PHOTO: ALAMY/EFE, JOEBETH TERRÍQUEZ

A migrant camp near the port of El Chaparral in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico 8

COLUMN

Melanie McDonagh’s Notebook ‘The Churches have got only so much moral capital; squandering it is a waste’ / 7

REGULARS Word from the Cloisters 16 Puzzles 16 Letters 17 The Living Spirit 18

CONTENTS 24 APRIL 2021 // VOL 275 NO. 9399

FEATURES

4 / How to elect a pope

A church historian fears a future conclave run according to the current rules is open

to catastrophe and he urges Pope Francis to make reforms / BY ALBERTO MELLONI

6 / Testament of faith

The values of Shirley Williams, one of the most inspiring women in public life since

the Second World War, were rooted in her Catholic faith / BY CATHERINE PEPINSTER

8 / South of the border

Immigration reform is a defining issue for Joe Biden’s presidenc y, yet the heart of

the crisis lies not in the US but in Central America / BY MARTHA PSKOWSKI

11 / To love and to serve A Catholic head teacher explains why children get a better education at a good

comprehensive than at a private school / BY MAGGIE FERGUSSON

13 / Battle of the sex educators A relationships and sex education programme has sparked protests and revealed

tensions in the Church over its teaching on sexuality / BY ANNABEL MILLER

14 / The teachers who inspired me The Tottenham MP remembers Mary Shepherd, an inner city teacher in the 1970s, and Brenda Pinder, the first to make him believe he could excel / BY DAVID LAMMY

NEWS

25 / The Church in the World / News briefing 26 / African prelate challenges ‘foreign’ ideas

28 / View from Rome 29 / News from Britain and Ireland / News briefing

30 / Ireland makes going to Mass a crime

COVER: ALAMY, HOMER SYKES

BOOKS / PAGE 19

Mark Hudson Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis SERHII PLOKHY

Marcus Tanner Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle with Coronavirus JONATHAN CA LVERT AND GEORGE ARBUTHNOTT

Lindsay Duguid Monica Jones, Philip Larkin and Me: Her Life and Long Loves JOHN SUTHERLAND

ARTS / PAGE 22

Music Mary and Sophie Bevan ALEXANDRA COGHLAN

Radio In the Studio D.J. TAYLOR

Theatre Lights Up MARK LAWSON

Television Lucy, the Human Chimp LUCY LETHBRIDGE

24 APRIL 2021 | THE TABLET | 3