Leaders

A lockdownless Christmas

EU ruling over abortion harms us all

The Father’s Christmas presence

Diary – Lady Antonia Fraser

Features

Stop the horror – Put an end to sexual violence against Christian women, John Pontifex

Elgars digital revelation how The Dream of Gerontius sheds new light on English Catholic cultureJoanna Bullivant

The ordeal ofCardinal Pell – The Ashes and Evelyn Waugh sustained the Australian Cardinal in prisonWilliam Cash

A child is born to us– How the Gospel articulates the pro-life messageBishop Mark Davies

Rome is wherethe heart is – Why Anglican bishops are turning to CatholicismJonathan Petre

The realignment continues – the exodus to Rome was prophesied decades agoSimon Caldwell

An Abbots Notebook – on the enduring appeal of the Norbertines,Abbot Hugh Allan

Ambition and despair – the centenary of TS Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land‘, Jayme Stayer, SJ

Papal puddings – On the Vatican’s sweet toothAnthony Cazalet

Death at Christmas – Covid-19 has made us more aware of our mortality – and that’s a good thingKarl Gustel Wärnberg

Seeking solitude – Monastic life made Patrick Leigh FermorArtemis Cooper

Mass drop-out – Covid’s long shadowStephen Bullivant

Columns

Serenhedd James – Can we look forward to a better festive season?

Ken Craycraft – The joys of the unexpected at Christmas

Constance Watson – Saving face – escaping social media

Niall Gooch– How to stay chipper in the New Year

Piers Paul Read – Joseph is an essential part of the Nativity

Lara Prendergast – Taking toddlers to Mass

Special Reports

Housing First – Could a bold new initiative end rough sleeping? Olenka Hamilton

GUIDE TO COUNTRY HOUSE CHAPELS – John Martin Robinson and Michael Hodges

Arts & Books

John Adamson reviews The Dissolution of theMonasteries, by James Clark

Theo Hobsonreviews Whatever Happened toTradition?by Tim Stanley

David Scottreviews Devil-land, by Clare Jackson

Gerard Russellreviews The Vanishing, by Janine di Giovanni

Susannah Herbertreviews Collected Poems, by Rowan Williams

Helena Kellyreviews Lily: A Tale of Revenge, by Rose Tremain

Christmas booksfor children Sophia Waugh

Music – Pole stars hit the right noteMichael White

Life & Soul

Diary – Fr Alexander Sherbrooke

Pointed Arch – Exploring the Isle of Wight’s churchesMichael Hodges

The Garden – On the beech tree that embodies prayerCharlie Hart

Tessas Feasts – Tessa Balfour cooks up a festive goose

Richard J Ounsworth – On the Christmas Gospel readings

Obituary:Fra’ Matthew Festing

Travel & Pilgrimage

Rhodes to past glories – A return to the islandWilliam Cash

On Pilgrimage withDr Michael Nazir-Ali

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