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Holy Smoke

The most important and controversial topics in world religion, thoroughly dissected by a range of high profile guests. Presented by Damian Thompson.

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Is 2023 Pope Francis's 'Year Zero'?

Is 2023 Pope Francis's 'Year Zero'?

Conservative Catholic critics of Pope Francis are referring to 2023 as his 'Year Zero' – a time of revolutionary upheava... Read more

25 Jul 2023

33mins

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Escaping the atheist hell of North Korea

Escaping the atheist hell of North Korea

For 75 years, the most anti-Christian regime in modern history has thrown its citizens into prison camps if they are sus... Read more

7 Jul 2023

15mins

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Inside the world's most vicious liturgy wars

Inside the world's most vicious liturgy wars

In the ancient Syro-Malabar Church of south India, clergy who try to change the liturgy do so at their peril. At St Mary... Read more

23 Jun 2023

23mins

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Succession: five nightmares for the next pope

Succession: five nightmares for the next pope

A charming octogenarian who plays ruthless games with the people who think they're going to succeed him: I reckon Logan ... Read more

30 May 2023

14mins

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The Vatican and the Mafia – why Italy can't seem to shake off organised crime

The Vatican and the Mafia – why Italy can't seem to shake off organised crime

The Sicilian Mafia is one of the most murderously amoral organisations on the planet – yet babyishly sentimental when it... Read more

26 May 2023

34mins

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How Protestant is the Coronation?

How Protestant is the Coronation?

The Coronation in Westminster Abbey is the only occasion at which our monarch declares himself or herself to be a Protes... Read more

5 May 2023

30mins

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Why didn't Beethoven go to Mass?

Why didn't Beethoven go to Mass?

Ludwig van Beethoven had a profound faith in God. He was born and raised a Catholic and on his deathbed he asked to rece... Read more

14 Apr 2023

38mins

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The battle over female Catholic priests has just begun

The battle over female Catholic priests has just begun

This week we heard the unfamiliar sound of one of the Catholic Church's most influential cardinals turning the handle of... Read more

31 Mar 2023

16mins

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Is Abu Dhabi's multi-faith 'Abrahamic Family House' a beacon of hope or a creepy PR exercise?

Is Abu Dhabi's multi-faith 'Abrahamic Family House' a beacon of hope or a creepy PR exercise?

The Abrahamic Family House is the name for three giant concrete cubes – a church, a mosque and a synagogue – that have j... Read more

17 Mar 2023

19mins

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The war over the Latin Mass escalates as the Vatican slides into chaos

The war over the Latin Mass escalates as the Vatican slides into chaos

Cardinal Arthur Roche, the Pope's famously ambitious liturgy chief, has stepped up his campaign against the Traditional ... Read more

24 Feb 2023

31mins

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