That was my prayer today, a hat-trick, and God gave it to me. That’s faith, man
Eberechi Eze, Arsenal footballer, interview with Sky Sports after his team’s 4-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, 23 November
Leading either the BBC and the Church of England requires you to wear an awful lot of hats — literally, in the case of the Archbishop. You have to be a politician, a manager, a public speaker and a fervent believer in the rightness (or Leftness) of your institution’s world view
Iain Hollingshead, The Daily Telegraph, 25 November
The Right Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani . . . said we could end up with a society where people are deemed “guilty until proven innocent”, warning: “For those who are in any form of public life, that can be catastrophic.”
The Times, 24 November
I’m very wary when people say, “I really want to be a vicar”. It’s a bit like being a politician; if someone says they want to do it, they’re probably not the right person for it
Kate Bottley, Songs of Praise presenter and priest, interview in The Telegraph, 23 November
In its most nationalist guise, this new racism views Christianity as synonymous with whiteness (it matters not that Christianity originated in the Middle East). Other religions, but especially Islam, can be repurposed as existential threats, making religion into a zero-sum game: you are either for Christianity, or you are working to destroy it
Lamorna Ash, The Guardian, 25 November
Why does he [the Prime Minister] believe that the fact that the state inevitably makes mistakes is a good justification for opposing the death penalty, but not assisted dying? Is it that he believes the benefits it provides to the autonomous outweigh the mortal risks to the vulnerable? It’s time for him to be clear
Sonia Sodha, The New World, 20 November
We invite readers’ contributions. Quotations have to be from the past few days (or quoted therein), and we need author, source, and date. Please send promptly to: quotes@churchtimes.co.uk
