What does it mean to be a Catholic in the modern world? At a time when the Vatican provokes hostility by its opposition to contraception, abortion and the use of condoms in fighting AIDS, how many Catholics share its views? These are among the many questions that writer and broadcaster Peter Stanford has addressed to some of Britain's Catholics.

1. Cherie Booth QC on Catholic social teaching and its influence on her career; 2. Rugby legend Shaun Edwards on how faith saw him through the tragedy of his younger brother's death; 3. Channel 4 presenter Dermot O'Leary on conscience and how he still prays every night; 4. Writer Christina Odone writes how her marriage to a. divorcee has excluded her from the sacraments but not the Church; 5. Award-winning script-writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce imagines a dialogue with God to devise a new Penny Catechism; 6. Today's Edward Stourton traces his faith back to Reformation rebels; 7. Anne Maguire on how her faith sustained her while imprisoned for nine years for terrorist crimes she did not commit; 8. Comedian Mel Gieldroyc (of Mel and Sue) on the pull of her Polish Catholic roots; 9. Journalist Charlie Brown on being gay and Catholic; 10. Stem-cell research expert Professor Neil Scolding on discrimination against Catholics in science; 11. Baroness Patricia Scotland, Home Office minister, on being a Catholic in government; 12. Former priest and leader of CND, Bruce Kent, on life from the other side of the altar rails.

"'This is a hard-hitting book which criticises as much as it praises...it should be read by anyone interested in the phenomenon of organised religion' - Lady Antonia Fraser The Spectator 'Fascinating...a surprisingly uplifting book' Damian Thompson in the Sunday Telegraph 'This book is really rather edifying' Melanie McDonagh The Tablet"