Paul was a member of the General Council of the Augustinians, and was elected three times as Friar Provincial of the Augustinians in Great Britain. He was a former parish priest of St Joseph’s, Edinburgh. Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1947, he studied in Dublin and Rome, and in 2013 published Making room for Others: Augustine and the Contemporary World (St Pauls Publishing). He was a great friend and supporter of Open House.

Paul wrote often with great clarity about the relationship between the church and the contemporary world. We republish here an article he wrote for Open House in December 2020.

“Religious conservatives have a stake in affirming that we now live in a secularised society, certainly in Europe. It fits their narrative of Christians in a largely hostile environment needing to put up barricades against the ‘world’. It is a contra mundum position that posits traditional forms of religion as the only bulwark against the overwhelming tide of unbelief and moral relativism. One reason why Trump received so much electoral support from conservative Christians, including many Catholics, is because he is perceived to resonate with such a position (he doesn’t).