Meltdown of trust

The Prime Minister is promising to curb the City excesses believed by many to have contributed to the current financial crisis. But he himself pioneered ‘light touch’ regulation when Labour was courting business, and is now reaping the consequences...

Protestant paradise lost

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of the poet John Milton, a passionate advocate of religious toleration – although his liberalism did not extend to Catholics. The author of a new book on Milton explains how his views were influential on later thinkers and even find echoes today...

A woman for our time?

Marie Stopes, honoured on a new postage stamp, is well known as a pioneer in the field of contraception. What is less well known is the influence on her work of her belief in eugenics – that by limiting the numbers of the poor by birth control it would be possible to improve the English ‘race’...

Church with a Midas touch

The Vatican’s investments have suffered from the recent turmoil in the financial markets but we can exclusively reveal that shrewd investments – particularly shifting from shares into bonds, cash and gold – are helping it to weather the storm...

Lost on a wing and a prayer

There is just a slim hope that Alitalia, the Italian national airline that provides most of the planes for papal travel, will survive its current financial troubles, says Richard Owen. But if a rescuer is found the days of overstaffing and fringe benefits will be gone for good...

Through the visible to the invisible

The relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux will be travelling around England and Wales in a year’s time. Some people are puzzled by the survival of this form of devotion, but it is deeply rooted in the Catholic faith and has a power to reach out to spiritual seekers...

Accept and bless

God’s blessing of Abraham anticipates God’s providing of Christ’s self-offering on our behalf, writes Daniel McCarthy. Our sharing in Christ’s offering, with bread and wine, means that we can be filled with every blessing, in particular that of unity...

Small is powerful

With the Synod of Bishops, beginning on 5 October, focusing on ‘The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church’, Scripture is at the forefront of many people’s minds. One of the most powerful ways people can experience it is through intimate Bible-study groups...

Curiosity and the cat

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