The BBC’s "Thought for the Day" programme represents one of the very few broadcasting pulpits the liberal establishment allows and preserves. With the pressure of secularism intensifying, its position becomes more singular and distinctive. It welcomes a diverse range of contributors from every faith imaginable - apart from, it seems, the Catholic faith.
The Catholic Emancipation act of 1829 began the process of allowing Catholics back into the society which they arguably created with the conversion of Kent in 597, but from which they were ejected by state repression when the Tudors created their own state religion. Discrimination against Catholics is now largely a thing of the past, but “Thought for the Day” seems oddly to remain an exception.
