CATHOLIC NEWS REVUE

In The Tablet this week:

Papal visit will not have much impact, says bishop

The Bishop of Motherwell has said he does not believe Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain will have much of an impact on the Church in Scotland. “We have known Benedict XVI for a very long time, or at least the clergy have, so I would not imagine the impact will be great, I think the visit will be interesting and quite important but I don't anticipate that it will have a long-lasting effect," said Bishop Joseph Devine. The bishop explained that even after the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1982 the “effect was not terribly sustaining.” The Scottish Church is facing a declining Catholic population and Bishop Devine admitted that in the coming years the number of parishes will be “drastically reduced”.

Austrian Catholic schools weather abuse scandal

Applications to Austrian Catholic schools at the beginning of the school year are higher than normal, despite the clerical sexual abuse scandals of the last nine months. Although definite figures will not be available until 1 October, most schools say their numbers are up compared to last year and that was a record year. There were 70,000 pupils at Austria’s 348 Catholic schools in 2009. Child protection programmes at Catholic schools have been expanded, and the subject is now included in teacher training

Cardinal Newman: the man and his ideas

John Henry Newman was the most celebrated English convert to Catholicism of the nineteenth century and is still widely revered as one of the great Catholic scholars and theologians of all times. A complex personality, he caused huge controversy when he left the Anglican Church for Rome. His beatification, which is to be carried out by Pope Benedict XVI in Birmingham on 19 September, follows the Vatican’s recognition as a miracle of the healing of a US deacon, Jack Sullivan, from a severe back condition. In a series of articles on The Tablet wesite writers explore his legacy, teaching and close friendships.

Indian professor attacked by Islamists loses job

A Catholic professor in the Indian state of Kerala who had his arm severed by Muslim radicals has been sacked by his college. On 4 July Professor T J Joseph was assaulted by Islamists who found a punctuation exercise he set in an exam insulting to Islam. Newman College in Kothamangalam diocese raised more than 600,000 rupees (£8,400) for treatment of the professor’s injuries including the reattachment of his arm, but it dismissed him on Saturday saying he had “hurt the religious feelings of a community”.

www.thetablet.co.uk/