JRR Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, is arguably the most read book in the world today. It is also a myth infused by the author’s deep Catholic understanding, imagination and faith. In this 22nd episode of the Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Dr Gavin Ashenden talks to Tolkien aficionado Ferdie Rous, the managing editor of same title, about the spirituality underpinning this great work of English literature. In their conversation, they also discuss the limitations of The Rings of Power, the billion dollar extravaganza by Amazon, and explore why this series is leaving viewers and critics alike scratching their heads as to what they have just watched.

Dr Gavin Ashenden talks to the journalist Simon Caldwell about his debut novel, The Beast of Bethulia Park, in this 21st episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald. The book, due to published by Gracewing later this month, has been described as a “wonderful” psychological thriller underpinned by Catholic themes. It tells the story of a young and idealist priest who is pitched into a dark world of sexual obsession, danger and death when he becomes embroiled in a campaign to unmask a murderous doctor. Dr Ashenden speaks to S.P. Caldwell about some of his characters and they discuss literary inspirations and writing style. Caldwell also reads exclusively from the book for the first time in public. Please follow this link to learn more about The Beast of Bethulia Park and to order your copy: http://www.gracewing.co.uk/page416.html

 Giorgia Meloni has stunned the liberal West by her election as Prime Minister of Italy after openly espousing the values of traditional marriage and the family, of Catholic Christianity and of womanhood and patriotism. Should her election be seen as a sign of hope? Dr Gavin Ashenden thinks so. But in this 20th episode of Merely Catholic , the podcast series for the Catholic Herald, the veteran journalist Peter Hitchens explains the reasons why he is altogether more pessimistic about the prospects of any political movement successfully overcoming decades of corruption and the rise of the new ideologies. Now is a time for conscience, he says.

Can King Charles III continue the legacy of his mother by serving as an exemplary Christian monarch or will he find common cause with a secularist society against Christian values, particularly morality and the right to life? In this 19th episode of the Merely Catholic podcast series for the Catholic Herald, Dr Gavin Ashenden talks to Pierpaolo Finaldi, the chief executive of the Catholic Truth Society, about the pressures that the new King will inevitably face when he attempts to accommodate the powerful but contradictory and often conflicting factions struggling for influence in 21st century British society and culture.

Dr Gavin Ashenden, a former Royal Chaplain, offers his own insightful and extremely well-informed perspectives on the death of a Queen and the coming of a King in this 18th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for the Catholic Herald. Queen Elizabeth II, recalls Dr Ashenden as he reflects on Her Majesty’s personal faith, was a perfectly discreet Christian monarch who was “full of the love of God” and whose gifts ensured the survival of the monarchy into the 21st century. Britain under King Charles III will bring new challenges, however, because of the divergent and conflicting parts of the body politic – the forces of secularism and Islam, and whatever remains of Christianity – and the demands each will inevitably make on the cultural and public life of the nation.

This is a fascinating conversation between Dr Gavin Ashenden and the Rev. Calvin Robinson, the mixed race Anglican cleric cancelled by his own bishop for expressing the opinion that the Church of England is not “institutionally racist”. Rev. Robinson, now a popular GB News presenter, reveals in this 17th episode of the Catholic Herald’s Merely Catholic podcast series how destructive new ideologies are permeating parts of the Christian Church. He describes how such radical ideas are creating a new theology and a new religion in which ministers believe the Host is a racist emblem because it white, who worship the planet instead of God, and who portray Jesus simply as “nice” in what appears to be a concerted and enduring attempt to subvert tradition and teaching.

The Rt Rev. Mark Davies, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, talks to Dr Gavin Ashenden about the visit of the relics of St Bernadette of Lourdes to England, Scotland and Wales that runs from Friday September 2nd to Tuesday November 1st. In this 16th episode of the Merely Catholic podcast series for the Catholic Herald, Bishop Davies explains precisely what is understood by a relic. He also observes that down the ages saints have always been great evangelisers who have revealed the raw power of Gospel and the authentic face of the Church. The visit of the relics of St Bernadette, suggests Bishop Davies, could be a key moment for the new evangelisation at time when Christian morality and the sanctity of human life in Britain is relentlessly under attack.

Opus Dei found unwelcome fame and undeserved notoriety at the hand of the infamous but hugely successful novelist Dan Brown. It has returned to the public stage this week, not in the form of the imaginative parody the Da Vinci Code presented, but because of the pope’s most recent letter. Entitled ‘Ad charisma tuendum’ “For the safeguarding of the prelature of the charism of Opus Dei”, the pope has stipulated that whoever leads Opus Dei in future will never be a bishop. Does this papal initiative fall into the category of the sacred or the sinister? In this the 15th episode of Merely Catholic, Jack Valero, the Head of Communications for Opus Dei in the UK,  joins Dr Gavin Ashenden to reflect on the prevalence of conspiracy theories and give his interpretation of what this really means; whilst also commenting on the prevalence of global and historic apologies as Pope Francis travels to Canada to engage with history, guilt and forgiveness.

Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative Cabinet Minister and MEP for the Brexit Party, speaks to fellow Catholic convert Dr Gavin Ashenden, in this 14th episode of the Merely Catholic podcast series for the Catholic Herald about the future of the Church of England to which they both once belonged. Miss Widdecombe says Anglicanism is terminally afflicted by a tendency to imitate the mores of secular society, irrespective of how insufferably and hysterically “woke” such positions might be, leaving the Catholic Church – once considered the home of “Irish navvies and Italian waiters” – as the greatest hope for the survival of Christianity in the UK.

The actor and political activist Laurence Fox joins Dr Gavin Ashenden to discuss the sinister ideologies behind the seemingly relentless quest to destroy faith, family, freedom, marriage and the innocence of children in society today. In this 13th episode of Merely Catholic, the podcast series for The Catholic Herald, Fox sets out the reasons why he felt it was necessary for Reclaim, the political party he founded, to expose the shockingly lurid content of sex education programmes aimed even at children in a new film called Groomed: How Schools Sexualise Your Children. They identify a neo-Marxist ideological agenda which has among its objectives that of separating children from their parents and forcing them reject their Christian values.