The horrendous chemical attack on a woman and two children by Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan received into Christianity by Baptists in Jarrow, has reopened debate about the authenticity of the claims of some people who seek asylum on the grounds of religious conversion.

Monsignor Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester who became a Catholic in 2021, discusses some of the contemporary problems with the system with Dr Gavin Ashenden for this 71st episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald.

They also reflect on the Judaeo-Christian tradition of “welcoming and loving the stranger” and the theology that underpins it, and how such biblical injunctions should be interpreted in an age of the mass movements of populations.