Stephanie Dowrick is one of Australia’s most influential spiritual teachers. She has carved out a unique and independent niche in the realm of religion in this country. She is a prolific, best-selling author, a qualified psychotherapist, and much in demand as a speaker. She leads spiritual tours and retreats, and is a pioneer among the handful Read more
A cracked voice, an empty bank account, a tour of duty. Who would have thought so much light could still get in? Leonard Cohen’s autumnal years have been afflicted, and his writing nuanced, by more than a simple awareness of his own mortality. The Canadian singer-songwriter spent most of the 1990s in a Zen monastery Read more
The rise of political Islam following the Arab Spring has many worried that the democratic achievements of the revolution could be lost. In Egypt and Tunisia alike, citizens are once again taking to the streets. But this time they are opposing Islamism. Does secularism still stand a chance? Egypt’s strongman was sitting in the first Read more
It is now a year since the new English translation of the Order of Mass has been in use throughout the English-speaking world, and the London Tablet wants to know what you think. If you are a regular Mass-goer, you are probably no longer stumbling over ‘Lord I am not worthy to receive you under Read more
Alcoholics Anonymous provides a non-medical intervention for problem drinking. It’s based on a Twelve Steps program of spiritual and character development, and tends to polarise the medical field, largely because of its emphasis on spirituality. AA is arguably one of the only treatments effective for alcoholics wishing to become sober. And few, if any, support groups or Read more
Have we as pro-life Catholics been wrong to invest the lion’s share of our time, talent and energy in the political battle against abortion over the past forty years? Or even if we have not been wrong the whole time, are we wrong now? Perhaps it is obvious that I believe the answer is yes. It Read more
Only one in eight of the couples and individuals who try to adopt children are approved by social workers, official figures revealed yesterday. The shocking statistics mean that more than 22,000 would-be adoptive parents vanish from the system every year. The figures were made public for the first time by the schools and children inspectorate Read more
He worked his way into the upper echelons of society on both sides of the Atlantic, using a series of adopted personas. But when he died of a heart attack in 1977, alone in a flat in Kensington, his only son – the person closest to him at the end of his life – did Read more
The Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz, in her study of sexual exploitation by urban gangs found that the “use and impact” of pornography was a major factor in 48 percent of interviews with abuse victims and perpetrators. The highly easy access of porn online skewed young people’s views about what is “acceptable, required or expected” Read more
Ireland contra mundum – or more accurately, mundus contra Hiberniam – seems to be the burden of shrill, not to say lurid headlines circling the globe since Wednesday of last week, when the story broke about the tragic death of a pregnant Indian woman in a Galway hospital on October 28. But the facts surrounding Read more