Meanwhile: Brexit prayers and a very pricey rosary

Who deserves the credit – or if you prefer, the blame – for Boris Johnson’s Brexit agreement with the European Union? One Tory MP suggests that it might have been an answer to prayer. Sir David Amess, who was part of a delegation of MPs in Rome for Newman’s canonisation, told the House of Commons on his return: “The House should know that we asked the Holy Father if he would pray for a miracle so that we can deliver Brexit.” Sir David also reported that “when we asked him if the next canonisation would be a British MP, his eyes lifted up to heaven.” Patrick Grady, from the Remain-supporting Scottish National Party, hastened to offer a clarification. “There was a great degree of cross-party consensus,” Grady said, “but praying for a miracle to deliver Brexit was absolutely not part of the SNP’s contribution.”

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Given that the little plastic ones sell for 50p, £85 might seem a bit steep for a rosary. But the new “eRosary” bracelet, on sale for €99 ($109), is no ordinary set of beads. It’s activated by making the Sign of the Cross, and links you to an app with prayer aids. It’s sold by Click to Pray, an initiative of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which says it wants to reach “the digital world where young people dwell”.