journalism Awards in 2010 and 2016. Despite admitting being “challenged” by Catholicism, she is raising her two children in the Faith.
Director, Science Media Centre
A former head of media for CAFOD, Fiona Fox is now the director of the Science Media Centre, which keeps the media briefed on developments in science. She was appointed OBE in 2013 for her services to science.
Editor, ConservativeHome, and former MP
A convert from Judaism, Paul Goodman briefly trained as a novice monk at Quarr Abbey before leaving to join the Catholic Herald in 1990. He went on to become comment editor for the Daily Telegraph. Elected as MP for Wycombe in 2001, he retired from politics in 2010, claiming to be demoralised by the crossbench expenses scandals. He now edits ConservativeHome.
Editor, The Catholic Directory
Editor of The Catholic Directory, Joseph Kelly is editorial director of the Edit Partnership, which specialises in Catholic publishing across England and Wales.
Author and broadcaster
Mark Lawson is a Guardian columnist and BBC radio broadcaster specialising in culture and the arts. A former presenter of Front Row on BBC Radio 4, he has written several books and a number of radio plays for the BBC, including St Graham and St Evelyn, Pray For Us, a play about the relationship between Catholic novelists Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh.
Editor-in-chief, Bloomberg News
John Micklethwait has been editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News since 2015. He has co-authored seven books, including God is Back, a controversial thesis attesting to a global resurgence of faith in the late 20th century.
Journalist and author
Charles Moore is a former editor of the Daily Telegraph, the Spectator and the Sunday Telegraph, and the official biographer of Lady Thatcher. He is the founder of the Rectory Society and a patron of the Latin Mass Society.
Editor, the Spectator
Fraser Nelson worked at the Times and the Scotsman before becoming editor of the Spectator in 2009. The magazine’s circulation has almost doubled during his tenure. He has claimed “one cannot join the Church as a liberal Catholic. There is only one kind of Catholicism, and its teaching is laid out in the Catechism”.
Co-founder and co-editor, The Conservative Woman
Laura Perrins ceased working as a barrister to care for her children and became a prominent advocate for the rights of stay-at-home mothers. She rose to prominence in 2013 after confronting then-deputy prime minister Nick Clegg on this topic on LBC. She was described as “the woman who mauled Nick Clegg” in the Irish Independent. A Herald columnist, she was included in the BBC’s 100 Women in 2013 for co-founding The Conservative Woman.
Founder, Hong Kong Watch
Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist and journalist. His work focuses on Asia, specialising in Burma, North Korea and Indonesia. He is co-founder and chair of Hong Kong Watch, an advocacy NGO launched to speak out for basic liberties and autonomy for Hong Kong. He is also the co-founder and deputy chair of the Conservative Party’s human rights commission.
Screenwriter and producer
The Scottish screenwriter and producer was nominated for BAFTA’s Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film and for two Genie Awards for his 1997 film Regeneration. He was also executive producer and co-creator of the multi-award-winning Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit.
TV presenter, writer, comedian
Frank Skinner has hosted several comedy TV and radio shows throughout his career, most notably BBC’s Room 101 for 12 years. He recently authored A Comedian’s Prayer Book, aiming to demonstrate the joy of Faith. He has spoken openly about his struggle with alcoholism and how it stimulated his return to the Faith. He stated, “people… were delighted to find that those who seem to have everything going for them have got dark demons. What they don’t really want to know is that you believe in actual demons.”
Journalist and author
A self-proclaimed traditionalist, convert and former academic Tim Stanley is a columnist and leader writer for the Daily Telegraph and a contributor to the Guardian and Spectator. He has presented BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day and appeared on its Moral Maze show.
Broadcaster
Ampleforth and Cambridge alumnus Edward Stourton regularly hosts BBC Radio 4’s Sunday-morning religious and ethics programme. His books include John Paul II: Man of History and In the Footsteps of St Paul.
Art historian
James Stourton is an art historian and TV presenter who was the former chair of Sotheby’s UK. Educated at Ampleforth and Cambridge, he is the biographer of Kenneth Clark. From 2012 to 2021, he served on the panels of the Heritage Memorial Fund and the Acceptance in Lieu Panel. He has written a number of books, most recently Heritage: A History of How We Conserve Our Past.
Editor, The Tablet
Brendan Walsh has been editor of The Tablet since 2017. He is a practised and veteran journalist.
Deputy editor, UnHerd; journalist and author
Former deputy editor of the Catholic Herald, Ed West is now deputy editor of UnHerd and the author of several books. Following his debut The Diversity Illusion, Peter Oborne called him “one of the most interesting of the rising generation of political writers”. His mother, Mary Kenny, is also an author and journalist, and a former columnist at the Herald.
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