Within a couple of years, there are expected, for the first time in decades, to be more Anglicans attending church on Sundays than Catholics, even though attendance is obligatory for the 4.5 million baptised Catholics. And the crisis in the Catholic priesthood is deeper than for Anglicanism. Just 52 Catholic priests were ordained last year - far too few to replace those who died or left and a fraction of the 400 Anglican ordinations that year."When you attend a Catholic church, you find there is a generation missing," said John Wilkins, editor of the Tablet, a liberal Catholic weekly. "You tend to find that the 30- to 40- year-olds are not there."The reasons for this decline are many Traditionalists blame a watering- down of doctrine. Another factor may be the anglicisation of Irish working- class immigrants, who have been the mainstay of the Catholic Church, presided over by a top-dressing of English clerical aristocrats. Feeling more secure in less hostile times, the children of Irish Catholics may be less worried about hanging on to their religious identity: it is notable that Mass attendance has fallen most dramatically in Liverpool, where only a fifth of the baptised population are in the pews on Sunday.It may, however, be that many, though still calling themselves Catholics, no longer feel obliged to attend Mass every Sunday.

Mass-going may be considered more optional than in the past, a new phenomenon making the figures look worse than the reality.But many Catholic intellectuals argue that there is further, deep-seated problem. The authoritarian, fundamentalist pose struck by the current Pope, John Paul II - an image that so appeals to a tiny minority of Anglicans disillusioned with liberalism - is turning off the rest of the Catholic faithful. The Pope has retreated from many of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which democratised Vatican decision-making and held the promise of a softening on many doctrinal issues.Ordinary people's lives and beliefs are increasingly at odds with the Vatican's pronouncements on, for example, contraception, priestly celibacy and women.Cardinal Basil Hume has largely succeeded in keeping tensions contained by turning a deaf ear to Rome's most provocative statements. Public attention has thus focused more on the Church of England as it has torn itself apart over the challenge of existing in a secular age. But the crisis has still grown within Catholicism."There is a truce about all this in the English Catholic Church," said Mr Wilkins "But it is an agreement not to talk about the problem. If you are not careful, you find the church pulling you one way and your life pulling you the other way."The ones that leave feel divided They say, `To hell with this', and go quietly.

I think we have lost some of our best women, because this church is particularly vulnerable to challenges to patriarchy These disaffected people don't show up in public battles But they show up in the statistics.". Warnings are to be issued before violent programmes are screened on television as part of measures to reduce the impact of violent television on children. But the voluntary measures to be announced today by Virginia Bottomley, the Secretary of State for National Heritage, may disappoint campaigners who wanted tougher statutory curbs. The broadcasting authorities have rejected the idea of screening a symbol, such as a red triangle, to highlight violent programmes and there will be no new statutory controls.The broadcasters are planning a seminar in the New Year to agree a formula for programme listings to highlight violent programmes.Announcers may repeat the warnings before programmes are screened. Viewers will be informed about the use of the 9 pm "watershed" to protect children from violent programmes intended for adults.The code of practice on violent programmes is likely to be tightened by the Independent Television Commission, the Broadcasting Standards Council and the BBC.Mrs Bottomley is refusing to drop the idea of a V-chip, an electronic device which could screen out violent programmes to prevent them being seen by children, although the experts are sceptical about its practicality.She complained in November that the broadcasters were not doing enough to protect viewers from violence on television.

Programmes such as Cracker and Prime Suspect have been criticised for using scenes of graphic violence.The aim of Mrs Bottomley's launch today for the tighter controls is to show that the Government is doing something in response to the campaign for "moral revival" after the stabbing a year ago of the London teacher, Philip Lawrence.She will warn the broadcasters at a meeting today that the Government will be forced by public opinion to introduce legislation, unless they abide by the new voluntary codes.Some of her own backbenchers on the liberal wing of the Tory Party believe she is engaging in the politics of the "nanny state". The drive to remove violence and sleaze from television follows criticism of recent episodes of TV soaps, such as EastEnders, Brookside and Neighbours.At least one Tory MP who rejects the link violent films and crime privately says Terminator, which portrays a homicidal robot blasting its way across Los Angeles, is one of his favourite films.That view is unlikely to be heard much in evidence today, however. Mrs Bottomley will be taking a high profile reinforcing her view in a letter to the broadcasting authorities that something should be done about the "potentially unhealthy concentration" on crime and emergency services.. The Queen has appointed Sir John Gielgud to the Order of Merit, the highest accolade she can offer, Buckingham Palace announced yesterday. The news came as a shock to Sir John, 92, regarded as Britain's most distinguished actor, but he said from his Aylesbury home that he was "very much honoured". The Queen chose him to fill the vacancy left by the death of Sir Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine.

The order, founded by Edward VII, can only ever number 24 people, two of whom are the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh Lord Olivier was the last actor to gain the OM. As a member, Sir John joins Baroness Thatcher, Lord Menuhin and Lucian Freud in the elite regarded by the sovereign as "individuals of exceptional distinction". Previous holders included Florence Nightingale, Elgar and Sir Winston Churchill, with honorary membership (as foreigners) held by Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. Sir John's career has spanned 75 years on stage, film, television and radio. He has dazzled critics on the classical stage, tackling every major Shakespearean role from King Lear to Hamlet.