It’s a common observation among informed Christians – regardless of their branch of the Christian family – that when it comes to covering religion, the mass media is embarrassingly out of its depth. Genuine mastery of the subject is rare, which is one reason why John Allen being hired by The Boston Globe in 2014…
Pat O’ Kelly As Wexford Festival aficionados will be enjoying the final performances of unfamiliar works by Cherubini, Foroni and Alfano at the National Opera House this weekend, the National Concert Hall is the setting, on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday next, for something less esoteric – Lyric Opera’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata. Through…
I once went on a retreat but found out only on arrival that it was a silent one! I survived the shock, and at the final meal, when everyone could talk, it felt rather grating. That memory returned as I was watching Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery, last week on BBC Four, a separate episode…
EARLY PERIOD The long line of biographical investigations of Martin Luther’s life, opinions, and teachings began with the memoir written by his friend and fellow reformer Philip Melanchthon. Indeed what is thought of as ‘Lutheran theology’ also began with Melanchthon, for though Luther was a powerful preacher, and a man of strong opinions, he was not…
I’m not a fan of reality TV shows, though a few years ago I saw some that had depth – where thoughtful adults went to a monastery, convent or retreat house for some time out or spiritual advancement. The latest manifestation of the sub-genre, Bad Habits, Holy Orders on Channel 5 (UK), started last…
Luther and the Tudors have been perennial subjects for the screen, writes Aubrey Malone The first film made about The Reformation was a 1928 silent one called Luther, directed by Hans Kyser. It was a short account of Martin Luther’s life with an American voiceover. Four years later Charles Laughton won an Oscar for…
Breathe (12A) The ‘jolly hockeysticks’ depiction of England that we’ve seen in films like Notting Hill gets a retro airing in this grace-under-pressure tale of a man afflicted with polio. He was the longest living ‘responaut’, i.e. a person depending on a machine to breathe. The main problem with the film from an ethical point of…
Forgiveness Remembers: A Journey into the heart of God by Paul Farren & Robert Miller, forewords by Bishop Richard Chartres and the late Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor (Instant Apostle, £6.99) This is a small book with a big – and important – message. Paul Farren is Administrator of St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry, and his friend…
The Death of Stalin (15A) This hilarious black comedy puts one in mind of the Irving Berlin apothegm, “The world would not be in such a snarl/Had Marx been born Groucho instead of Karl”. The cast become cartoon figures as the politburo is transformed into a comedy of (t)errors. With the exception of Dr Strangelove, where Peter Bull was…
Ken Burns has a name for excellent historical documentaries and his current series The Vietnam War (RTÉ and BBC Four, Monday nights) is top notch. There’s a wealth of archive footage, much of it quite harrowing, along with interviews with those involved – ex-soldiers, bereaved parents, and Vietnamese civilians, all from both sides of the…
Greg Daly
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone