PHOTO: CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

The Pope has been forced to use a wheelchair after crippling knee pain left him unable to walk 26

COLUMN

Christopher Howse’s Notebook ‘Should Catholics read Kipling? The question would have sounded silly a generation ago’ / 9

REGULARS Word from the Cloisters 14 Puzzles 14 Letters 15 The Living Spirit 16 Ethical Kitchen 30 Glimpses of Eden 30

CONTENTS 14 MAY 2022 // VOL 276 NO. 9452

FEATURES

4 / In the footsteps of a saint Charles de Foucauld’s message that the Gospel is best ‘shown’ rather than ‘told’

has inspired an increasing number of followers / BY KATHLEEN MCKEE

6 / Court in the crossfire The legitimacy of the Supreme Court is under threat as the perception grows that the justices are ‘politicians in robes’ / BY MICHAEL MCGOUGH

7 / A nation divided

The Catholic Church will have a vital role if the struggle over abortion moves to the state level after the Supreme Court’s ruling / BY MICHAEL SEAN WINTERS

8 / The Tablet Interview: Rachel Billington At the age of 80, the novelist, journalist and screenwriter explains why her fiction writing has come to a stop for now / BY PETER STANFORD

10 / Macron’s tough choices The winner of the French presidential election has to decide whether to reform or unite his country. He cannot do both / BY PATRICK MARNHAM

12 / Breach of trust

The clouds over Westminster are darkening – for the economy, the credibility of the government and the future of the party leaders / BY JULIA LANGDON

NEWS

23 / The Church in the World / News briefing

24 / Pope under fire for criticism of Nato

26 / View from Rome 27 / News from Britain and Ireland / News briefing 28 / Laity make voices heard on direction of Church

COVER: MONSTER CHETWYND’S ST CUTHBERT DIORAMA. PHOTO: DAVID WOOD FOR SUNDERLAND CULTURE

BOOKS / PAGE 17

Michael Walsh The Jesuits: A History MARKUS FRIEDRICH Catherine Pepinster The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil TINA BROWN Julian George Memories of Starobielsk: Essays Between Art and History JÓZEF CZAPSKI Alexander Lucie-Smith The Young Pretender MICHAEL ARDITTI

ARTS / PAGE 20 Exhibition Glass Exchange LAURA GASCOIGNE Theatre Middle; Marys Seacole MARK LAWSON Cinema The Quiet Girl ISABELLE GREY Television The Essex Serpent LUCY LETHBRIDGE

For more features, news, analysis and comment, visit www.thetablet.co.uk

14 MAY 2022 | THE TABLET | 3