Is the Church more conservative?

The Dominican friar turned green campaigner Mark Dowd (photo) has a BBC Radio 4 programme on Thursday asking that question. Goes out at 0900 and again at 2130. The producer is Helen Grady, formerly of the 'Sunday' programme. Will be worth a listen.

Dowd fans should also look out for 'Trials of a Pope' on BBC 2 on 15 September at 7pm. According to the programme blurb, it includes a look at "the attempts of the Church here in the UK to fashion a positive message about Pope Benedict by training up an army of young religious spin doctors called Catholic Voices". Who can he mean?

There are still tickets, incidentally, for Dowd's state-of-the-Church lecture at Heythrop College next Monday.