The comedian Steve Coogan, pictured above meeting Pope Francis, recalls in his new autobiography, Easily Distracted, his time as an altar boy in the 1970s. “I took my duty pretty seriously telling [the other boys] off for wearing trainers instead of regulation black shoes,” he writes. John Richmond, the fashion designer who has dressed pop star Madonna, lived in the same Manchester parish. “[Richmond] turned up every Sunday looking like David Bowie, accompanied by his mum and dad. He was androgynous with orange hair, a pierced ear, a leather jacket, red winkle-pickers and studiously sucked-in cheeks. My brother Martin was the same: he turned up at church in a bright red leather biker jacket and mascara. They used to go to youth Mass together. Although the
05 November 2015, The Tablet
Seriously Catholic
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