News Briefing: from Britain and Ireland

St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Middlesbrough will display a “Lampedusa cross”, carved out of driftwood from capsized refugee boats, in an act of solidarity with refugees. The cross is due to be presented to the dean, Canon Gerard Robinson, after Mass on 1 September. It will be displayed in the cathedral for three weeks before circulating through the diocese. The cross was made by Italian carpenter Francesco Tuccio on the island of Lampedusa, a key point on migrant routes from North Africa into Europe.

Former abbot charged
Laurence Soper, a former abbot of Ealing Abbey in west London, has been charged with historical sex offences after being arrested at Luton Airport by Metropolitan Police officers on his return from Kosovo, after a five-year police hunt.

Soper, 72, has been charged with committing nine offences against five boys at St Benedict’s School in Ealing between 1972 and 1986. Appearing at Ealing Magistrates’ Court on Monday, he gave his name as Andrew Charles Kingston Soper. Laurence was the name he took when he entered the Benedictine order. Soper, who was detained under a European Arrest Warrant in Kosovo, is due to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on 19 September.

The Papal Nuncio to Ireland has come under fire from a prominent group of Irish priests over his selection of a series of what they say are “like-minded” new bishops whom the priests claim are “inadequate” for the needs of the Irish Church today. In a statement, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which has a membership of over 1,000, accused Archbishop Charles Brown of choosing “narrow-minded” bishops whom the reform-minded priests say are “out of sync” with the majority of the faithful. Archbishop Brown was asked to comment but had not responded at the time of going to press.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will meet Pope Francis in Rome on 5 October for a joint service of Evening Prayer in the church of San Gregorio al Celio as part of the formal celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Anglican Centre in Rome. The service will combine elements of Anglican Evensong and Catholic Vespers with the Sistine Chapel Choir joined by the choir of Canterbury Cathedral in common worship.

The central part of the service will be the blessing and sending out of 36 bishops from the International Anglican and Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission – a group of Anglican and Catholic bishops from around the world committed to ecumenism and finding ways to give greater witness to their common faith.

North Yorkshire Police want to speak to four potential new witnesses regarding an inquiry into alleged sex abuse at Ampleforth College, following a report in The Times that claimed the force had bungled aspects of the inquiry. The case centres on Paul Sheppard, a teacher, who was cleared last year of indecently assaulting a boy in 1989 at the school. Dr Sheppard denies any wrongdoing. The Times said that North Yorkshire police failed to speak to two former pupils whose accounts could have led to Dr Sheppard being questioned about additional child sex offences. Two more ex-pupils have also indicated their willingness to speak to police about further incidents involving the teacher in 1989, the paper reported.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, chaired by Alexis Jay, intends to investigate past actions in a number of schools run by the English Benedictines, including Ampleforth, St Benedict’s in west London, and Downside in Somerset.

An ancestor of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, may be declared “Venerable” by the Vatican. Fr Ignatius Spencer is related to Princes William and Harry through their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. Born the Honourable George Spencer in 1799, Fr Ignatius embarrassed his family by converting to Catholicism and ministering to the poor. An investigation into his life has been approved by Vatican historians and handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. If it finds “evidence of sanctity”, it will declare him “Venerable” – the first step to beatification and then canonisation.

Pro-life groups welcomed the decision to suspend certain abortion services at Marie Stopes clinics after an intervention by the health watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Marie Stopes International – which operates in 40 countries worldwide – has suspended surgical abortions for girls under 18 and vulnerable women in the UK after safety concerns were raised by inspectors. Other services offered by the family planning provider have been halted, including the suspension of terminations under general anaesthetic or conscious sedation, and the suspension of all surgical terminations at its Norwich centre.

A spokesperson from Life, the anti-abortion advocacy charity based in Leamington Spa, said it was “alarmed” and “deeply concerned” by the news. “It is absolutely scandalous that Marie Stopes International, which likes to talk about women dying from unsafe abortions, is itself being rapped for exposing patients to potential harm,” it said.

Marie Stopes UK said it is “working urgently with the CQC” to resolve “areas of concern in its training and governance” and its immediate priority is to ensure women booked into affected services are “rebooked swiftly into alternative local services”.

Archbishop retires
The Anglican Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan (above), last week announced his retirement. The longest serving archbishop in the Anglican Communion will retire on his 70th birthday, at the end of January 2017, after 14 years leading the Church of Wales and 24 years as a bishop. During his time as archbishop, Dr Morgan has championed many reforms in the Church in Wales, including those enabling women to become bishops. “It’s been a rollercoaster ride but all along I have been sustained and inspired by the people I meet, day in day out,” he said on announcing his retirement.

Police are treating sectarian graffiti at a Catholic school in Glasgow as a hate crime. On 21 August a wall of St Aloysius’ College was vandalised with the words: “The famine’s over! It’s time to go home.” References to the Irish famines have often featured in sectarian abuse in the city and the derogatory message at St Aloysius’ is taken, slightly adapted, from a so-called “famine song” found on YouTube.