New editor for The Tablet.

London -- John Wilkins, editor of the British Catholic weekly The Tablet, has retired after twenty-one years at the head of the English-speaking world's most prestigious Catholic news publication. He has been succeeded by 44-year-old Catherine Pepinster as of Jan. 1, 2004.

The outlook of The Tablet goes back to the days when the British Empire circled the globe and, therefore, had an interest in political and Church affairs around the world. The weekly continues to cover the Church with in-depth articles on Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia not available anywhere else, while its feature "Church in the World" brings succinct summaries of events. It is the model for our own News in Brief Its magazine format allows easy access and reference.

As editor of a layman's magazine, Mr. Wilkins saw his task as representing the laity's interest in the search for truth to which he was dedicated. He took the Second Vatican Council as the blueprint for the Church's inspiration. Unfortunately, Mr. Wilkins followed closely in the footsteps of his predecessor Tom Burns who, in 1968, rejected Pope Paul's birth control encyclical Humanae vitae (On human life) as impractical and too rigid. Subsequently, the weekly began to dissent from much Catholic family teaching and also leaned towards the world's views on such subjects as priestly celibacy and women's ordination.

The new editor is a professional journalist who was away from the Church a good many years, to return some eight years ago. Perhaps she will recognize that The Tablet, too, has been "away" from the Church on some crucial issues.