Moderator joins peace prayers
The Moderator of the Church of Scotland was joining Pope Francis in a day of prayer for peace yesterday (Friday), with a focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. The Right Revd Dr Derek Browning (pictured) was invited to join the ecumenical day of prayer and fasting by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Dr Browning was “extending this invitation to all parts of the Church of Scotland”. The Church works closely with partners in South Sudan.
The Catholic bishop responsible for healthcare, Paul Mason, has said the Government’s plans to introduce “opt-out” consent for organ and tissue donation in England “undermine the concept of donation as a gift, and cross the line of what is a reasonable action for the state to take in relation to individuals within it”. Bishop Mason was responding to an open consultation by the Government on proposed changes in which people are considered willing to be an organ donor after their death unless they “opt out”.
Wales introduced the system two years ago, but Bishop Mason said it “doesn’t necessarily succeed ... there has in fact been a slight decrease in organ transplants in Wales”.
He added: “voluntary organ donation is an intrinsic good.”
The House of Lords was due to give a second reading yesterday (Friday) to an Ecumenical Marriage Bill proposed by Lord Deben, the former Conservative minister John Gummer. The Bill aims to allow Anglican churches to host marriages according to the rites and ceremonies of other Christian denominations. At the moment, Catholic priests, Methodist ministers and ministers of other denominations can conduct some services, including funerals, on Anglican premises, but not marriages. The Bill does not have the backing of the Church of England. A Church spokesperson said: “We see no need for Lord Deben’s Bill, and believe the current arrangements give sufficient pastoral flexibility for weddings in Anglican churches and chapels involving ministers of different denominations.” Lord Deben told The Tablet that the Bill would simply remove a legal stipulation from the 1940s that marriage in an Anglican church may only be conducted by a member of the Anglican clergy. “So as a Catholic you can attend a Mass that might be held there ... but your daughter isn’t allowed to be married there.”
Prinknash names new abbot
The monastic community at Prinknash in Gloucestershire has announced that its bursar, Dom Martin McLaughlin, a well-known retreat and conference giver, has been elected abbot. Dom McLaughlin entered Prinknash in 1985.
The Bishop of Portsmouth, Philip Egan, has said it is urgent to argue the case for theology in a university and for religious education in schools. “Otherwise, religiously illiterate law- and policy-makers will place ever more draconian restrictions on religious freedom,” he said. In a lecture this week at St Mary’s University in Twickenham, based on Cardinal John Henry Newman’s The Idea of a University, Bishop Egan said Catholic schools used to produce strong adherents of the faith, whereas today, despite higher educational standards, they “tend to produce successful citizens weak in faith”. He said Cardinal Newman’s book remains a helpful navigational tool in an era in which economics, performance and bureaucracy seem to dominate academia: “Anecdotally, many teachers and students see science as true and religion as opinion … If students were taught how the human mind works, the false dichotomies would be overcome.” He said political activism “seeks to exclude religion and religious expression from the public domain”, so that “many in society are religiously illiterate; they no longer understand their own cultural heritage”.
A Muslim Scottish government minister is giving up consuming a fizzy beverage, Irn-Bru, for Lent, to raise money for persecuted Christians. On Twitter, Humza Yousaf, Scottish minister for transport and the islands, wrote: “Any money saved from not consuming my vice will go to @ACN_Scotland who support persecuted Christians.”
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