Last Updated: 19 June 2013
Latest issue: 28 April 2012
A very public rebuke
Phyllis ZaganoThe Vatican has confronted women Religious of the United States head-on with the demand that their leadership organisation conform and reform. The row, which has caused deep unease about Vatican intervention, exposes major divides in the Church Free
US bishops tackle Obama over morality of use of drones
St Joseph added to Eucharist prayers
Girl Guides drop God from oath
Kenny insists on church-state divide
New era heralded post-Chávez
From the editor’s desk
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has investigated the activities of the organisation which represents the great majority of religious sisters in the United States, and it did not like what it found. As a result, the Leadership Conference ...
Cutting isn't working
Across Europe, public opinion is rebelling against austerity. The first round of the French presidential election, which saw the socialist François Hollande in the lead and a strong showing for Marine Le Pen on the far right, is the clearest ...
Features
“This isn’t rocket science ... ” It’s a common reproach, heard when we make a simple task too complex. Of course, making a rocket work is not science; it’s engineering. The difference between the two is like that between theology and liturgy. Both are important, and each informs the other, but it’s dangerous (in both directions) to substitute the one for the other....
Religion à la modeLinda WoodheadOver the past three months, The Tablet has published a series of articles based on the largest-ever research programme into religion and society in Britain. Here, the project director surveys the changes that have occurred and highlights failure to understand them...
From party to personality politicsEd CoxFor many of England’s big cities, next week’s local elections will also see a referendum on whether they want to have directly elected city mayors. Will this change provide the reviving boost that local democracy needs or merely a political version of celebrity? ...
Security concerns often mean that churches are locked shut to the public unless a service is under way. But imaginative schemes can keep church buildings open to offer inspiration, a hospitable welcome and the quiet contemplative space that visitors yearn for...
Fresh hope from Umbria’s hillsGerard MannionThe ecumenical winter that descended in the 1980s blighted the lives of Churches, causing strained relations within and across faiths. Last week a gathering in Italy suggested that the will and energy exist to reignite the flame of dialogue...
On the breadlineMichael McMahonA devastating combination of job cuts and rising prices are causing more people to struggle to survive. Between them and disaster are food banks, whose help is now so badly needed that they are opening at the rate of one every four days...
The forthcoming Eucharistic Congress takes place in a country still in shock from the clerical child-abuse scandals. But the meeting in June has the potential to be a catalyst to begin the process of spiritual renewal for Church and people...
Churches under-valued or over-estimating themselves?
Francis Davis, guest contributor
From creation to 're-creation'
The Holy See's pavilion at Venice Biennale
From creation to 're-creation'
The Holy See's pavilion at Venice Biennale
Top stories
Church in the World
Vatican doctrinal assessment stuns US women Religious FreeThe leadership of a group that represents 80 per cent of US nuns said it was “stunned” by the findings of a harshly worded doctrinal assessment of them carried out by the ...
Books and arts
Facing up to a failure of the system Free
Child Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church: gender, power, and organizational culture
Marie Keenan
To explore and understand the sexual abuse of children and young people by clergy in Ireland and the attendant responses or, indeed, non-responses, by those in authority, is a task ...