I see from the BBC that the Turkish government has spent about £800k renovating the magnificent Akhtamar Church on Lake Van.

I was lucky enough to visit Akhtamar in October 2002. It was late in the month and the tourist parties were already thin on the ground . As no-one else turned up at the pier where the boat was waiting to go out to the island, I paid the full fee (I think the equivalent of about £15) for the trip across. The deserted little island wasn't in great nick, with a surprising amount of litter about, but unimaginably peaceful on the last warm day of autumn, surrounded by the cobalt blue waters of that magical lake and the towering mountains of Turkish Kurdistan.

The stone carvings on the church itself were simply magnificent. The pictures on the BBC story do not do them justice, and my own photographs were still film and print jobs. The church itself was strewn with rubble, grafitti and animal droppings, and looked distinctly unsafe.

There has been a lot of bad news from Turkey recently, so let's hope this heralds a normalisation of official Turkish-Armenian relations; vital diplomatically for Turkey and vital economically for Armenia.

Being a totally unrepentant homosexual, the people who put this quiz together would probably see me as a hell bound heretic.

But, hell, we sinners get all the fun anyway.

Alan Harper, Bishop of Connor, has been elected Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

A sensible liberal to moderate type who is good at building bridges and the nearest you get to a genuine liberal on homosexuality in the Northern C of I, barring a particularly silly statement on the Sexual Orientation Regulations just before Christmas. Genuinely nice guy too, Alan. I'm glad his Englishness didn't count against him.

We praise Thee, O God:
we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee:
the Father everlasting.

To Thee all Angels cry aloud:
the heavens and all the powers therein.
To Thee Cherubin and Seraphin:
continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy:
Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full
of the Majesty: of Thy glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles: praise Thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets: praise Thee.
The noble army of Martyrs: praise Thee.

The holy Church throughout all the
world: doth acknowledge Thee;
The Father: of an infinite majesty;
Thine honourable, true: and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost: the Comforter.

Good news: The House of Lords challenge by that cretin Maurice Morrow and his pals in the DUP to the Northern Ireland Sexual Orientation Regulations fails dismally. Hee hee hee. 3-1! 3-1! For probably the first time in history, Northern Ireland leads the way on gay rights issues, and as Jeffrey Dudgeon said on Sunday Sequence on New Year's Eve, we have now basically acheived the complete legal emancipation of gay people. The last little thing is to change the phrase "civil partnership" to "marriage" and that really is it, at least in the formal, legal, sphere.

Bad news: accordingto the Irish Times (hat tip, as so often to Slugger O'Toole), John Neill is not interested in becoming Archbishop of Armagh. Fanta Clarke is apparently the front runner, with his wide experience on both sides of the border. While Fanta isn't as bad on gay issues as Harold Miller, he's still pretty bad. There's lots of silent prayers here for my own home Bishop, Alan Harper (allegedly too English) and for Richard Clarke (too Southern). We'll see in less than four hours.

There is a very long story behind my photography session yesterday lunchtime. I will reveal all soon. Suffice to say Network Rail security staff need to start taking vallium.