It may not decide who is to become the next President of the United States, but abortion is once again a hot issue as the 2008 election campaign is launched at the conclusion of the two party conventions. As during the campaign between John Kerry and George W. Bush four years ago, so attention has again focused on the Catholic vote - approximately a quarter of the whole - and how it will be affected by the strongly expressed opinions of some leading members of the Catholic hierarchy. Joe Biden, the man chosen to be vice-presidential running mate for the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, is, like Mr Kerry, an Irish-American Catholic who supports - in a qualified way - the pro-choice position.

The stance taken by socially conservative prelates such as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver is that Senator Biden should not present himself for Holy Communion when he attends Mass, as he does every week. Indeed, he should be refused Communion if he insists on doing so. The fact that Senator Biden has opposed the legalisation of partial-birth abortion and is also against government funds being made available for abortion has not won him a reprieve from Archbishop Chaput's censure. But it may help him with Catholic voters in general, who by no means always do what their bishops tell them to. A significant number of them were persuaded to swing towards Mr Bush in 2004, but many have since noticed that America's pro-abortion laws are no nearer repeal as a result.

No doubt one of the reasons why the Republican candidate, John McCain, has chosen Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is because she is strongly anti-abortion and therefore thought to be a magnet for conservative Catholic and Evangelical voters. But this is an area where the Catholic position itself is more nuanced. Whether or not a particular Catholic politician does or does not receive Communion is an issue that can cause hurt and embarrassment. But it does not stop Catholics from voting for him or her, even on a strict ...

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 ...

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 ...