I cannot now remember the number of times that I have sat in the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, wearing an academic gown of either red or black according to the occasion. This time, however, it was Kim Samuel who was in red; the Trappist Bishop Erik Varden wore a thick black scapular over a white habit with a thick brown belt. Until his consecration and return to Norway as Bishop-Prelate of Trondheim in 2019 he was Abbot of Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire. Kim, meanwhile, is the founder and Chief Belonging Officer of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness; she is also the Fulbright Canada ambassador for diversity and social connectedness.