| Ways to deepen faith this lent Free
Friday abstinence from meat and Lenten fasting were obligatory for Catholics until about 40 years ago, with one or two exceptions such as Good Friday. As we begin Lent this week, there is now a serious case for reviving these customs, for they ... | |
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Texts in full
Sexual abuse: a multi-faceted response
Cardinal Levada addresses Rome conference
"Toward Healing and Renewal" is the title given to this Symposium for Catholic Bishops and Religious Superiors on the Sexual Abuse of Minors. For leaders in the Church for whom this ... | Prayer for Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral issue text
The Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral has written a prayer for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which will be used at the cathedral's service of thanksgiving on 5 June. The Archbishops of ... |
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Features
Cries of the forgotten Free Fiona CallisterAmong the countries to benefit from money raised on this Friday?s Lenten fast day will be two that suffered natural disasters but were eclipsed from the headlines by others. Here, the situation in Guatemala is examined, and opposite, Joseph Mpinganjira describes that in Malawi...
| One nation, two BritainsAnn WiddecombeWe are creating a class of socially deprived people. If this is to change, says the former Home Office minister, the more fortunate cannot, as the parable of the Good Samaritan puts it, pass by on the other side. We must relieve need where we find it, not assume that the state will do so...
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Be wise and knowPeter MilwardWith a sharp fall in British university students wanting to study humanities, the focus is on vocational courses. So is university education just about passing on knowledge and practical skills? An academic at a university in Japan says we must make students think for themselves...
| The looting of the churchesColin HardingIn Latin America, theft of valuable works of art from unprotected colonial-era churches is on the increase. Demand for these objects is so great that for criminal organisations the trade in stolen art has become almost as lucrative as drugs-trafficking or arms-dealing...
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Tender saplings of dialogueIan LindenLast month, a conference took place in Tehran including Western and Iranian academics and clerics in an attempt to find common ground, away from the heated rhetoric between governments. As one participant?s dairy reveals, hopes of communication are there, but fragile...
| Crisis in the countrysidePhilip CrispinProfound changes are taking place in England?s green and not so pleasant pastures that are throwing up serious pastoral challenges to the Church?s small rural ministry These must be addressed if faith is to be nurtured in our remote hills and valleys...
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Roma, rage and reasonPatricia Maxwell LewisFew events can arouse more furious local opposition than the arrival of Gypsy families in the neighbourhood. But the Church has a responsibility to bring settled people and travellers together and to promote a sense of community...
| Light in the darknessJames LeachmanPopular, prayerful devotions can deepen faith, and particularly help those considering joining or returning to the Church and welcome those seeking spiritual truth...
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Columnists
Clifford Longley ?Prince Charles is only slightly dotty. But he is Prince Busybody? Libby Purves ?What stands between young couples and big families are money, bricks and mortar?
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Books and arts
America’s thaw of the superpower freeze Free
The Cold War
J.L. Gaddis
During the evening of 8 November 1989 I was standing in the big reception hall of
the Soviet embassy in Sana’a, capital of the Yemen Arab Republic. A first lieutenant, I was in ... |
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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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