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Sunday: The spiritual life of JRR Tolkien

14/06/2020

The spiritual life of JRR Tolkien

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday, The spiritual life of JRR Tolkien

Fifty years since the death of JRR Tolkein, hear how his Catholic faith permeated his life and work.

Two weeks on from the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, more than a thousand people are still unaccounted for. Local Catholic priest, Monsignor Terrence Watanabe, explains how churches are responding both practically and pastorally to help their traumatised community.

As the Edinburgh Fringe draws to a close, one show which has had rave reviews is a play called Dugsi Dayz. It centres on four British Somali Muslim girls, who find themselves stuck in detention at their Dugsi – the Somali word for Islamic school. The play’s award-winning writer Sabrina Ali reflects on the need for more authentic and nuanced depictions of Muslims on the stage and screen.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the death of JRR Tolkein, we hear from author Holly Ordway who has written the first book that exclusively explores the subject of his Catholicism and how it permeated his life and work. 

Can a person really be evil?   The former nurse, Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six other infants.  She’s the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history and many have described her as “evil”.  It’s a word often readily applied to the worst of all criminals, those found guilty of the most appalling crimes.  But aside from fairy tales, are people ever really evil?   We hear the views of Assistant Professor Carmody Grey, a Catholic theologian at the University of Durham, and Dr Stephen Blumenthal, a psychoanalyst who has worked clinically with violent criminals and psychopaths.

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