The first 'Sunday' of September

As it's Sunday morning, it's Sunday review time. ('Oh goodie!' I hear you cry.)

7.10 Introduction, by William Crawley

7.11 New chief rabbi installed today. The installation of Ephraim Mirvis (above) at the new chief rabbi of the UK brought invites to the Sunday studio for Justin Cohen of The Jewish News, and Labour's Lord Glasman.

William asked Justin what people expected from Rabbi Mirvis. Justin said that his pastoral work is what people talk about, that he's "very much a people's person". He won't be a "revolutionary "though on issues such as gay marriage. He will continue Lord Sacks's emphasis on the importance of Jewish schools, and seek to halt the decline in general orthodoxy's membership. William asked him if there's pressure on him to involve more women. Yes, said Justin, and he's being leading the way on this already.

Lord Glasman wants him to follow in Lord Sacks's footsteps, admiring Lord Sacks as being (like himself) "a public intellectual". Specifically he wants him to get involved with the condition of the poor, denounce usury and support an interest rate cap - as well as to find creative ways to enhance Jewish unity.

7.18 Australian election. This was the report from Phil Mercer which I anticipated in a post yesterday. (Scroll down and you'll see it!) I was expecting bias, and wasn't disappointed. It outlined the religious views of Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, but spend far longer on Tony Abbott than on Kevin Rudd - not to Mr Abbott's advantage.

It began at an anti-Abbott rally for gay rights. Phil talked of his "deeply conservative views" and called in one of his critics, author David Marr, to confirm that Mr Abbott is a staunch Catholic - a "pretty much unreconstructed" 1950s Catholic in fact. For the left he's a "dangerous social reactionary", said Phil. Cue Jim Jackson of Sydney University and his concerns about Mr Abbott's views on abortion. A clip of Tony Abbott being mocked over his 'sex appeal' gaffe followed, then Phil says that he was being lampooned for his "rigid ideology". After this onslaught came the sop to the other side - a former classmate praising his loyalty and compassion and saying that he'll be a humble leader.

Tony Abbott: Family values

It was Kevin Rudd's turn next, but all we got here was a clip of his public apology to Australia's aborigines, Phil calling him a "devout Christian" and talking of his "deep faith", and then an uncritical Roy Williams, author of God Actually, saying he has a "complex set of beliefs". And that was it. No negative labels from anyone, no criticism.

Ah but...there was criticism to follow, of both Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott - and it was back to Phil Mercer's pro-immigration campaign. We heard from Fr Rod Bower who worries both are behaving badly over the issue of asylum seekers, talking of Australia's "affluenza" which has made the country "very self-centred".  "We are so lucky, let's share our luck", he concluded - and the report concluded.

7.24 Seamus Heaney. William talked of the late poet's "ability to disclose the otherness of ordinary things" and then interviewed former Irish president Mary McAleese, a friend, who found his poetry "electrifying".

Seamus Heaney may have lost his faith but transcendence mattered to him and, she said, he came out of a strong metaphysical tradition. Inevitably, especially with the choice of a politician to discuss the poet, political aspects were discussed - but at not too great a length.

7.30 A new Secretary of State is appointed at the Vatican. The BBC's David Willey told us about the new man appointed by Pope Francis. Archbishop Pietro Parolin (below) - a "veteran Vatican diplomat" who "has a very solid knowledge of the inner working of the Vatican". He will want to "distance himself" from his predecessor, Cardinal Bertone.

This is part, David Willey said, of the pope's "rather ambitious reform programme" after the "drift" under Benedict [the usual tone of disdain entered DW's voice as he mentioned that name] and the last years of John Paul II. There'll be a "greater sense of collegiality". Big issues facing Archbishop Parolin? The Vatican Bank, said David Willey.

7.34 Hare Krishna Movement. Trevor Barnes reported on what William Crawley described as their move from "hippy outsiders to part of the Hindu mainstream". Trevor tracked this trajectory from being "a weird and wonderful sect", backed by the Beatles, to the kind of movement that can bring "the great and good of the British establishment" to Bhaktivedanta Manor to celebrate an important anniversary. 

Dr John Zavos of Manchester University said that they now have a sophisticated organisation structure which is proving an inspiration to other Hindu organisations. We heard from various adherents, including two ladies who supported the tenor of Trevor's report - that the early "counter-cultural edge" has left the movement and that it now appeals to professionals more than to disaffected youth. 

7.40 Jim Wallis. Jim Wallis (below, with friends), spiritual advisor to Barack Obama. has a new book out called 'On God's Side' and Sunday duly helped him plug it. Mr Wallis last appeared on Sunday when the programme was obsessing about the Occupy protests in late 2011. Mr Wallis supported the protests.  He says his new book is "a gospel for the common good". His main practical example was immigration reform - admiring his president's action to allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens. Equality "for the poor and vulnerable" is what Jim Wallis is after.

William Crawley brought up George W Bush as the kind of politician who thinks he can know God's mind, but Mr Wallis didn't rise to that invitation to make an anti-Bush point. William then said that Jim Wallis's wish to have the churches concentrate on the poor and vulnerable wasn't helped by the fact that "many churches are obsessed with sex and sexuality these days, aren't they?" [a rather loaded way of putting it]. Mr Wallis tended to agree, attacking "homophobia" and backing same-sex marriage, wanting to "re-covenant" marriage. 

William then asked him about Syria. He said he is "very, very suspicious" about military strikes on Syria and wants to focus on the plight of refugees and isolate Assad diplomatically instead. William Crawley asked him, with his admiration for President Obama, whether he wasn't disappointed over the president's willingness to use military force. We will advise him, replied Mr Wallis. President Obama cares about the Syrian people, he said.

7.47 Syria and the aid agencies. William discussed Syria again with Janet Symes, Head of Middle East at Christian Aid and Jehangir Malik, UK Director of Islamic Relief. [I wrote last week that they were a favourite Sunday charity and, lo and behold, here they were again]. Both talked of the "deplorable situation" there, inside Syria as much as across its border. Both (like Jim Wallis) oppose military strikes on Syria. Both hope for peace, and a political, negotiated solution to the conflict.