The Tablet - Editors Since 1935

Editors Since 1935

From 1936 to 1967 the editor was Douglas Woodruff, formerly of The Times, a historian and reputed wit whose hero was Hilaire Belloc. His wide range of contacts, and his knowledge of international affairs, made the paper, it was said, essential reading in embassies around the world. He restored the fortunes of The Tablet, which had declined steeply. For many years (1938–1961) he was assisted by Michael Derrick, who after the Second World War was often acting editor.

Woodruff was followed as editor by the publisher and, like Woodruff, part owner Tom Burns, who served from 1967 to 1982. Burns, a conservative in his political views, was a progressive on church matters, firmly in favour of the Vatican II church reforms. A watershed came in 1968, when The Tablet took an editorial stance at odds with Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae 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, formerly executive editor of The Independent on Sunday, was appointed as the first female editor of The Tablet at the beginning of 2004. She has 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".