I’m currently at EWTN in Alabama where I’ve been filming various shows. I was also given a sneak preview of the hour-long Hobbit Special, which will be aired on December 5th. The folks at EWTN have done a great job with the editing. Jef Murray’s art and Kevin O’Brien’s acting are superb. It’s an honour and a privilege to work with so many gifted people who are on fire with a love for Christ and Middle-earth.

Changing the subject, I received a good e-mail from a Catholic priest this evening on the subject of C. S. Lewis and the Catholic Church which I’d like to share. My response follows.

I saw you on EWTN tonight, and your talking about CSL and the Catholic Church reminded me that as a Lewis fan of over 50 years, once an Anglican and now a Catholic, I have never heard quoted in relation to CSL and Catholicism this comment from a letter to Dom Bede Griffeths OSB of 8 May 1939,

“Nothing wd give such strong support to the Papal claims as the spectacle of a Pope actually functioning as head of Christendom.” [C.S. Lewis Letters, 1988, page 319].

Is that not what we have been seeing for the 50 years or so? Wouldn’t CSL have loved Benedict?

All good wishes, and thanks for all you do!

My reply: 

Thanks so much for your e-mail.

I agree that CSL would have loved Benedict, as much as he would have been dismayed at the dismal array of Archbishops of Canterbury that have overseen the demise of Anglicanism in the past half-century. Were Lewis alive today he would have had the simple choice of Rome or Homelessness.