COLUMNS

5 DAVID B LA I R

‘Sabotage campaigns are subject to the law of diminishing returns’

1 4 SARA MAITLAND

‘Once or twice I have prayed for a month against the grain of my preferences’

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

CONTENTS

1 8 F EBRUARY 2 0 1 2

F EATURES

COVER STORY 4 Slaying the secular dragon Catherine Pepinster

Britain’s first Muslim female Cabinet Minister, who caused a storm with a speech in Rome this week, talks to The Tablet’s editor

6 An elusive justice Michael Gunn

A year after demonstrators unseated President Hosni Mubarak, the army is still in charge in Egypt and protestors are weary of unrest

8 ‘Never again’ Elena Curti

More than 130 bishops and religious superiors meeting in Rome last week pledged to end once and for all clerical abuse

BOOKS

2 0 DENIS ALEXANDER

Christianity in Evolution: an exploration Jack Mahoney

I AN BRADLEY Queen Elizabeth II: her life in our times Sarah Bradford

The Diamond Queen: Elizabeth II and her people Andrew Marr

ARTS

2 4 F EATURE

Laura Gascoigne Lucian Freud at the National Portrait Gallery, London

C I NEMA Francine Stock Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

RADIO D.J. Taylor Famed for its Knitting – Woman’s Weekly

THEATRE Mark Lawson She Stoops to Conquer

1 0 Faith plain and simple Peter Stanford

How a three-part documentary beginning next week on BBC Television portayed Catholics young and old

1 1 Two of a kind Sue Gaisford

Two nuns whose clarity and generosity as teachers changed lives for ever are remembered by The Tablet’s former literary editor

1 2 Does religious education work? James C. Conroy

A lead author of major research on religion and society argues that RE not only matters but is crucial for children’s learning

2 8 THE CHURCH I N THE WORLD

Greece’s Catholic leader appeals to Pope for help 3 0 L ETTER FROM ROME 3 1 NEWS FROM BRITAIN AND I RELAND

Queen defends role of Christianity as ‘woven into the fabric of society’ 3 4 OBITUARY

Angela Cunningham

18 February 2012 | THE TABLET | 3