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Julia LangdonIn Manchester this week Gordon Brown attempted to define himself as the man best equipped to lead the Labour Party into the next general election. But for many in the party and the country, his faults have been found out, and there is no going back Free
From the editor’s desk
| The financiers we need Free The Churches in Britain have a long and distinguished record of commenting authoritatively on issues of economics and social justice, a tradition embracing the Anglican "Faith in the City" report in 1985, the Catholic statement "The ... | Mystery of Pius XII |
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Features
 A woman for our time?Catherine PepinsterMarie 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’... | Protestant paradise lostTheo HobsonThis 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...
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Lost on a wing and a prayerRichard OwenThere 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 invisibleKeith BarltropThe 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... |
Small is powerfulMark NashWith 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...
|  Meltdown of trustWilliam KeeganThe 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... |
 Church with a Midas touchRobert MickensThe 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... | Accept and blessDaniel McCarthyGod’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...
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Columnists
 Clifford Longley‘Britain has become an enterprise “run down by everyone engaged in it”’  Christopher Howse‘El Mundo is regarded by some as others regard a bull that is manso – has no fight’
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Books and arts
A long, sentimental journey Free
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: on the tracks of The Great Railway Bazaar
Paul Theroux
Travelling is a waste of time. Those who self-consciously travel (as opposed to those simply going from A to B) are an egotistical and superficial bunch, always passing through, ... |
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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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