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 Yes TV (stylized as yes TV) is an independently owned Canadian nonprofit and CRTC-licensed religious broadcasting television system in Canada. It consists of three conventional over-the-air television stations (located in the Greater Toronto Are ...

from 1999 to 2011 before moving to the

Sun News Network Sun News Network (commonly shortened to Sun News) was a Canadian English language Category C news channel owned by Québecor Média through a partnership between two of its subsidiaries, TVA Group (which maintained 51% majority ownership of the ...

to host ''The Arena with Michael Coren'', from 2011 until the channel's demise in early 2015. He has also been a long-time radio personality, particularly on Toronto talk radio station

CFRB CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West. CFRB is a ...

. Coren is currently a columnist for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' and ''

iPolitics ''iPolitics'' is a Canadian digital newspaper, which covers stories in Canadian politics. The site was launched in 2010 by founding editor and publisher James Baxter, and offers daily coverage of political news, a quarterly print magazine, politic ...

''. He has written more than ten books, including biographies of G. K. Chesterton,

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Arthur Conan Doyle,

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

and

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

. His latest books are ''Heresy: Ten Lies They Spread About Christianity'' (2012), ''The Future of Catholicism'' (2013), ''Hatred: Islam's War on Christianity'' (2014) and ''Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage'' (2016).

Family

Coren married his wife, Bernadette, in 1987. They have four children. He is a cousin of the late British author and journalist

Alan Coren Alan Coren (27 June 1938 – 18 October 2007) was an English humourist, writer and satirist who was a regular panellist on the BBC radio quiz ''The News Quiz'' and a team captain on BBC television's ''Call My Bluff''. Coren was also a journalis ...

, and is thus related to Alan's children Victoria Coren Mitchell and

Giles Coren Giles Robin Patrick Coren (born 29 July 1969) is a British columnist, food writer, and television and radio presenter. He has been a restaurant critic for ''The Times'' newspaper since 2002, and was named Food and Drink Writer of the Year at the ...

Life and career

Coren was born in Walthamstow,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England, of Jewish heritage, and raised secular. After obtaining a degree in politics from the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, he moved from Britain to Canada in 1987. For several years, he was a columnist for ''

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

'' and then ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', before he began syndicated columns for the ''

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' was an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the publication was folded into the new ''National Post'',"Black says Post to merge with new paper". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 23, ...

'' 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'''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. His career as a broadcaster began in the early 1990s when he co-hosted a political debate segment with

Irshad Manji Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Ugandan-born Canadian educator. She is the author of ''The Trouble with Islam Today'' (2004) and ''Allah, Liberty and Love'' (2011), both of which have been banned in several Muslim countries. She also produced a P ...

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

's ''

Studio 2 ''Studio 2'' was a daily (weeknights) current affairs newsmagazine on TVOntario in Ontario, Canada. The show won several Gemini Awards, and was hosted by Steve Paikin and Paula Todd (who replaced original co-host Mary Hynes in the show's third ...

''. In 1995, he began an evening talk show on

. In 1999, Coren briefly moved to Talk 640 for a short stint as its

morning man Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning strict ...

. He returned to CFRB, where he hosted a show from 6:30 to 8:00 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 ... 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. Despite this acrimonious termination, Coren made regular talk show appearances on CFRB in July 2006, at the start of the

2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

, 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.The Michael Coren Show
CFRB website, accessed 30 December 2007 In the fall of 2007 he and former Liberal Party of Canada president

Stephen LeDrew Stephen Ralph LeDrew (born 1953) is a Toronto-based lawyer and broadcaster. He served as President of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1998 to 2003, and was a Mayor of Toronto candidate in the 2006 municipal election. He hosted ''LeDrew Live'' ...

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. After the departure of LeDrew, Coren was joined by

Tarek Fatah Tarek Fatah (Punjabi/Urdu: ; born 20 November 1949) is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist and author.O'Toole, Megan
"The Motts, Michael Coren out as CFRB retools"
, ''National Post'', Toronto, 27 August 2009. On television, Coren hosted the ''Michael Coren Show'' on the

until June 2011 when he left to join the

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 The ''Western Standard'' is a Canadian political and social commentary media website operated by Western Standard New Media Corp. and its president Derek Fildebrandt. The Standard is based in Calgary, Alberta, where its main offices are located. ...

'', ''Catholic Insight'' and ''The Women's Post'' and has contributed to ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

'' and several other publications. A self-professed

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

fan, he has appeared as a guest host on The Score's ''The Footy Show''. Following the demise of Sun News Network in February 2015, Coren briefly joined The Rebel Media, an online platform founded by

Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian conservative media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, The'' Western Standard''. ...

originally known as The Rebel Media and since renamed to

Rebel News ''Rebel News'' (also known as ''The Rebel Media'' and ''The Rebel'') is a Canadian right-wing to far-right political and social commentary media website operated by Rebel News Network Ltd. It has been described as a "global platform" for the ...

, but left the venture after a week. Following his conversion to Anglicanism, Coren began to publicly embrace

socially liberal Cultural liberalism is a social philosophy which expresses the social dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed a ...

ideas such as support for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. 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". 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 Crossroads Christian Communications is a Canadian non-profit charitable corporation located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. ''100 Huntley Street'', the flagship television program of Crossroads was founded by Rev. David Mainse and is the longes ...

properties, ''

The Catholic Register ''The Catholic Register'' is a Canadian weekly newspaper published by the Archdiocese of Toronto. Founded in 1893, it is the oldest English-language Catholic publication in Canada. Based in Toronto, Ontario, and circulated nationally, it is publ ...

'', and other conservative Christian publications. He also stated that contrition is a major aspect of his conversion and he regrets "so much of what esaid, especially the tone" in his earlier career. Coren was ordained a transitional deacon in the

Anglican Diocese of Niagara The Diocese of Niagara is one of thirty regional divisions in the Anglican Church of Canada. The see city of the diocese is Hamilton, with the bishop's cathedra located at Christ's Church Cathedral on James Street North. Located within the eccl ...

on 20 October 2019. 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 ''

Ryerson Review of Journalism The ''Review of Journalism'' (formerly the ''Ryerson Review of Journalism'') is a Canadian magazine, published annually by final-year journalism students at Toronto Metropolitan University. The magazine profiles personalities, issues and controv ...

'' reported Coren's response to an interview question about the disease:

"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".

In 2006, Coren wrote a franker newspaper piece in ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'', questioning "Why is AIDS so special?":

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.

With reference to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

, Coren would compare homosexuality to illegal sexual practices. In 2007, Coren wrote an ''

Edmonton Sun The ''Edmonton Sun'' is a daily newspaper and news website published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia following its 2015 acquisition of Sun Media from Quebecor. It began publishing Sunday April 2, 1978 and shares many c ...

'' article, saying:

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 Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belie ...
.

International affairs

In September 2006, Coren published an article in the ''

'' supporting the use of tactical nuclear strikes against Iran. This position was retracted the following year.

Religious views

Coren's articles and speeches often include stories of his own personal spiritual journey. Coren's father was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

as was his maternal grandfather, while his maternal grandmother came from a family of Welsh coal miners and

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...

. 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 The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. He said "People have called me an

anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. I thought it quite rich since my father's family was massacred in the Holocaust". Michael Coren was profiled on ''Credo'' on

Vision TV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a company ...

, and said that his father told him he could not attend his son's wedding in a Catholic church without becoming "physically sick". He converted to Catholic Christianity in 1984 while still living in England, later saying that he "converted to an institution." He left Catholicism for Evangelicalism in the 1990s, after a conversion experience, greatly influenced by Canadian

televangelist Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning " ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-pr ...

Terry Winter. 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". 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 Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic (born Alojzij Matej Ambrožič; January 27, 1930 – August 26, 2011) was a Roman Catholic cardinal and Archbishop of Toronto. He was made a cardinal on 21 February 1998. Biography Ambrozic was born near Gabrje ...

for ''

Toronto Life ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eatin ...

'' magazine. The bishop, who had made Coren a 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 ... obviously what thousands of Catholics expected me to do was lie. I still get hate mail about the article." 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."

Daniel Richler Daniel Richler (born 1957) is a Canadian arts and pop culture broadcaster and writer."The apprenticeship of Daniel Richler". ''Montreal Gazette'', May 19, 1991. Biography Richler was born in London, England."When it's time to stop looking like a ...

observed that Coren loves scandal, but hates having it come his way. In one of his columns for the satirical humour magazine ''

'', Michael Coren depicted

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

getting drunk in a bar. In early 2004, he embraced Catholicism again. He cites

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox wa ...

and his godfather

Lord Longford Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

as spiritual influences, and remains connected to the 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. In an interview with the ''

'' on 1 May 2015, he cited the Catholic Church's teachings on homosexuality and

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

as some of the reasons for his conversion to Anglicanism. In contrast to his previous views, Coren now identifies as a

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

. Coren supports infant

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Top ...

, which he calls a "tradition ews and Muslimsconsider 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". Coren is a priest of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara. He was ordained deacon in October 2019, and ordained priest in September 2021. He serves as assistant curate of the parish of St Christopher, Burlington.

Published books

*''Theatre Royal: 100 Years of Stratford East'' (1985) *''Gilbert: The Man Who Was G. K. Chesterton'' (1990) *''The Invisible Man: The Life and Liberties of H. G. Wells'' (1993) *''The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'' (1993) *''The Man Who Created Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis'' (1994) *''Setting It Right'' (1996) *''J. R. R.Tolkien: The Man who Created

the Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' (2001) *''As I See It'' (2009) *''Why Catholics Are Right'' (2011) *''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)

References

External links

Official websiteMichael Coren's blog
Coren's column in the ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Coren, Michael 1959 births Alumni of the University of Nottingham 21st-century Canadian Anglican priests Anglo-Catholic clergy Anglo-Catholic writers Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Canadian Anglo-Catholics Canadian columnists Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian people of Welsh descent Canadian talk radio hosts Canadian television talk show hosts Christian critics of Islam Converts to Christianity from Judaism English emigrants to Canada Living people People from Walthamstow The Globe and Mail columnists National Post people Critics of atheism Canadian political journalists Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Toronto Star people Canadian Christian socialists Anglo-Catholic socialists Canadian social commentators Coren family