democracy in the catholic church?

A series of abuse and cover-up scandals within the Catholic church has alienated many in in one of its historic heartlands. But the Vatican remains in denial, says Michael Walsh.

A delicate papal visit to Britain was in the end a diplomatic success. All the more reason to examine the ideas it advanced, says Michael Walsh.

The current form of governance of the Catholic church and the Vatican City State raises fundamental questions about these institutions - and their titular head, says Michael Walsh.

The sexual violation of young people within the Catholic church is the poisonous legacy of a long tradition of contempt for human sexuality in an institution which has privileged secrecy and unaccountable power over transparency and participation. But the silence and darkness revealed by the scandal must not be allowed to define the majority of Catholics who are the living church, says Tina Beattie.

The burgeoning international scandal involving the abuse of children by Catholic clergy is the biggest crisis for the church since the 16th-century reformation, says Michael Walsh.

(This article was first published on 22 March 2010)