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Thomas NortonAmnesty International is shifting its position on abortion, from its long-held neutral stance to one that regards abortion as a mother's right in certain circumstances. An association with the Catholic Church that dates from the charity's foundation is now under threat Free
From the editor’s desk
| Dangers of a narrow faith Free Pope Benedict XVI has made it clear that he would like to end the almost universal prohibition on celebration of the Tridentine Mass. He has run into some opposition, and the reasons are worth examining. One of the few exceptions to the prohibition ... | Let the real battle commence |
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Features
A sorry tale of violence and broken promises Free Trevor MostynOne day in 1994, when I was involved in a European Union media programme that brought Arab, Israeli and EU journalists and filmmakers together through co-productions and training, I was taken by Ahmed, one of our radio trainees, to lunch with his family in Gaza City's Shati refugee camp....
|  Hidden agendas in the Holy Land Free Michael Hirst Michael Hirst looks at how al-Qaida, Syria and Iran are involved in the destabilisation of Israel, while, below, Trevor Mostyn examines why Palestinian has turned on Palestinian in Gaza... |
 Ditch the sofa, GordonPeter Hennessy Tony Blair?s premiership has been characterised by informal decision-making in the parlours of Number 10 ? so-called ?sofa Government?. With a new Prime Minister taking over next week, there is a chance for the Cabinet and civil service to re-establish their constitutional roles... | Welcome that can last a lifetimePeter McGrailThe pre-baptismal encounters between parents and parish can be fraught with tensions for both parties, as motives are assessed and reactions judged. On the feast of St John the Baptist, ways to make this key moment in a family?s life as meaningful and faith-affirming as possible are examined...
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By any other nameRick JonesSir John Tavener?s work based on the names for God in the Qur?an was given a controversial premiere in Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday. Here, music critic Rick Jones gives his verdict on the performance while Martin Boland answers those protesting at the choice of venue...
| A growing flock of friendsRobert MickensOn the final day of the Second Vatican Council, Enzo Bianchi moved to Bose in Piedmont, beginning a monastic way of life that has since grown into an ecumenical community. Robert Mickens met a man little known to the public but with increasing influence on the Church...
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In the depths of one?s selfJohn McDadeA rare exhibition of some 75 works by the seventeenth-century French painter Philippe de Champaigne currently on show in Lille casts a lambent light over Jansenist life and thought at the Paris convent of Port Royal where many of his paintings were first hung...
| Reducing poverty must top new PM?s agendaPaul NicolsonIn the early 1990s the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust was conceived by a group of academics, clergy, lawyers and charity workers concerned at the damage being done by the poll tax to people with the lowest incomes, writes Paul Nicolson....
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Among the convict communityMargaret HebblethwaiteBrazil?s prisons have a reputation as places of violent depravity. But, in the last of an occasional series, we visit a jail where the cooperative spirit is flourishing...
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Columnists
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Books and arts
Audacious Ariel?s inner elements Free
Being Shelley
Ann Wroe
How could the central message of the gospels, and of St Paul, as delivered by the Churches both Catholic and Reformed during the revolutionary period of the late eighteenth to early ... |
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Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools?
Christopher Lamb
According to the chairman of governors at the Cardinal Vaughan School, west London, one ... Goodwin the scapegoat
Elena Curti
There was an old Sixties TV series, Branded, about a disgraced soldier that always began ... The pain of being a coeliac Catholic
Sr M, guest contributor
"Whoever comes to me, I shall not turn (him) her away" (John 6:37). Many readers will recognise ...
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