It is refreshing to have a bishop who unburdens his mind as candidly and comprehensively as Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue has done in his latest contribution to a series of papers he has been publishing on the state of his diocese, Lancaster. Most of the bishops play their cards so close to their chests that it is hard to know what they think. Indeed, this is one of his points. He says individual bishops should feel freer to speak out on issues of the day, in Church or society, without feeling that they have to defer to the appropriate department of the bishops' conference. In general he is right, and a more open Church would have a more lively exchange of opinion between the leaders and the led, to their mutual advantage. But the overall tenor of his document suggests that his real point lies elsewhere: he does not agree with a lot of what the bishops' conference says or does. The document is noticeably conservative in tone, while the bishops of England and Wales give a general impression of being moderately progressive.

But a broad Church is a healthy Church, and Bishop O'Donoghue's contribution is welcome - provided it is balanced by alternative viewpoints that put forward a less bleakly pessimistic portrait of the state of the Church and where it is heading. He is concerned, for instance, at the fall in Mass attendance; but there is not a lot he is offering that would entice people back. He blames the malaise in the Church since the Second Vatican Council on people misreading that event, seeing it as representing a discontinuity with the Church as it was before - the "year zero" interpretation. That indeed is a misreading; but it is not the reason people have stopped going to Mass. The causes of lapsing from faith are complex and numerous, and deserving of lengthy consideration not only by the hierarchy but parish priests and laity too.

Bishop O'Donoghue is much nearer the mark when he calls for greater appreciation of the riches of the ...

From Chris Hoy to Bradley Wiggins, from Rebecca Adlington to Christine Ohuruogu, British athletes have adorned the winners' rostra at the Olympic Games in Beijing, accumulating an almost unimaginable tally of gold medals. By the time The Tablet went to press, the Olympic medal table showed that Great Britain had won more medals than its chief sporting rival, Australia. It is the largest haul of medals for Great ...

The current armed conflict in the Caucasus has a long history. The province of South Ossetia is sovereign Georgian territory, but it is also a Russian ethnic enclave where many Russian citizens live under the tacit protection of their mother country next door. When Georgia moved to reassert its sovereignty by what was in effect a military invasion, Russia's reply was in kind, and devastating. So Western dismay ...

The Beijing Olympic Games symbolise China's arrival in the front rank of the international community. Barring a major mishap, the Games are set to be an impressive organisational triumph as well as a shop window for China's own sporting prowess - it confidently expects to win more medals than any other nation. But amid all the glory there has to be one serious reservation about China's success story ...

Bishops of the Anglican Communion were fortunate in their choice of speaker on Monday, because talking about the big picture is one of the things the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, does best. He has an acute understanding of the role of religion in society, and an ability to use an attractive narrative style that those not of his persuasion can easily follow. Religion is important to the health and sustainability ...