COLUMNS

5 DAVID B LA I R

‘As a religious leader, Khamenei believes that he benefits from divine guidance’

9 CHRISTOPHER HOWSE’S

PRESSWATCH ‘When I hear the word “innovation” I reach for my Herodotus’’

1 4 LAURENCE FREEMAN

‘In inter-religious dialogue, the closer you get the further away you are’

1 5 PARISH PRACTICE 1 6 NOTEBOOK 1 7 L ETTERS 1 8 THE L I V I NG S P I R I T 1 9 PUZZLES

BOOKS OF THE YEAR

2 0 Lynn Roberts, Tim Heald, Brian Morton,

Robert Carver, Melanie McDonagh, Emma Klein, Michael Glover and Terry Philpot are among the Tablet reviewers choosing books that have entertained and informed them during the past 12 months

ARTS

2 4 F EATURE

Brian Morton Theolonious Monk

T E L EV I S I ON John Morrish Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook

RADIO D.J.Taylor St Ives and Me

THEATRE Mark Lawson The Comedy of Errors

OPERA Robert Thicknesse Hansel and Gretel

CONTENTS

1 0 DECEMBER 2 0 1 1

F EATURES

4 Lost on the plains of Abraham Peter Kavanagh

In once-devout Quebec, Catholicism is struggling to prevent itself becoming simply an aspect of heritage rather than a living faith COVER STORY 6 Inhuman bondage Elena Curti

At the bishops’ conference’s seminar on people trafficking, specialists convened to discuss ways of rooting out the brutal trade

6 Should London become Europe’s prostitution capital? Denis MacShane An MP warns that legalising brothels will do nothing to help men and women forced to sell their bodies

8 Now vulture funds are starting to circle William Keegan

Government bonds were once a safe investment. Now a new type of player has left the market for them rocked by the financial crisis

1 0 Shepherd of a scattered f lock Catherine Pepinster

The Archbishop of Karachi tells The Tablet how Pakistan’s Catholics cope with Islamic fundamentalism and a dearth of priests

1 1 Bearing his kingdom Laurentia Johns

The third in our series of seasonal reflections looks at Vespers, and its recitation of the Magnificat

1 2 All together now Anita Boniface

When many congregations are shrinking, one church in a west London suburb is flourishing. So how is it bucking the trend?

2 8 THE CHURCH I N THE WORLD

Pope puts family values at heart of New Evangelisation 3 1 L ETTER FROM ROME 3 2 NEWS FROM BRITAIN AND I RELAND

Priest numbers fall as workload rises

COVER ILLUSTRATION: NERUUU

10 December 2011 | THE TABLET | 3