Celibacy is not just a matter of not having sex. It is a way of admiring a person for their humanity, maybe even for their beauty.

Any deep-rooted prejudice against others, such as homophobia or misogyny, would be grounds for rejecting a candidate for the priesthood, but not their sexual orientation.

Clearly a big challenge for Christianity is how to remain in contact with the millions of people who look for God but do not come to Church.

I believe that my own Christian faith does indeed make universal claims.

Christians can bring peace to multi-religious Europe because we are able to understand the role of faith in the lives of other believers better than atheists.

We need the wisdom of women, and the experience of married people and parents, and the depth of the contemplative if we are to be formed as preachers.

Celibacy is not just a matter of not having sex. It is a way of admiring a person for their humanity, maybe even for their beauty.