Finally la Vendée has a winemaker worthy of its traditions

A year of lockdowns has certainly passed slowly. But there are topics for thought. One disappointment has been the Church of England’s failure to take its opportunity. It could have tried to position itself at the centre of national life. Even unbelievers should agree that if its Church were stronger, so would England be. What about the occasional day of prayer? A surprising number of people would have taken part. Instead we had closed churches and teeth-grating literature, like brochures from a third-rate business school. Faith by platitude and Zoom call does not work.

This is a better way. My friend Alexander Sherbrooke, the RC parish priest of St Patrick’s, Soho, believes that it would be blasphemous to close a church. This would mean that ‘the faithful were denied the Sacrament: the Blood, Body, Soul and Divinity of Christ present at Holy Mass’. Many Anglicans find transubstantiation a doctrine too far, but oh for a bishop who could express his faith in such resonant, confident language.