Erm, not in their minds. Imagine if you will the following scene;

Whilst kneading my bread at 0800h, I was listening to R4 Today and Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is being interviewed about the latest revelations regarding the MTF antics of his Scottish counterpart. All Jon Humphreys was trying to do was get him to frame it in a “this is now” and then explain what will be done by the Catholic Church about it, now. There was this almost inability to deal with the issue in the context of now. JH was getting frustrated, as was I and I imagine many thousands of other listeners.

Then it hit me. The Catholic Church is such an old institution that this current sex scandal – that seems very real and now to most of us – is the merest of blips in the long existence. It is so much easier to bat away the concerns of now when they are framed in a context that goes back centuries. Additionally; these scandals pale into insignificance compared to, say, The Inquisition. If I had a choice as a victim I know what I’d choose.

So Murphy-O’Connor has developed the ability to manage the fearsome Humphreys with ease. When God is on your side and you are steeped in centuries of history then the Humphreys inquisition is nothing.