My friend Clifford Longley used to carry himself as if it were a very great dignity to be the religious correspondent of the Times (a newspaper) and it is certainly true that while no bishop has ever asked me if I knew God, a great number used to ask me if I had met Clifford.
It is also a matter of record that representations were made when he got the job, in the Seventies, by people worried that it should go to a Roman Catholic. It turns out, though, that even the Vatican thought the post an important one: so much so that the (old, broadsheet) Times would be consulted on the choice of the next Archbishop of Westminster. I like to think of their Rome correspondent trotting across St Peter's Square, bowler hat clamped tight against the chilly Roman wind, to bring news of the British establishment's wishes to some discreetly coughing monsignor.
