 | |
| Editor | Brendan Walsh |
|---|---|
| Categories | Catholicism |
| Frequency | Weekly (except Christmas) |
| Total circulation | 18,772 (publisher's statement) (2017) |
| First issue | 16 May 1840 |
| Company | Tablet Publishing Company |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Website | thetablet.co.uk |
| ISSN | 0039-8837 |
The Tablet is aCatholic international weekly review published inLondon.[1] Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017.[2]
The Tablet was launched in 1840 by aQuaker convert toCatholicism,Frederick Lucas, 10 years before therestoration of theCatholic hierarchy inEngland and Wales. It is the second-oldest surviving weekly journal in Britain.[3]
For the first 28 years of its life,The Tablet was owned bylay Catholics. Following the death of Lucas in 1855, it was purchased by John Edward Wallis, a Catholic barrister of theInner Temple. Wallis continued as owner and editor until resigning and putting the newspaper up for sale in 1868.
In 1868,the Rev.Herbert Vaughan (who was later made acardinal), who had founded the only British Catholic missionary society, theMill Hill Missionaries,[4] purchased the journal just before theFirst Vatican Council, which definedpapal infallibility. At his death he bequeathed the journal to theArchbishops of Westminster, the profits to be divided between Westminster Cathedral and the Mill Hill Missionaries.[citation needed]The Tablet was owned by successive Archbishops of Westminster for 67 years. In 1935,Archbishop (later Cardinal)Arthur Hinsley sold the journal to a group of Catholic laymen. In 1976 ownership passed to the Tablet Trust, a registered charity.[5]
From 1936 to 1967, the review was edited byDouglas Woodruff, formerly ofThe Times, a historian and reputed wit whose hero wasHilaire Belloc.[6] His wide range of contacts and his knowledge of international affairs made the paper, it was said,[who?] essential reading in embassies around the world. He restored the fortunes ofThe Tablet, which had declined steeply. For many years (1938–1961) he was assisted byMichael Derrick, who after the Second World War was often acting editor. Woodruff was followed as editor by the publisher and, likeWoodruff, part-ownerTom Burns, who served from 1967 to 1982. Burns, a conservative in his political views, was a progressive on church matters, firmly in favour of theVatican II church reforms. A watershed came in 1968, whenThe Tablet took an editorial stance at odds withPope Paul VI's encyclicalHumanae vitae, which restated the traditional teaching against artificial contraception. Burns was followed by the BBC producer John Wilkins, who had been Burns's assistant from 1967 to 1971. Under his editorship the journal's political stance was seen as centre-left. The paper continued to have a distinctive voice, consistently advocating further changes in the church's post-Vatican II life and doctrine. Circulation climbed steadily throughout Wilkins's 21-year tenure. He retired at the end of 2003.Catherine Pepinster,[7] formerly executive editor ofThe Independent on Sunday, became the first female editor ofThe Tablet in 2004.[8] She said that "the journal will continue to provide a forum for 'progressive, but responsible Catholic thinking, a place where orthodoxy is at home but ideas are welcome'."[3] In 2012ITV journalistJulie Etchingham became the review's first guest editor, leading a special issue on theCAFOD charity.[9] On succeeding Catherine Pepinster as editor on 12 July 2017, Brendan Walsh said: 'I will do all I can to cherish and protect its values and the quality of its journalism.'[2]
Contributors toThe Tablet have includedPopesBenedict XVI andPaul VI (while cardinals), the novelistsEvelyn Waugh andGraham Greene,Mark Lawson,Francine Stock,Peter Hennessy,Henry Wansbrough andBernard Green.[3]
