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Isabel de BertodanoThe murder of Fr Gerry Roche in Kenya is a reminder of the vulnerability of missionaries living in remote and impoverished corners of the world. Yet the dangers have not dimmed the determination of priests, Religious and lay people to continue their work of evangelisation and practical support
Free
From the editor’s desk
| Heroic virtues, deeds of shame Free Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to advance Pius XII to the next stage of the canonisation process has brought criticism from within the Jewish community in Britain and elsewhere. Elevation to the status of “venerable” follows recognition ... | The high price of failure |
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Features
 No faith but IslamDavid PinaultThe threat posed by al-Qaeda in Yemen has come into sharp relief since it became known that the Nigerian student who attempted to blow up a plane on Christmas Day underwent training there. But the country has a long history of hostility to other faiths, as a recent visitor discovered... |  Inching towards a yes?Phyllis ZaganoShortly before Christmas, Pope Benedict issued a brief
motu proprio clarifying canon law on the distinction between the diaconate and the priesthood. It appeared to be a technical step, but it could pave the way for women
to be admitted to the permanent diaconate... |
 Village transformed by passionPhilip CrispinPreparations are well under way in Oberammergau, in southern Germany, which will stage its once-in-a-decade Passion play from May to October this year. As always, there will be a cast of thousands, but a number of innovations are also being planned
... | Self-interest rulesMichael McCarthyChina has widely been blamed for the failure of the Copenhagen summit to agree legally binding cuts in carbon emissions. The world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases appears determined that nothing should be allowed to check its continued economic growth...
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Anointed by the SpiritDaniel McCarthyOur baptismal identity is based on that of Christ. The voice at the Baptism of Jesus witnesses to the Word of God come down from heaven to dwell among us. And, like Christ, we too are anointed to bring good news to the poor, as Daniel McCarthy explains...
|  Prophet and loss on the high streetRalph BaxterNearly five million religious books are sold in Britain
each year, but Christian bookshops are disappearing from our towns. Do the remaining shops have a future, or is competition from the internet posing too big a challenge?... |
Belonging begins hereKaren NorthBringing together young adults in a parish can promote friendship, strengthen
community ties and create a forum for discussions of faith. But be wary of having an
inflexible structure, or you may scare off more people than you attract...
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Columnists
 Clifford Longley‘I’m not alone in finding the Church’s reliance on miracles strains credibility’  Christopher Howse‘The wickedness of papistry still attracts sectarian attention in the north of Britain’
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Books and arts
Nurturing a noble tradition Free
God, Philosophy, Universities: a history of the Catholic philosophical tradition
Alasdair MacIntyre
Alasdair MacIntyre lists three problems that are inescapable for theism. The first is how to reconcile the goodness of God with the evil in the universe. The second is this: if God ... |
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Can the Church support abuse victims on its own terms?
Elena Curti
The clear message that emerged from the symposium on child sexual abuse held in Rome from ... 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 ...
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