As is so often the case, events on the world stage prompt memories of moments I covered in my pre-dementia days as a TV news presenter and reporter. That they flood back despite my dementia is both reassuring and heartening.
There’s a popular humorous maxim about history, usually attributed to Mark Twain. But there’s much uncertainty about that ascription. A top business columnist for The New York Times once wrote:“
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” as Mark Twain is often reputed to have said. I’ve found no compelling evidence that he ever uttered that nifty aphorism. No matter the line is too good to resist!
And, as Winston Churchill said in a 1948 speech to the British House of Commons:“
Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
No matter the origin, the sentiments are eternal.
As a lapsed Roman Catholic, I was thrilled to see Their Majesties the King and Queen pay a State Visit to the Vatican and pray with Pope Leo. As a keen student of the Reformation of the English Church, I recognise the historic significance of this moment. What is more, King Charles was made a Royal Confrater by Pope Leo XIV, a title meaning “brother,” recognising a spiritual fellowship.
The King remains “Defender of the Faith,” a title granted on 11 October 1521 by Pope Leo X to King Henry VIII. Despite the Reformation, the title endures and still appears on the UK’s coinage.
A dear friend of Sally’s from her youth, an Orthodox Jewish woman, once remarked to me that “Catholics, like Jews, never lapse, though they may drift.” How true.
This all reminded me of the visit Pope John Paul II made to the UK in 1982. It nearly didn’t happen because Anglican Britain was at war with Catholic Argentina over the invasion of the Falklands. The Pope was under pressure to cancel, not least from his Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli.
The then Archbishop of Westminster, George Basil Hume OSB OM, the highest-ranking Catholic priest in England and Wales, flew to Rome to persuade the Pope to proceed. I covered that trip, and Hume and I had an agreement: I wouldn’t constantly doorstep him or get in his way, but each morning in St Peter’s Square we’d quietly check in. If there were developments, he’d signal me.
One morning I saw him looking forlorn, so I broke our rule and approached.
“Is it all over?” I asked. “Have you lost?”
“No,” he replied. “We’re getting there. But I have tickets for Newcastle v. Sunderland — and duty comes first.”
He was a lifelong Newcastle fan, and it was a great derby match!
Alastair Stewart: The fact memories still flood back despite my dementia is both reassuring and heartening
|GB NEWS
My crew were freelancers told to look smart, so they bought very expensive Italian suits on expenses. The first time we met the Pope, they all stooped so low that somewhere in the ITN film library there’s a perfectly framed close-up of the papal slippers!
It was a much-needed moment of mirth. In the end, the Pope made the trip, and it was a triumph. I was part of the team covering the events in Liverpool.
The bishops of that great city, Archbishop Derek Worlock (Catholic) and Bishop David Sheppard (Anglican), both met Pope John Paul II in Liverpool. The Pope’s visit crowned their joint efforts to promote religious reconciliation in the city, symbolised by their walk down Hope Street, connecting the two cathedrals.
It was extraordinary, Catholics throwing rosary beads in the Pope’s path, the Pope stooping to pick them up, kiss and bless them, and return them to the faithful. He was a superstar Pope.
We flew back with him to Rome, and I secured an interview with him on the Alitalia aircraft. I remember the pilot using the tannoy: “Please return to your seats for landing — including Your Holiness!”
Much laughter followed. On landing, my tape was handed to a dispatch rider, and my scoop aired that night.
This week, a million miles from Christian unity, in an echo of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, Soldier F was found not guilty of murdering two people on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972.I was in Londonderry in January 2010, when thousands cheered outside the Guildhall as relatives of those killed gave the Saville Report the thumbs-up. A spontaneous cheer broke out as the families waved the report through the Guildhall windows, while Prime Minister David Cameron spoke live from Westminster, broadcast on giant outdoor screens usually used for sport or concerts.
This week also saw the return of the remains of more Israeli hostages. Hamas has now transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal earlier this month. All 20 living hostages were released shortly after the agreement was reached.
These returns prompted extraordinary scenes. This phase of the conflict is by no means over, but things are getting better. It all reminded me of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998, which I also covered.
Mo Mowlam, a wonderful woman and lifelong friend, once told the filthiest joke when asked for a voice level! How I miss her, and how politics misses people of her humanity and calibre. The Labour Party under Tony Blair treated her badly, not least Peter Mandelson. I always thought vanity and jealousy were at the heart of it.
She once phoned to invite us for the weekend at Hillsborough. Sally and I were both out, and our daughter Clemmie took the call. When Mo said, “It’s Mo Mowlam,” Clem replied, “Who is this really?” Such a lovely memory, of protective loyalty from my daughter and modesty from a minister of the Crown.
The week ended on a harrowing but important note. We were invited to the premiere of Skin to Skin-Care — a remarkable film by vet Dr. Scott Miller for the working equids charity The Brooke, of which I am Patron.
Millions of donkeys are stolen every year, mainly in Africa, slaughtered and skinned to fuel the evil trade in boiling down hides to produce ejiao, a gel used in expensive beauty and skin-health products, mostly in China, but also available online here. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that this stuff has any benefit.
Donkeys are wonderful, loyal, intelligent creatures, we have two ourselves. Yet this trade means they face extinction in Africa. It is as brutal and mindless as the slaughter of rhinos for their horns.
Please look up the story, see the film, and support The Brooke in all it does. Learn more here: thebrooke.org/enddonkeyslaughter
Finally, our lovely friend Sir Clive Jones popped down and took us out for lunch with a wonderful mutual friend, Liz Wickham, a former TV reporter we’d both worked with and remain very fond of.
We reminisced about the good old days of TV news. Not just nostalgia, truth. We really were lucky to have experienced the great days of mainstream network TV journalism.
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