We may mock the Young Conservatives of the Fifties but they were unswervingly loyal and a formidable electoral force

I tried to help Andrea, a disorientated stranger at a hectic London station, to the irritation of the state’s representatives

Jovial, informal and compassionate, the new Pontiff has the qualities to restore faith in the Vatican and to promote women in the Church

Faced with an astonishing revival of Christianity in China, Beijing is reacting with a mixture of alarm, repression and control