There is recognisably such a thing as Catholic fundamentalism. It might be defined, by reference to Protestant and Islamic parallels, as believing in a strict and literal interpretation of basic texts and leaving no room for development. When the new head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, told Catholic journalists recently that it was not the role of the Catholic press to be "instruments of fundamentalism", this is presumably what he was referring to. Decoded, the phrase seems to mean slavish adherence to a party line, as if there was only one source of truth in the world and that was to be found within the Vatican (or the Vatican as the fundamentalists imagine it to be).

The Tablet knows its fundamentalists all too well, for they sometimes assail it for not being what they are, more Catholic than the Pope. There is no doubt a genuine fear behind this attack that the slightest departure from a very narrow test of orthodoxy immediately opens the door to anarchy and apostasy. But at least since the time of Cardinal Newman it has been generally agreed that the body of Catholic doctrine is never stagnant, but moves according to certain rules and principles in response to discussion, comment and criticism. Without such an understanding, for instance, the Second Vatican Council would not have been possible, nor indeed the First - papal infallibility was itself a development. Against such an understanding, Catholic fundamentalism can be seen as a false ideology, the very thing the fundamentalists are most afraid of.

The preservation of journalism from ideology is one of the themes of this year's papal message for World Communications Day next month. The mass media are legitimately "at the service of a world of greater justice and solidarity", said Pope Benedict. "Unfortunately, though, they risk being transformed into systems aimed at subjecting humanity to agendas dictated by the dominant interests ...

Laïcité is not an easy concept to translate from French to English, nor is it easy to interpret the argument now raging in France about its implications. It refers to the supposedly secular character of French public life, and to the maintenance of a proper distance between Church and State. President Nicolas Sarkozy has stirred up fears, particularly on the French Left, that he wishes to modernise the ...

Disraeli is supposed to have coined the phrase "lies, damned lies and statistics", which would, according to a recent report, be an apt comment on the accuracy of Catholic Mass attendance figures in England and Wales. Research by the Catholic sociologist, Dr Tony Spencer, indicates the true drop in figures over the last 10 years is more than half a million, compared with a mere 72,000 in official figures ...

Profound questions are raised by the way Cardinal Franc Rodé, head of the Vatican department that deals with religious orders, admonished the Society of Jesus for failing to "think with the Church". In a sermon at the start of their 35th General Congregation in Rome, Cardinal Rodé told the assembled Jesuits of his "sadness and anxiety" at the Society's recent record, urging greater ...