The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales this week marked ten years since the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK, by replaying recordings of his major speeches on their anniversaries. Among the event’s recordings, which are available on platforms including Spotify and Apple podcasts, are his address at Westminster Hall on 17 September and the beatification of St John Henry Newman a decade ago today. MPs tabled a motion marking the anniversary and thanking the Catholic community for its contribution to society.
An enormous monument to answered prayer, the 169-foot Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, will be built on the outskirts of Birmingham after its backers secured planning permission this week. Among the project’s supporters are the Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, on behalf of the local Catholic community. The sculpture, which will be bigger than the Angel of the North, will cost £9.3 million and be built on greenbelt land. Each of the million bricks used to create the sculpture will represent an answered prayer.
Experts at Liverpool John Moores University Face Lab have reconstructed the face of a fifteenth-century English abbot whose skeleton was uncovered at St Albans Cathedral, Hertfordshire. Abbot John Wheathampstead, of the monastic community at St Albans, and an influential cleric with international reach, died in 1465. Dr Jeffrey John, current dean of the cathedral, said that the abbot had “an impish look, but also looks like a man who was not to be trifled with”.
Catholic author Bernadette Meaden has warned that the pandemic has confirmed to disabled people that their lives are not as valuable as other people’s. In her new report, Illness, Disability, and Caring, Meaden says the Coronavirus Act removed important rights and protections from disabled people and looks to Gospel teachings to discern what justice and inclusion might look like. The report is part of a series, How the Bible Can Help Us Understand”, which is published by Darton, Longman and Todd.
Catholic Women’s Ordination is due to hold its annual gathering in London on 3 October, with more places available online, on the topic of inclusive ministry post-lockdown. The group also announced this week that its 2021 synod will hear from former president of Ireland Mary McAleese.
A new webinar series sponsored by groups including the Conference of Religious and Operation Noah is to focus on how Catholic orders and dioceses can use their investments to tackle climate change, accelerate the clean energy transition and support a green recovery. The first will take place on 22 September.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has warned parents that baptisms and Holy Communions must not become “an occasion of irresponsible behaviour” after Ireland’s acting chief medical officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, warned they were linked to a rise in infections in Dublin. Archbishop Martin stressed that the warnings concerned celebrations after the liturgy, and called for “scrupulous adherence” to public health restrictions.
An Irish priest who works with Syrian refugees in Lebanon has appealed for help to deliver aid to the people of Tyre refugee camp, where he is based. Fr William Stuart, a Rosminian priest, and colleagues at Insan, a Lebanese non-governmental organisation, have been providing basic support to families such as weekly food hampers of dry goods and support with rent. He told The Irish Times that other NGOs had “gone to ground” by working from home.
Oversubscribed Catholic primary schools in the Archdiocese of Dublin have been asked to end their practice of giving priority to enrolling the siblings of pupils currently attending the schools. The move is part of revised admissions policies which will come into effect next year, and will only affect oversubscribed schools.
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