COLUMNS

5 CATHERINE P E P I NSTER

‘The Olympic legacy will be rather like the impact of the papal visit on Catholics’

1 1 SARA MAITLAND

‘Like the weather, it is impossible to speak about “absolute” virtue’

CONTENTS

1 8 AUGUST 2 0 1 2

F EATURES

4 Where are the penitents? John Cornwell

The author of a forthcoming book on the Sacrament of Reconciliation explores why so few of the faithful frequent the confessional

1 4 PARISH PRACTICE 1 5 NOTEBOOK 1 6 L ETTERS 1 7 THE L I V I NG S P I R I T 1 8 PUZZLES

BOOKS

1 9 N I CHOLAS SAGOVSKY

How Much is Enough? The love of money, and the case for the good life Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky

H I LMAR M . PABEL My Journal of the Council Yves Congar, translated by Mary John Ronayne, Mary Cecily Boulding, Denis Minns

N I CK GARRARD The Chemistry of Tears Peter Carey

6 Obama’s drone wars: a case to answer

Tobias L. Winright and Mark J. Allman As the US President increases the use of unmanned air strikes, two theologians explore whether this policy fits with ‘just war’ tradition

8 And did those feet … Daniel O’Leary

Dancing can articulate the entire spectrum of human emotions, encompassing everything from freedom to deepest loss

1 0 The great divide Michael Sean Winters

Both vice-presidential candidates in this November’s American elections are Catholics, but of very different types

1 2 Fighting talk Phyllis Zagano

At its recent gathering, the leadership body of US nuns was determined in its rejection of the Vatican’s critique of it

ARTS

2 2 F EATURE

Philip Crispin York Mystery Plays

T E L EV I S I ON John Morrish Accused

RADIO D.J. Taylor The Best of Everything

MUSIC Rick Jones BBC Proms 32, 33, 37

2 5 THE CHURCH I N THE WORLD

Pope’s former butler to go on trial

2 8 NEWS FROM BRITAIN AND I RELAND

University watchdog criticises St Mary’s

COVER ILLUSTRATION: JAMES BENN

18 August 2012 | THE TABLET | 3