There will be a little bit of religion in the public square this week, but it won't be too taxing. Anyone who wants to ignore what is traditionally called Holy Week can easily do so.

Maybe this is a positive development: or, at least, maybe it's better than Holy Week in times gone by. Older folk will remember Lent: when virtually everyone was expected to give up the drink for the duration, while children had no choice but to quit eating sweets.

Holy Week was, up to the 1970s, Lent in overdrive: the BBC's Holy Week service was sombre and Good Friday, in particular, allowed for no levity, under the specific orders of BBC founding father Lord Reith.

The BBC still broadcasts the Good Friday liturgy on radio and there will be an item about the Queen distributing Maundy money to pensioners on Holy Thursday, so a residual echo has been preserved of what was once a full-on faith tradition.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/holy-week-is-jolly-good-now-weve-ditched-religion-29153562.html