Cardinal Vincent Nichols used his homily at Midnight Mass to praise charities’ work with the poor and homeless, and to pledge that the Church was ready to help “in every way we can” if 2019 brought further hardship.
Speaking at Westminster Cathedral after Parliament broke for Christmas amid a Brexit impasse, Cardinal Nichols (above) said: “Yes, we are in difficult times, times of uncertainty and an absence of consensus. Yet these lights of kindness shine brightly in that surrounding darkness.”
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Davies, said Britain must not lose sight of its Christian identity, which “grace and history have given us”. He urged Britons not to be deceived by “false claims of political salvation”, warning that if they were “we might become like someone who loses their memory and are in danger of assuming a false identity”.
Faith option for organ donors
Organ donors are to be able to declare their faith on the NHS Organ Donor Register under plans unveiled by the health service. Designed to encourage more people of faith to register, new donors can state: “I would like NHS staff to speak to my family and anyone else appropriate about how organ donation can go ahead in line with my faith or beliefs.”
The NHS has also released new faith-specific organ donor cards, including one featuring a cross and one that reads “organ donation is supported by my faith”.
Liberal Democrats in Wales have criticised as discriminatory plans to cut free school transport to faith schools in Wrexham. Currently more than 400 students use the scheme, which entitles children at faith schools to free transport if they attend a primary school that is further than two miles or a secondary school further than three miles from home, even if there are non-faith schools closer.
A survey of 2,000 people conducted by The Art of Dying Well, a project at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, has found that people across the country found different ways to cope with bereavement at Christmas.
People in the North East and Yorkshire and Humber were most likely to light a candle in memory of the dead (27 per cent), say a prayer (25 per cent), or make a toast, while people in the South West were least likely to do these things.
Older people (over 55s) preferred to remember the dead by talking about them and sharing memories, while younger respondents preferred to do something in their name, such as donating to a homeless shelter or inviting someone lonely to spend Christmas with them.
The Queen used her Christmas broadcast to emphasise that Jesus’ message of “peace on earth and goodwill” is “needed as much as ever” and is never out of date. During the broadcast on 25 December, the Queen (above), who is 92, spoke of how her Christian faith had remained constant throughout her life.
“Through the many changes I have seen over the years, faith, family and friendship have been not only a constant for me but a source of personal comfort and reassurance,” she said.
She also urged the nation to overcome “deeply held differences” by treating one another with “respect”.
Lockerbie remembered
Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lockerbie marked the thirtieth anniversary of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over the town in south-west Scotland on 21 December 1988, with a day of remembrance that culminated in a Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Galloway, William Nolan.
Canon Patrick Keegans, who was parish priest at the time of the disaster, said in his homily: “Thirty years ago in the darkness we kept the lights on; the light of our love. As Christmas approaches again this year we will hear the beautiful words concerning Christ. ‘A light shines in the darkness, a light that darkness could not overpower’ [John 1:5]. Our loved ones who died now experience the fullness of life and light with God.”
The bomb detonated on the flight from Frankfurt to Detroit while it was over Scotland, killing all 259 passengers and crew. A further 11 people were killed when the plane crashed into residential areas in Lockerbie.
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