The revered former editor of The Tablet John Wilkins died on Tuesday after a period of ill-health. His editorship spanned the crucial years from 1982 to 2003, dominated by the papacy of St John Paul II. That pope sought to end the disagreements between competing interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, which had closed in 1965 but had left many loose ends still untied. Pope John Paul II’s desire was to close down the discussion on issues such as female ordination, homosexuality, abortion, contraception and the admission of divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion. He issued definitive answers and made assent to them a test of Catholic orthodoxy.