If the Bishops of England and Wales did press Francis on any of the great issues of the day affecting the Church (see Over the Threshold below), none of it has survived into the statement published by the Archdiocese of Westminster.

This document – clearly ghosted by Antonio Spadaro and Greg Burke (no relation) – is an exercise in abject sycophancy such as might have been addressed by courtiers to Louis XIV.

It is good to know with what unperturbable serenity the Holy Father is riding the storm.