These are challenging times for both the Church and for the Labour Party. They could learn a lot from each other

Like the Catholics in any parish, Labour’s left-footers are a pretty diverse bunch. Its MPs, councillors, party activists and trade union officials have different and sometimes opposing views on all sorts of matters, from abortion legislation and same-sex marriage to the nuclear deterrent and faith schools, and from prison reform to the climate emergency.

It’s a bit of a cliché, but the Labour Party is a broad church. The views we take on these matters reflect our individual background, our experience, our location, our constituencies, and our politics as well as our faith. But whatever our views, they’re demonstrably our own. I hope everyone in the Labour Party will confront the ugly trope that has re-emerged during the current contest for the leadership, that Catholic politicians are slavish to the Vatican in how they fulfil their public duties, and that the Church’s view on any matter before them is pre-eminent.