Catholic Unscripted Newsletter #7
Faith, humour, reflection — and plenty to think about!
Dear friends
This week has been full of depth, wit, and spiritual insight. From reflections on Scripture to sharp commentary on culture and politics, and even a touch of nostalgia — here’s what we’ve been talking about 👇
📖 Gospel Reflection — The Devil Never Sleeps
Gavin begins the week with a profound meditation on Luke 12:32–48, reminding us that vigilance in the Christian life is not optional but essential.
👉 Watch here
🇬🇧 History Matters — The Catholic Church Made England
Edmund Matyjaszek writes a powerful essay showing how England’s identity was forged not in spite of, but because of, the Catholic Church — a must-read for anyone interested in history, culture, and faith.
👉 Read here
The Catholic Church made England and only she can remake it anew
This post is written by our friend Edmund Matyjaszek.
🏳️🌈 Cherry Vann & the Church of Wales
Gavin digs into the controversial appointment of Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales, exploring what this decision means for Anglicanism and the wider Christian witness.
👉 Watch here
Lesbian Archbishops: Corrupting the Cloth or Blessing the Bedroom?
As Anglicanism dives to ever deeper depths of degredation, Dr. Gavin Ashenden discusses the recent appointment of "Bishop" Cherry Vann, an open confessing lesbian cleric, as the 15th Archbishop of Wales. He asks whether Vann is, in fact, valuing her "sexual identity" over all other considerations; the well being of the ecclesial community that calls its…
🎥 Live Tuesday Nights on YouTube
Our weekly live show continues! A chance to laugh, debate, and ask your questions in real time. If you missed it, you can catch up here:
👉 Watch here
🚇 Katherine on London’s Underground
Katherine asks a provocative yet heartfelt question: what happens to the eccentric, communal goodness of public life when technology, anonymity, and mistrust isolate us? Using vivid memories—childhood adventures by the Digswell viaduct, thronged London train lines, and stories from her father’s commute—she invites readers to remember a time when community held us accountable. But those times are fading fast. The article confronts the ugly truths of modern urban living—harassment, aggression, and eroded public civility—and warns that when every individual becomes an eccentric unto themselves, only authoritarian control remains to impose order.
This piece is a gentle lament, cultural critique, and call to a more humane society all at once—a must-read for anyone fed up with the chaos of contemporary public life.
👉 Read See It. Say It. Sorted
See it. Say it. Sorted?
Trains have always featured in my life and remained for many years my preferred method of transport. I grew up on the edge of a wood near the Digswell viaduct which was built in the mid 19th century for the great northern railway. As children we used to alternatively stand at the top and watch the trains whizz underneath us, or gather underneath the huge arches shouting and listening as the sound echoed back to us. My own children grew up opposite a train line which fed the Southern and Thameslink trains into London. Before he was 3 years old my eldest son would repeat the names of the stations along the line, so familiar was he with the announcements that could be heard both from the train as we travelled and from the platform straight into our house.
👑 The Conscience of the King
As palace spin doctors leak stories of King Charles’ “sleepless nights,” Gavin asks: is this genuine vulnerability or a PR stunt to prop up a faltering monarchy?
👉 Watch here
The Conscience of the King is the Pope
Gavin Ashenden comments: The King's Spin Doctors are trying to engineer support for King Charles by explaining that he is having sleepless nights. What they won't tell us is that he is not going to resign or take any action, they are asking for cheap sympathy to stabilise a crumbling monarchy.
🤔 Suffering, Freedom, Love & Justice
In a searing response to Kemi Badenoch’s agnosticism, Gavin explores the mystery of suffering, the problem of evil, and why belief in God remains the only coherent answer.
👉 Read here
Suffering, Freedom, Love & Justice. How can you believe in God after experiencing politicians?
One of the risks of pursuing a life in politics is that you may find yourself exposing and displaying some your ignorance in public. You may find yourself saying some rather facile and silly things. Kemi Badenoch has just given us a fresh reminder of what that looks like.
🌹 Feast of the Assumption
Katherine offers a moving reflection on the Feast of the Assumption, showing how God’s love is always reciprocal — Mary’s “yes” meets God’s glory.
👉 Read here
The Feast of the Assumption ~ God Reciprocates
I am writing this from the South of France while staying here with family. I awoke this morning to find the following message from a priest friend
📞📷 Telephones & Cameras
From childhood phones to seaside celebrations, Katherine looks back on how technology has changed — and how it intrudes upon authentic human experience. Nostalgic, funny, and profound.
👉 Read here
Telephones & Cameras
The telephone was something women used. We had one phone plugged into the wall in the hallway. I only ever used it to say hello to my Irish Granny, my English granny lived next door. The grand men were all dead by the time I was born. I have no memory of ever seeing my father use the telephone. He must have done, but I don’t recall.
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Your review of the week’s postings brought back good memories, since I have read (or listened to) most of them… but I missed a couple and so I better get to work! Thanks Catholic Unscripted.