'Church Times' makes its first unholy foray into Anglo-Saxon

Alongside news of an inter-faith garden fete and George Carey's visit to the Holy Land, the latest edition of the Church Times carries a further eyebrow-raising item for its Anglican readers – the F-word.

The newspaper, which has kept the Church of England informed about its internal affairs for 138 years, has crossed the boundaries of media convention by printing the unholy expletive in its purest form.

Whereas many of its secular rivals seek to protect their readers' modesty with carefully placed asterisks or full stops, the religious paper has printed the word in its full and unadulterated form.

The swear-word appears in an article about religious communities and the hostility faced by their members when they venture out in public wearing the distinctive clothing of a nun or priest.

Illustrating the point, the august journal relates the experience of one nun who was accosted as she emerged from a convent in east London, leading her to conclude there was "a lot of anger" in society.

The article said: "This didn't stop her response when one lad yelled 'Fucking nun!' as she cycled past. She dismounted to shout back, 'One or the other, but I can't be both'."

The Church Times, which once had Sir Edward Heath as its news editor and has a weekly circulation of about 37,500 among high Anglicans, said it had merely been reflecting modern times.

The editor, Paul Handley, said: "It was too good to leave out. The anecdote shows how nuns are now exposed to that sort of thing. It is not an uncommon word these days, even in church circles."

Founded in 1863 by churchman George Josiah Palmer, the Church Times was established to champion the cause of those Anglicans who still adhered to the traditional "bells and smells" model of worship.