| Faith and the BBC Free In 1984 the then-Lutheran (later Catholic) American polemicist Richard Neuhaus published his book The Naked Public Square, a counter-attack on those who were trying to use the American First Amendment about the separation of Church and State to make ... | Not a burden but a gift |
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Features
 Swords crossed over a crucifixAidan O'NeillThe Italian Government is seeking to appeal against a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that could lead to the removal of crucifixes from state school classrooms. A leading human-rights lawyer looks at a case that goes to the heart arguments about the relationship between Church and State... |  Sex, teens and targetsIsabel de BertodanoIn spite of spending £300 million on sex education, contraception and the morning-after pill, the Government has admitted it will fail to meet its target of halving the number of teenage pregnancies by 2010. Catholic schools believe their approach to sex education is more effective... |
‘We are at a crucial moment’Fouad TwalThe Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem this week told the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales that
he is pessimistic about the Israeli Prime Minister’s offer of concessions to the Palestinians, and launched a charity to support Christians in the Holy Land. Here we present extracts from his address...
| His endless reignDaniel McCarthyThe end of the liturgical year builds to a crescendo in this feast. Changes to the prayer may well reflect both a renewed confidence in the Church after the Second Vatican Council, writes Daniel McCarthy, and the growing influence of the ecumenical movement on many Christians...
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Anglican offerings that enrich the ChurchMark WoodruffA Catholic priest who was first ordained in the Church of England argues that the apostolic constitution facilitating the reception of Anglicans into the Catholic Church need not be seen as an ecumenical barrier, and should be considered an enrichment of Roman Catholicism...
|  Devoted to an African ‘Jesus’Paul O'CallaghanAround a million Kenyans worship in a Church that has a special devotion to Mary and has its headquarters in ‘Jerusalem’. But why has a sect called Legio Maria drifted so far from its Christian roots, and what can the Church learn from the experience?
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Don’t forget to wake earlyDaniel O'LearyIf we are in a state of depression, or prone to such states, it is at least partly our habits of thought that bring us there or keep us there. But, even on the dark winter mornings, it is possible to allow ourselves to emerge from the gloom...
| Songs of waitingStephen DeanIn our culture, the distinction between Advent and Christmas has become increasingly blurred. It is important to maintain that distinction in our liturgy, with hymns and music appropriate to the season...
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Columnists
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Books and arts
It aint necessarily so Free
The invention of the Jewish people
Shlomo Sand
To call Shlomo Sand’s new book “challenging” would be an understatement. The challenge begins with the English title: it goes further than a literal translation ... |
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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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