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Anthony O’MahonyIn 1981 Israel destroyed a newly built Iraqi nuclear reactor. Now Iran is the perceived nuclear threat, and in recent weeks the Jewish and Islamic states have engaged in alarming sabre-rattling. Today the stakes are even higher than in 1981, but the constraints on conflict are not the same Free
From the editor’s desk
| Grace under pressure Free Bishops of the Anglican Communion have gathered for the Lambeth Conference, which has begun with a retreat. But the calm atmosphere of prayer and contemplation evoked by the word seems to be in strong contrast with the rancorous character of the preliminaries ... | Barack the bridge-builder |
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Features
 Revealed: the modern Catholic Free Core beliefs of practising Catholics, revealed in the sometimes surprising, sometimes touching results of a major survey conducted for The Tablet by Cambridge University’s Von Hügel Institute, are highlighted this week in the first of two special reports. Next week part two uncovers individual attitudes of Catholics to sex and contraception 40 years after Humanae Vitae... |  Relative valuesGeorge WeigelThe Tablet’s survey of Catholics’ attitudes to faith and the family published in this issue reveals a high degree of commitment to that institution among the faithful. Here one of the Church’s foremost commentators argues that the family is vital for the continuing existence of democracy... |
A special callingJane WilliamsThe Church of England has taken a decisive step, following other Anglican Churches, towards the ordination of female bishops. But there are hundreds of other women who have a major role in episcopal ministry: these are bishops’ wives, and they are having their own conference at Lambeth...
| Burnout helps no oneBernard CotterMinisters are called to serve, and to give themselves fully to this work. But pastoral needs can be so demanding that answering them can take a terrible toll on the minister. It is therefore essential that they maintain a balance in their lives, and remember to care also for themselves...
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Unity through worshipChris ChiversAnglican bishops from around the world gathered this week in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference. Every day, the conference begins and ends with an act of worship. Determining the form this should take is always a challenge – never more than now, with the Church’s internal conflicts...
|  Victims of the perfect stormNail CooperThe by-election next week in one of Britain’s poorest constituencies is focusing attention on the plight of those most in need. There is powerful evidence that the people on the lowest incomes are suffering disproportionately from the effects of the credit crunch... |
Sacrifice perfectedDaniel McCarthyOur offerings at Mass, like Christ’s offering of himself, are all intended to bring us to salvation. And as Daniel McCarthy explains, when, by showing mercy, we extend to our neighbour what God has done for us, we join in his saving work...
|  An impossible act to follow, unfortunatelyGünther SimmermacherNelson Mandela turned 90 yesterday. But with South Africa’s democratic institutions under threat and allegations of corruption rife, what has gone wrong, and what is left of the great man’s legacy?... |
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Columnists
 Clifford Longley‘The more “self-defence” knives there are, the greater the likelihood of stabbings’ Shaun Middleton‘The consciences of many priests are being tested by the subtle reform of the reform’
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Books and arts
Ever attentive to grace Free
The Duty of Delight: the diaries of Dorothy Day
Robert Ellsberg
Dorothy Day, the American-born founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, has long been idolised by many of her fellow believers. But even they will be astonished by the revelations ... |
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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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