An independent report for the Anglican Diocese of Oxford, into the murder of an elderly homosexual parishioner, published on 23 October, called for “a concerted effort to reduce the stigma of homosexuality within the wider Church of England communion, so that it can provide a safer place for lesbians and gay men to worship”.

A few days earlier, the Holy Father had welcomed gay couples and their children into the heart of our Church, asserting “the right of homosexual people to be in a family … as children of God”, and expressing his support for civil unions. How sad that his merciful reaching out to the LGBT community should be dismissed the following day by Cardinal Raymond Burke as the “simple private opinions of the person who made them”. Long live the stigma, then, Your Eminence?