PHOTO: ALAMY, JOAN GRAVELL

COLUMNS

Liz Dodd

‘My images of God would dance away, like a flower shedding petals’ / 9

Melanie McDonagh’s

Notebook ‘It’s gratifying when a venerable tradition turns out to be in tune with the times’ / 12

REGULARS

Letters 14

The Living Spirit 15

Word from

the Cloisters 16

Puzzles

16

Extra Time 30

Glimpses of Eden 30

CONTENTS

25 FEBRUARY 2023 // VOL 277 NO. 9491

FEATURES

4 / A volcano ready to explode

Newfoundland’s Catholics have been galvanised by the archdiocese’s decision to sell off the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in St John’s /BY MICHAEL W. HIGGINS

6 / ‘He showed us our better side’

The Pope challenged the leaders and listened to the hopes of the young in central Africa. But will his visit make a difference? / BY MATTHEW KUKAH

8 / There’s a place for us

The first of six contributors to our Lent series looks back on her eager embrace of austerity as a young nun / BY LAVINIA BYRNE

10 / A saint for today

Wales has a rich tradition of holy men and women, but David remains the one whose message best resonates for the modern age / BY MYFANWY ALEXANDER

11 / The Peruvian tragedy

A gap between the rural population and what they see as the Lima-based elite is at the root of a crisis that has claimed dozens of lives / BY FRANCIS MCDONAGH

13 / ‘The faith and the pain are great’

Cistercian nuns in a Maronite Christian village in northern Syria have opened their doors to families made homeless by the earthquakes / BY MARTA LUISA FAGNANI

NEWS

23 / The Church in the World / News briefing 24 / ‘Peacemaker’ found dead in his Los Angeles home

26 / View from Rome

27 / News from Britain and Ireland / News briefing

28 / ‘We should not be prosecuting thought crimes’

COVER: ALAMY/ZUMA/SOPA, MURAT KOCABAS

BOOKS / PAGE 17

Isabel Lloyd

Urban Jungle:

Wilding the City

BEN WILSON

Catherine

Pepinster

Welsh Saints from

Welsh Churches

MARTIN CRAMPIN

Anthony Gardner

My Father’s House JOSEPH O’CONNOR

Ruth Gledhill

Father Ed : The

Story of Bill W.’s

Spiritual Sponsor

DAWN EDEN

GOLDSTEIN

Julie Etchingham

Say it to God LUIGI GIOIA

ARTS / PAGE 20

Exhibition

Catherine & Anne:

Queens, Rivals,

Mothers

JOANNA MOORHEAD

Radio

Woke: The Journey

of a Word

D.J. TAYLOR

Theatre

Unexpected Twist

MARK LAWSON

Television

The Twelve

LUCY LETHBRIDGE