Presbyterian-run Union Theological College in Belfast is preparing to enter into a new partnership with St Mary’s University Twickenham which will see the Catholic college award its undergraduate degrees. Speaking to the BBC, the Clerk of the General Assembly and General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev Trevor Gribben said: “Following a detailed process and discussions, it will be recommended to this year’s General Assembly that a new undergraduate partnership should be developed with St Mary’s University, Twickenham, through a validation arrangement.”
The Catholic bishops of Northern Ireland have welcomed proposed new legal protections for religious bodies or individual marriage officiants that will ensure they will not be compelled to undertake same-sex marriages. In their response to the Northern Ireland Office’s consultation on Religious Same Sex Marriage, the five bishops welcomed the proposal to provide a “triple lock” that would ensure that officiants will only be able to solemnise same-sex religious marriage if the governing authority of the religious body they belong to has given its written consent to same-sex marriage. They also welcomed a proposed amendment to the law which will guarantee that discussion or criticism of same-sex marriage will not of itself be an offence and that people remain free to express views, including critical views, about same-sex marriage, so long as this is not done in a threatening, abusive or insulting way and is not intended to stir up hatred or arouse fear.
The Church in Scotland has said that it would be catastrophic if the country were to “sleepwalk” into proposed changes in the law pertaining to gender recognition and has asked Catholics to engage with the Scottish Government’s consultation process and register their concerns. The SNP government plans to reduce the minimum age at which people can legally change gender from 18 to 16 and to reduce the time they are required to live in their new gender before full recognition from two years to three months. The Scottish Government online consultation will close on March 17.
The interim headmaster of Ampleforth College, Robin Dyer, has agreed to stay in post until at least January 2022. “Despite my original plan to retire in 2019, I am extremely happy to stay as this school has really got under my skin,” he said in a statement on the school website. The announcement comes as it was revealed that the school has passed its most recent compliance inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The previous ISI report, in May 2019, found that the school was not implementing its safeguarding policy effectively. At this inspection the school was found to meet safeguarding standards, and has improved procedures following a “period of substantial organisational change”.
The Bishops’ Conference and the Catholic Union have urged the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to abolish the two-child limit on Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit in the forthcoming budget. Bishop Richard Moth, Chair of the Bishops’ Conference Department for Social Justice, and Nigel Parker, Director of the Catholic Union, said that the move would reduce child poverty in the UK and be a sign of support for family life.
The Bishop of Salford, John Arnold, has urged Catholics in his diocese to consider what personal action they can take to fight the climate crisis. In a pastoral letter Bishop Arnold said Christians must play a role because “to ignore the well-being of planet earth is to assist the evils of our day; poverty, hunger, economic migration, human trafficking and modern slavery” and noted the impact of recent environmental catastrophes like wildfires in the Amazon, California and Australia, and storms in the UK.
The Prime Minister has appointed Dame Louise Casey, a trustee of Depaul International, a Catholic organisation that supports homeless people, to lead a review into rough sleeping. Depaul UK CEO Mike Thiedke said: “Depaul and Dame Louise share the commitment and passion to end rough sleeping in this country. Clearly, there is much to be done but I know that not only is she a leading expert on homelessness, she also values action over words. Appointing Dame Louise to lead this review is a big step in the right direction.”
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