Editing Michael Coren

{{Short description|British-Canadian writer and clergyman}}
{{BLP primary sources|date=October 2021}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| name         = Michael Coren
| image        = Michael Coren at SMC (cropped).jpg
| caption      = Coren in 2010
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1959|01|15|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Walthamstow]], [[Essex]], England
| occupation   = Author, columnist, talk show host
| nationality  = British, Canadian
| alma_mater   = [[University of Nottingham]]<br />[[City University, London]]<br />[[Trinity College, Toronto]]
| notable_works = {{unbulleted list|''As I See It''|''C.S. Lewis: The Man Who Created Narnia''|''Why Catholics Are Right''|''J.R.R. Tolkien: The Man Who Created the Lord of the Rings''}}
| signature    =
| website      = {{URL|http://www.michaelcoren.com}}
|spouse={{marriage|Bernadette<ref>[https://archive.today/20130216122413/http://life.nationalpost.com/2011/04/16/in-his-new-book-michael-coren-does-battle-with-enemies-of-catholicism/ In his new book, Michael Coren does battle with enemies of Catholicism], ''[[National Post]]'', 16 April 2011</ref>|1987}}
| children = 4
| relatives = [[Alan Coren]] (cousin)<br />[[Giles Coren]]<br />(first cousin once removed)<br />[[Victoria Coren Mitchell]]<br />(first cousin once removed)
}}
'''Michael Coren''' (born 15 January 1959) is a British-Canadian writer and clergyman. A long-time television personality, Coren hosted ''[[The Michael Coren Show]]'' on the [[Crossroads Television System]] from 1999 to 2011 before moving to the [[Sun News Network]] to host ''The Arena with Michael Coren'',<ref>[http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/28/michael-coren-to-deliver-straight-talk "Michael Coren to deliver 'straight talk': Talk show star to join Sun News Network prime-time lineup"], ''Toronto Sun'', 28 June 2011</ref> from 2011 until the channel's demise in early 2015.<ref name=finalend>{{cite news|title=Sun News Network goes off the air|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/sun-news-network-going-off-the-air-on-friday-sources/article22978387/|access-date=13 February 2015|work=The Globe and Mail|date=13 February 2015}}</ref> He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on Toronto talk radio station [[CFRB]]. Coren is currently a columnist for the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' and ''[[iPolitics]]''.

He has written more than ten books, including biographies of [[G. K. Chesterton]], [[H. G. Wells]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] and [[C. S. Lewis]]. His latest books are ''Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity'' (2012), ''The Future of Catholicism'' (2013), ''Hatred: Islam's War on Christianity'' (2014), ''Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage'' (2016) and ''The Rebel Christ'' (2021).

==Life and career==
Coren was born in [[Walthamstow]], [[Essex]], England, of Jewish heritage, and raised secular.<ref>{{Cite Twitter profile|michaelcoren}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/criticizing-israel-not-automatically-anti-semitic-409962305.html|title=Jan 2017: Criticizing Israel not automatically anti-Semitic|first=Michael|last=Coren|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|date=7 January 2017|via=winnipegfreepress.com}}</ref><ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095639305 Michael Coren - Oxford Reference] Retrieved 2016-10-20.</ref> After obtaining a degree in politics from the [[University of Nottingham]], he moved from Britain to Canada in 1987. For several years, he was a columnist for ''[[Frank (magazine)|Frank]]'' and then ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', before he began syndicated columns for the ''[[Financial Post]]'' and [[Sun Media]] in 1995. Following his departure from ''Frank'', he became a favourite target of that publication, culminating in a spoof ad contest to "deflower" Michael Coren (a nod to ''Frank''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s notorious "Deflower Caroline Mulroney" contest, and a satirical jab at Coren's conservative leanings.) Coren had also been a favourite target of ''Frank'' back in the days before he began writing for them. Coren took exception to being labelled a "literary prostitute" during a 1994 interview.<ref name="Ovsenny">{{cite magazine |last=Ovsenny |first=Christopher |date=Spring 1994 |title=Cloak and Dagger |url=http://rrj.ca/cloak-and-dagger/ |magazine=Ryerson Review of Journalism |access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref>

His career as a broadcaster began in the early 1990s when he co-hosted a political debate segment with [[Irshad Manji]] on [[TVOntario]]'s ''[[Studio 2]]''. In 1995, he began an evening talk show on [[CFRB (AM)|CFRB]]. In 1999, Coren briefly moved to [[CFMJ (AM)|Talk 640]] for a short stint as its [[morning man]]. He returned to CFRB, where he hosted a show from 6:30 to 8:00&nbsp;p.m. weekday nights, and regularly filled in for other hosts until November 2005. Coren was dismissed by CFRB as a result of complaints arising from comments ridiculing the weight of an apparent guest. In fact, the guest was an actor and the segment was scripted. According to CFRB's Operations Manager, Steve Kowch, "Pat Holiday, our general manager and myself went through the tape of Monday night's show and were shocked&nbsp;... it was totally out of bounds." Coren argues that it was a satire comparing in his mind public attitude to third world starvation with North America's obsession with slimming and self-indulgence.<ref name="Ovsenny" />

Despite this acrimonious termination, Coren made regular talk show appearances on CFRB in July 2006, at the start of the [[2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict]], as he happened to be in Israel at the time. As of 22 April 2007, the show expanded from its usual one-hour slot at 7–8 pm to 7–9 pm.<ref name=CFRBBio>[http://www.cfrb.com/shows/501333 The Michael Coren Show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011094957/http://www.cfrb.com/shows/501333 |date=11 October 2007 }}, CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007</ref> In the fall of 2007 he and former [[Liberal Party of Canada]] president [[Stephen LeDrew]] launched a daily hour-long afternoon show on CFRB called ''Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions'' in which the two argue about the issues of the day.<ref>[http://www.cfrb.com/shows/574885 Two Bald Guys With Strong Opinions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016051512/http://www.cfrb.com/shows/574885 |date=16 October 2007 }}, CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007</ref> After the departure of LeDrew, Coren was joined by [[Tarek Fatah]] after several on air auditions by potential replacement co-hosts. Coren was again let go by CFRB along with 12 other staff of the Toronto radio station on 27 August 2009.<ref name="otoole">O'Toole, Megan. [http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/08/27/the-motts-michael-coren-out-as-cfrb-retools.aspx "The Motts, Michael Coren out as CFRB retools"] {{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''National Post'', Toronto, 27 August 2009. <!--accessed 23 January 2010--></ref>

On television, Coren hosted the ''Michael Coren Show'' on the [[Crossroads Television System]] until June 2011 when he left to join the [[Sun News Network]] where he hosted ''The Arena with Michael Coren'' weeknights beginning 30 August 2011. Coren also had a newspaper column published every Saturday in the Sun newspaper chain until February 2015. He has been a columnist for the ''[[Western Standard]]'', ''Catholic Insight'' and ''The Women's Post'' and has contributed to ''[[National Post]]'', ''[[Reader's Digest]]'' and several other publications. A self-professed [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] fan, he has appeared as a guest host on [[The Score Television Network|The Score]]'s ''The Footy Show''.

Following the demise of Sun News Network in February 2015, Coren briefly joined [[Rebel News|The Rebel Media]], an online platform founded by [[Ezra Levant]] originally known as The Rebel Media and since renamed to [[Rebel News]], but left the venture after a week.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/ezra-levant-the-rebels-unrepentant-commander/|title=Ezra Levant: The Rebel's unrepentant commander|date=24 January 2017}}</ref>

Following his conversion to Anglicanism, Coren began to publicly embrace [[social liberalism|socially liberal]] ideas such as support for [[same-sex marriage]]. He stated that it negatively affected his career and that he became the target of personal attacks from former readers, observing that "there is none so angry as a fundamentalist scorned".<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Coren's change of heart: from moral conservative to social liberal|url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/a-heart-transformed-1.3307674/michael-coren-s-change-of-heart-from-moral-conservative-to-social-liberal-1.3308474|access-date=4 September 2017|work=Tapestry with Mary Hynes|publisher=CBC Radio|date=3 July 2016|language=en}}</ref> In a 2015 interview Coren estimated that he lost $35,000 a year in income from lost speaking fees and his former recurring columns for [[Sun Media]] newspapers, [[Crossroads Christian Communications]] properties, ''[[The Catholic Register]]'', and other conservative Christian publications.<ref name="UC Observer">{{cite news|last1=Mahoney|first1=Jeff|title=The conversion of Michael Coren|url=http://www.ucobserver.org/faith/2015/11/michael_coren/|access-date=4 September 2017|work=The United Church Observer|date=November 2015}}</ref> He also stated that contrition is a major aspect of his conversion and he regrets "so much of what [he] said, especially the tone" in his earlier career.<ref name="UC Observer" /> Coren was ordained a [[transitional deacon]] in the [[Anglican Diocese of Niagara]] on 20 October 2019.<ref>https://twitter.com/NiagaraAnglican/status/1186040284699910144 [[Anglican Diocese of Niagara]] on [[Twitter]]</ref>

Coren is also a public speaker, particularly at religious gatherings.

==Controversies==
===AIDS and sexuality===
In the 1990s and 2000s, Coren was alleged to have spoken objectionably about people with [[AIDS]]. In 1994, the ''[[Review of Journalism|Ryerson Review of Journalism]]'' reported Coren's response to an interview question about the disease:

<blockquote>"What I do is attack something like a double standard on AIDS. Sure, we must find a cure for AIDS, we must put enormous amounts of money into it...” he pauses. "Look, people are dying all over. When it was blacks in Africa dying of AIDS, no one gave a toss. Nobody gave a toss. Suddenly, it's middle-class men in California and everyone goes crazy about it. It's a double standard. I'm trying to provoke people into rethinking comfortable points of view".<ref name="Ovsenny" /></blockquote>

In 2006, Coren wrote a franker newspaper piece in ''[[The Toronto Sun|Toronto Sun]]'', questioning "Why is AIDS so special?":
<blockquote>At its most simple, stop fornicating. There, I've said it. One of the things that can end a career in North American media. Yet it's true. AIDS in the West is still overwhelmingly a threat to male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. It's now found in other groups, but it has taken years for that to happen and they still represent the minority of sufferers. More than this, the bulk of the newly infected tend to be people who have contracted the virus through permissive sexual practices.<ref>{{cite news|author = Michael Coren|title=Why is AIDS so special?|newspaper=[[Toronto Sun]]|date=19 August 2006|id=1764549}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thelocal.se/discuss/index.php?showtopic=4920?showtopic=4920|author=Roy E.|title=Reposting of "Why is AIDS so special?"}}</ref> </blockquote>

With reference to the [[Bible]], Coren would compare homosexuality to illegal sexual practices. In 2007, Coren wrote an ''[[Edmonton Sun]]'' article, saying:
<blockquote>As for Jesus not condemning homosexuality, nor did He condemn bestiality and necrophilia... Christ did indeed condemn homosexuality, as does the Old Testament, St. Paul, the church fathers and all Christianity until a few liberal Protestants in the last decades of the 20th century who, frankly, are more concerned with [[political correctness]] than [[truth]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blizzard|first1=Christina|last2=Coren|first2=Michael|title=Debate over sexual orientation dividing Christians|newspaper=[[Edmonton Sun]]|date = 22 May 2007|url = https://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2007/05/debate-over-sexual-orientation-dividing_23.html?m=0}}</ref></blockquote>

=== International affairs ===

In September 2006, Coren published an article in the ''[[Toronto Sun]]'' supporting the use of tactical nuclear strikes against Iran.<ref>{{cite news|id=1795183|author=Michael Coren|title=We should nuke Iran|newspaper=Toronto Sun|date=2 September 2006}}</ref> This position was retracted the following year.<ref>{{cite news|id=4590877|date=20 October 2007|title=How wrong can I be?|newspaper=Toronto Sun|author=Michael Coren}}</ref>

==Religious views==
Coren's articles and speeches often include stories of his own personal spiritual journey. Coren's father was [[Jewish]] as was his maternal grandfather, while his maternal grandmother came from a family of Welsh coal miners and [[Conversion to Judaism|converted to Judaism]]. Coren's father and uncle were cab drivers. Coren has said that his father's family left Poland in the 1890s, a few decades before [[The Holocaust]].<ref>Concerned Women For America-Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price For Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda {{cite web |url=http://www.cwfa.org/printerfriendly.asp?id=4322&department=cfi&categoryid=cfreport |title=Concerned Women for America - Targeted for Hate: A Canadian Columnist Pays Price for Disagreeing with Homosexual Agenda |access-date=2008-01-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081027170030/http://www.cwfa.org/printerfriendly.asp?id=4322&department=cfi&categoryid=cfreport |archive-date=27 October 2008 }}</ref><ref>Michael Coren-Irving deserves contempt not jail  </ref> He said "People have called me an [[anti-Semite]]. I thought it quite rich since my father's family was massacred in the Holocaust".<ref name="Ovsenny" /> Michael Coren was profiled on ''Credo'' on [[Vision TV]], and said that his father told him he could not attend his son's wedding in a Catholic church without becoming "physically sick".

He [[Conversion to Christianity|converted to Catholic Christianity]] in 1984<ref name="benevolence">{{cite web |title=From bigotry to benevolence: The conversion of Michael Coren |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-sunday-edition-for-february-3-2019-1.4997146/from-bigotry-to-benevolence-the-conversion-of-michael-coren-1.4998467 |website=CBC Radio |access-date=14 May 2022 |date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> while still living in England, later saying that he "converted to an institution."

He left [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] for [[Evangelicalism]] in the 1990s, after a [[religious conversion|conversion experience]], greatly influenced by Canadian [[televangelist]] [[Terry Winter (televangelist)|Terry Winter]].{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} In 1991, Coren said in a column for a humour magazine: "Evangelicals may be intolerant, small-minded, and repellent, but at least they hold a consistent set of beliefs".<ref name="Ovsenny" /> In a 1993 book review, he said "Can anyone imagine a detective priest? Regrettably, it is easier to conjure up the image of a priest being questioned by secular detectives over abuse charges." Also in 1993, he had a falling out with the Catholic Church over an unflattering profile he wrote of Archbishop [[Aloysius Ambrozic]] for ''[[Toronto Life]]'' magazine.<ref name="Ovsenny" /> The bishop, who had made Coren a [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic)|Knight of the Holy Sepulchre]] in October 1992, was quoted using words including "friggin" and "bitch", and said that the Spanish dictator [[Francisco Franco]] was a "conservative Catholic and not a bad fellow". Coren defended himself, saying "He's an archbishop and he was vulgar&nbsp;... obviously what thousands of Catholics expected me to do was lie. I still get hate mail about the article."<ref name="Ovsenny" />

After this incident, Coren said that he didn't consider himself a Catholic anymore. He said, "My wife is Catholic and the children will be raised Catholic, but that's it. It's just not there for me."<ref name="Ovsenny" /> [[Daniel Richler]] observed that Coren loves scandal, but hates having it come his way. In one of his columns for the satirical humour magazine ''[[Frank (magazine)|Frank]]'', Michael Coren depicted [[Mother Teresa]] getting drunk in a bar.<ref name="Ovsenny" />

In early 2004, he embraced Catholicism again. He cites [[Thomas More]], [[C. S. Lewis]], [[Ronald Knox]] and his godfather [[Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford|Lord Longford]] as spiritual influences, and remains connected to the [[ecumenism|ecumenical]] scene in Canada and beyond.

In 2014, Michael Coren once again left the Catholic Church and began worshipping with the [[Anglican Church of Canada]], being formally received into the communion the next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/torontoanglican/photos/a.888594754515024.1073741863.115072368533937/895263353848164/?type=1&pnref=story  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/115072368533937/895263353848164 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|date=23 April 2015 |title=Facebook post |publisher=Anglican Diocese of Toronto |access-date=19 August 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In an interview with the ''[[National Post]]'' on 1 May 2015, he cited the Catholic Church's [[Catholic Church and homosexuality|teachings on homosexuality]] and [[contraception]] as some of the reasons for his conversion to [[Anglicanism]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.nationalpost.com/news/religion/i-felt-a-hypocrite-author-michael-coren-on-why-he-left-the-catholic-church-for-anglicanism | title = 'I felt a hypocrite': Author Michael Coren on why he left the Catholic Church for Anglicanism | first = Joseph | last = Brean | date = 2015-05-01 | work = National Post }}</ref>

In contrast to his previous views, Coren now identifies as a [[Christian socialism|Christian socialist]].<ref name="Christian socialist tweet">{{cite tweet |last= Coren |first= Michael |user=michaelcoren |number=842106771552514048 |date= 15 March 2017 |title=Thanks. But I'm afraid I'm not a conservative. Christian socialist really. Sorry. |script-title= |trans-title= |link= |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref> Coren supports infant [[circumcision]], which he calls a "tradition [Jews and Muslims] consider holy and essential, based not in abuse and cruelty, but in concern and love for their child", and has said that its opponents are "irreligious zealots".<ref>[http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/icelands-proposed-circumcision-ban-sparks-a-bigger-fight-over-rights/ Michael Coren: Iceland’s proposed circumcision ban sparks a bigger fight over rights] – ''[[Maclean's]]''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thebridgehead.ca/2015/06/01/the-curious-case-of-michael-coren/|title=The curious case of Michael Coren &#124; The Bridgehead|date=1 June 2015}}</ref>

Coren is a priest of the Anglican [[Diocese of Niagara]].<ref name=burlington/> He was ordained deacon in October 2019, and ordained priest in September 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://michaelcoren.com/bio/ |title = Biography - Education |publisher = Michael Coren |access-date = 27 September 2021 }}</ref> He serves as assistant curate of the parish of St Christopher, Burlington.<ref name=burlington>{{cite web |url = https://niagaraanglican.ca/parish/st-christopher-burlington/ministry-team |title = Our Ministry Team |publisher = Diocese of Niagara |access-date = 27 September 2021 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Coren is a cousin of author and journalist [[Alan Coren]],<ref>"I seldom hear about her [Heather Mallick], but did when she wrote an obsessively fawning piece after the British author and journalist Alan Coren died. The reason was that the noted editor and TV personality was my cousin, and a dear man who helped me more than I can say and whom I miss very much." Opinion column by Michael Coren entitled [http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/12/05/canada-a-rogue-state-hardly "Canada: A rogue state?" Hardly] ''[[Ottawa Sun]]'' 5 December 2013.</ref> and is thus related to Alan's children [[Victoria Coren Mitchell]] and [[Giles Coren]].

Coren married his wife, Bernadette, in 1987.  They have four children.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McLaren |first=Leah |date=2002-01-12 |title='I'm completely different now' |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/im-completely-different-now/article752487/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mahoney |first=Jeff |date=2015-11-02 |title=The conversion of Michael Coren |url=https://broadview.org/the-conversion-of-michael-coren/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=[[Broadview (magazine)|Broadview Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Published books==
*''Theatre Royal: 100 Years of Stratford East'' (1985) {{ISBN|0-7043-2474-1}}
*''Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton'' (1990) {{ISBN|1-55778-256-3}}
*''The Invisible Man: The Life and Liberties of H. G. Wells'' (1993) {{ISBN|0-689-12119-9}}
*''The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'' (1993) {{ISBN|0-7475-1229-9}}
*''The Man Who Created Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis'' (1994) {{ISBN|1-895555-78-7}}
*''Setting It Right'' (1996) {{ISBN|0-7737-2940-2}}
*''J. R. R.Tolkien: The Man who Created [[the Lord of the Rings]]'' (2001) {{ISBN|0-7522-6156-8}}
*''As I See It'' (2009) {{ISBN|0-9812767-0-9}}
*''Why Catholics Are Right'' (2011) {{ISBN|0-7710-2321-9}}
*''Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity'' (2012) {{ISBN|978-0771023156}}
* ''The Future of Catholicism'' (2013) {{ISBN|0771023510}}
*''Hatred: Islam's War on Christianity'' (2014) {{ISBN|0771023847}}
*''Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage'' (2016) {{ISBN|0771024118}}
*''The Rebel Christ'' (2021) {{ISBN|978-1459748514}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.michaelcoren.com/ Official website]
*{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130115071347/http://blogs.canoe.ca/corenscomment/ Michael Coren's blog]}}
*[http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/michael_coren/] Coren's column in the ''[[Toronto Sun]]''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coren, Michael}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Coren family|Michael]]
[[Category:Alumni of City, University of London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Anglo-Catholic clergy]]
[[Category:Anglo-Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism]]
[[Category:Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:Canadian Anglo-Catholics]]
[[Category:Canadian columnists]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:Canadian talk radio hosts]]
[[Category:Canadian television talk show hosts]]
[[Category:Christian critics of Islam]]
[[Category:English emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:People from Walthamstow]]
[[Category:The Globe and Mail columnists]]
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[[Category:Rebel News people]]
[[Category:British critics of atheism]]
[[Category:Canadian political journalists]]
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[[Category:Canadian Christian socialists]]
[[Category:Anglo-Catholic socialists]]