Back to the 1980s

The chairwoman of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice, Margaret-Ann Fisken, comes across in our interview this week as a delightful and formidable woman. She would no doubt disagree, but we cannot help wondering whether her talents are wasted heading a quango that, in addition to doing some good work, is also a drain on the Church's evaporating resources. The bishops of England and Wales are, on the whole, mildly unreceptive to traditionalists; but, when it comes to the antiquated presumptions of 1980s-style "antiracism", they are traditionalists to a man.
On one point, however, we find ourselves in thorough agreement with Ms Fisken. "There are no black Catholic bishops in England and Wales," she points out; and, we might add, virtually no nativeborn black priests. Instead of patronising young black men, why not try evangelising and then ordaining them?