In spite of the haze of speculation, it is still something of a shock to find myself here, coming to terms with an enormous trust placed in my hands and with the inevitable sense of inadequacy that goes with that.

A healthy human environment is one in which we try to make sense of our limits, of the accidents that can always befall us and the passage of time which inexorably changes us.

A public is a necessary fiction.

To conclude: good journalism is one of the models of good conversation and communication in the wider social context.

Christians should emphatically be campaigning for justice for the poor - but the Church is not a campaign.

Truth makes love possible; love makes truth bearable.

Let's cut to the chase, the sharia controversy. I don't think I, or my colleagues, predicted just how enormous the reaction would be. I failed to find the right words. I succeeded in confusing people. I've made mistakes - that's probably one of them.