This week priests were urged to spice up "dull, flavourless" homilies by using colourful language and stories drawn from the Bible. The advice came from Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. He told delegates in Rome that homilies had to be compelling in order to engage worshippers used to the thrill of television and the internet. Most people would agree that homilies should engage their listeners. But by encouraging clergy to compete with Facebook and The X Factor, isn't there a danger of putting style over substance? A priest may resort to gimmicks in order to grab people's attention. They may think their main duty is to entertain. Pope Benedict XVI, in the book-length interview, God and the World, suggested that a talent for public speaking might not be such a crucial quality for clergy: