Granted, I was not the most obvious person to appreciate the installation of Sarah Mullally in Canterbury, even though I think her a splendid Christian pastor and indeed, an exemplary Christian. Her kind, homely face radiates charity and good will; the simplicity of her speech speaks of sincerity.

But as a bolshie Catholic, it’s not possible to spend long in Canterbury cathedral during this very Anglican celebration without the subversive thought surfacing that this cathedral is, by rights, Catholic, the Reformation being an unfortunate blip in the great scheme of things. If Sarah Mullally counts, as she says she does, Thomas Becket as one of her predecessors (which I happen to dispute), isn’t an apology due for those unfortunate events which saw his shrine destroyed and his bones scattered and desecrated courtesy of the founder of the Church of England (CofE)? The civilised Anglican answer to this issue is wilful amnesia, but sometimes it becomes hard to stomach.

As well as articulating the claim to be the successor of Becket and St Augustine (sent, let’s remember, to Britain by the pope), the Archbishop also had to declare her assent to the historic formularies of the CofE. The Archbishop of York put........

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