News Briefing: Britain and Ireland

MPs enjoyed an exhibition in the Houses of Parliament last week of young people’s drawings, poetry, sculpture and prose on the subject of climate change. Schools nationally joined “Creative for Climate Justice”, a partnership between Cafod, Christian Aid, Oxfam GB, Send My Friend to School and the Royal Society of Literature, with support from the Climate Coalition.

Students’ work was displayed in school and community exhibits, with local MPs invited. Pieces from each school were selected for a national online gallery and for an exhibition in the Palace of Westminster where several young people met MPs and urged them to take action on climate issues.

More than 200 Christian climate campaigners attended a “no faith in fossil fuels” service at St John’s, Waterloo, on Ash Wednesday. The ecumenical service of reflection, repentance and hope, with the distribution of ashes, connected traditional Ash Wednesday observance with the harm that humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels is causing. 

The welcome was given by the Revd Giles Goddard of St John’s, chair of the interfaith network Faith for the Climate. Readers included Green Christian patron Sir Jonathon Porritt, writer and founder of Forum for the Future, and Operation Noah Bright Now Campaigners. A scratch choir and musicians included representatives from Green Christian, Laudato Si’ Animators, Christian Climate Action, Christian Aid and a Faithful Companion of Jesus sister. 

Christian Climate Action also led a 24-hour Ash Wednesday vigil outside the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero in Whitehall.  

St John’s Waterloo and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have collaborated to raise awareness of “our collective witness in the UK” through a display of artworks at St John’s throughout March and April. The exhibition Cloud of Witnesses aims to create a dialogue about how we see and understand faith, divinity and creativity, drawing inspiration from different faiths, cultures and experiences.

Euchar Gravina, artistic director of St John’s, said: “As we mark St John’s Waterloo’s 200th anniversary, our focus is not only on celebrating the building itself but also the rich diversity of our congregation and the multifaith community that surrounds us.”

Churches in Wales are warning that cuts to theology and the humanities could erase Christian studies from Welsh universities. In an open letter to key figures in Welsh education and government, Churches Together in Wales (Cytûn) have argued that proposed cuts to teaching and research in these fields could “devastate” Welsh culture and weaken the ability to teach and study key subjects in the Welsh language.

It comes as the University of Wales Trinity Saint David is closing its humanities campus in Lampeter and moving teaching to Carmarthen with significant reductions, particularly in theology. Meanwhile, Cardiff University is scaling back most humanities teaching, including history, ancient languages, and music.

March 2025 marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero and services, events and talks will commemorate the life and legacy of the Salvadoran saint.

Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald MAfr, who headed the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for four years, will preach at the National Ecumenical Service at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 22 March. Sister Gemma Simmonds CJ will preach at Evensong in St Albans Cathedral on 23 March. Mexican Jesuit Luis Orlando Perez will speak in Leeds, Liverpool and London.

On 27 March, Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark is due to celebrate a Romero Anniversary Mass and present Oscar Romero Awards at St George’s, Southwark.  Details here.

The Archbishop of Southwark John Wilson launched his book The Romero Rosary: Praying the Mysteries of Faith with Our Lady and St Oscar Romero in Glasgow last week. The book is intended to help people connect to Jesus through the Rosary and St Oscar Romero, whom the archbishop described as a “a saint with universal appeal, because he’s powerfully an exemplar of somebody who loves the Lord Jesus”.

A play about the Venerable Margaret Sinclair is being performed by her cousin in Glasgow. Rachel Callaghan, who is the second cousin once removed of Sinclair (1900-1925) takes the role of Sinclair, who was born into poverty, working as a furniture polisher and later in a McVitie’s Biscuit factory before becoming a nun.

The Margaret Sinclair story was written by Rachel Callaghan’s husband Stephen at the behest of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. It was premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016 and is now being performed in churches in Glasgow. The play will proceed to other Scottish dioceses before final performances at the Edinburgh Fringe in August.

“We pray for Margaret’s intercession every night as a family,” Rachel, a mother of two, told The Tablet.

Lenten talks are being held every Wednesday in Lent at Brentwood Cathedral at 7.30pm. On 26 March, the Bishop of Brentwood Alan Williams SM will speak on the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary. Canon John Harvey, the Dean of Brentwood Cathedral said: “Inspired by the Pilgrims of Hope theme of this Jubilee Year, they will offer perspectives on the power and significance of the Holy Eucharist in our lives of faith, under the title: ‘Those who believe, don’t leave’.”

On 22 March, ADoRE (Alton Day of Renewal) will hold a free morning retreat on Zoom exploring the Bible as a road-map for our faith journey. Ros Powell, a Catholic evangelist who ministers in prisons throughout the UK will give a talk. The retreat will include live-streamed Mass, Adoration and Prophecy. Please register in advance.

The Salford Diocesan Synod has come to an end after two years of the diocese “prayerfully discerning what God is asking of the Church in Salford and how it is being called to respond to the challenges we face in the modern world”. Forty recommendations were voted on by clergy and lay synod members, the priority of “having a family focus” gathering the largest vote of 105. Bishop John Arnold thanked those involved “for the part each and every one of you have had to play in our synod, but the journey goes on”. 

Scottish charity Sciaf has launched a virtual walking challenge to encourage students to become “pilgrims of Hope” as part of the Big Lent Walk project. The route covers 2,000 miles from Scotland to the Vatican. Lorraine Currie, chief executive of Sciaf, said: “You can take part and split the 2000 miles either as a class or school group walking each week over Lent.”

Allen Hall Seminary in Diocese of Westminster is offering a series of talks to celebrate the Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope and the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The three talks will explore the “theological virtue of hope” across Lent, Pentecost and Advent this year, both in person and online. 

New legislation at Westminster has removed a three centuries old legal barrier that prevented Catholics from serving as Lord High Commisioner, the King’s representative, to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

This means that Lady Elish Angiolini KC, Scotland’s first female Lord Advocate, will be the first Catholic Lord High Commissioner since 1689, when the Claim of Right Act passed by the Convention of the Estates (allied to the Parliament of Scotland) in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, sought to prevent a Stuart return to the British throne. It was subsequently adopted under United Kingdom constitutional law following the Union of Parliaments in 1707.

The legal restriction concerned was only applied to Roman Catholics and not to those of any other faith or none. In welcoming  the change Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said that the Church of Scotland (Lord High Commissioner) Bill removed an anomalous legal barrier after it was passed unanimously by MPs.

The Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Ireland is at “a crucial stage” of its journey, according to General Secretary, Julieann Moran. A series of gatherings at local level are taking place following recent meetings between the National Synodal Team and members of Diocesan Synodal Teams and representatives of movements, associations and other ecclesial groups.

The gatherings mark a decisive moment in shaping how the Church in Ireland discerns its priorities for mission and for action. A pre-synodal assembly will take place in October 2025 and the First National Assembly of the Irish Church will take place in 2026.

Anglican priest the Revd John Gribben, 81, of the Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield, won a 400m sprint in age group at the British Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships at Lea Valley Athletics Centre, London, helping him raise £6,000 for the Tariro Youth Development Trust which helps young people in Zimbabwe.

Mass was celebrated in the Vatican’s old Propaganda Fide College to commemorate the ordination there in 1925 of Mgr Hugh O’Flaherty who saved thousands of Allied POWs and Jews during World War II.

Archbishop John Kennedy of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith led the liturgy for Mgr O’Flaherty (1898-1963) which was attended by the Ambassadors of the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Ireland.

Representatives of the O’Flaherty family were joined by family of Henrietta Chevalier, one of the women who provided safe houses to the Escape Line, as well as Princess Gesine Doria Pamphilij, granddaughter of benefactor, Prince Filippo Andrea Doria Pamphilij.

Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need International, has appealed for urgent prayers for Syria amid fears of escalating sectarian violence. Reports from the coastal region of Syria say hundreds of civilians were killed, many reportedly in indiscriminate attacks.

According to ACN’s sources, the majority of up to 600 people killed were civilians, including young people, women, university doctors and pharmacists. “Some families with their children were killed in cold blood.” The Apostolic Vicariate of the Latin Catholic community in Syria has expressed its deep concern over the attacks on innocent civilians.

Irish dioceses observed the annual Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse on the first Friday in Lent with “candles of atonement” lit in diocesan cathedrals and churches.

Fr Eugene O’Hagan, vicar general of Down and Connor, addressed safeguarding representatives from the diocesan safeguarding office as well as the Health Trust, the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland, the Probation Board, the PSNI and counselling bodies, Towards Healing and Towards Peace.

“There is a terrible ripple effect with abuse. It wounds, first of all, the innocent child, but then the poison goes on to cause untold harm to their family,” he said.

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