Damian Thompson (@holysmoke) / X

Damian Thompson

53.6K posts

Damian Thompson

@holysmoke

Associate Editor, The Spectator, presenter of its Holy Smoke religion podcast. Once described as 'A blood-crazed ferret' by the Church Times

London, UK

spectator.co.uk/writer/damian-…

Born January 24

Joined December 2008

Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Aug 15, 2025
The cardinals really were guided by the Holy Spirit when they chose our new Holy Father.
Catholic Sat
@CatholicSat
Aug 15, 2025
Pope Leo XIV holding back the tears at the Consecration at Mass this morning in Castel Gandolfo.
00:00
107K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Apr 21, 2025
NB: Cardinal Robert Sarah does not turn 80 until June 15. He will therefore be an influential participant in the conclave.
155K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Nov 24, 2021
Rest in peace, my beautiful sister Carmel, who died a few hours ago fortified by the love of her friends, her Catholic faith and her own astonishing courage.
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Oct 25, 2025
Cardinal Ernest Simoni, 97, hero of the viciously persecuted Albanian Catholic Church, recites the prayer to St Michael:
500K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Jul 1, 2025
It seems possible today that a Catholic journalist may have brought about an end to the Church’s disastrous – and, we now know, deliberately engineered – liturgy wars. She’s called @dianemontagna and we are all in her debt.
50K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Jul 2, 2024
Thread: Famous names including Bianca Jagger, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Princess Michael of Kent, Sir Andras Schiff, Tom Holland, Lady Antonia Fraser and many others appeal to the Vatican to save the Traditional Latin Mass in a letter to the Times tomorrow.
448K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
May 7, 2025
If it was up to me, this cardinal would be elected pope on the first ballot:
146K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
May 12, 2025
I have been re-reading the homily delivered by Pope Leo in the Sistine Chapel. Its passion and eloquence are breathtaking. Leo cannot and will not water down what he said. There can be no more indifferentism or blurring of boundaries with other faiths. The Pachamama has been
120K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Dec 31, 2019
Just once more before the year ends...
This post is unavailable.
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Oct 25, 2025
It’s happening – St Peter’s welcomes back the liturgy for which it was built.
57K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Sep 13, 2025
Aren’t you sick of this shit?
Michael Haynes 🇻🇦
@MLJHaynes
Sep 13, 2025
JUST IN: Hip hop concert at the Vatican tonight. US band “Clipse” performs with pop singer Pharrell Williams & John Legend St Peter’s Square turned into a concert venue tonight
00:00
82K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Jun 17, 2025
I have never been more ashamed of my country
Rorate Caeli
@RorateCaeli
Jun 17, 2025
The British House of Commons has just voted, with a vast majority, for the complete decriminalization of abortion up to birth in England and Wales. God have mercy.
34K
Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Jun 2, 2025
Perhaps this matter is best resolved by returning Westminster Abbey to the Church that founded it.
Dr. Maalouf ‏
@realMaalouf
May 31, 2025
There are over 500 mosques in London, but they chose to pray on the grounds of Westminster Abbey, the most sacred site in the Anglican Church. Why?
00:00
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Damian Thompson
@holysmoke
Sep 7, 2025
The Tridentine Mass returns to St Peter’s. This is big news.
Diane Montagna
@dianemontagna
Sep 7, 2025
JUST IN: Cardinal Raymond Burke will celebrate a Pontifical High Mass in the Old Rite in St. Peter’s Basilica during the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in Rome this October 24–26. The Mass will be offered at the Altar of the Chair on Saturday, October 25: blog.messainlatino.it/2025/09/una-gr…
47K