The Jesuit Refugee Service UK has called government plans to process asylum seekers offshore “cruel, ineffective and impractical”. Proposals are expected to appear in the new bill on immigration, due to go before Parliament next week.
Catholic peacemakers are among those to have their convictions for blocking access to a London arms fair quashed by the Supreme Court this week. In a landmark judgment that determined activists’ right to protest at future arms fairs, the court determined that the views of the Pax Christi members “were worthy of protection”. Henrietta Cullinan told The Tablet: “I hope this judgment encourages others to do what their conscience tells them and do everything they can, whatever that is, to hinder the evil of the UK arms trade.”
A Dublin parish which flew a rainbow flag in its church grounds to mark LGBTQ Pride month was forced to take it down following the intervention of the Archbishop of Dublin. Fr Adrian Egan flew the flag following consultation with his parish council in Assumption Parish, Ballyfermot, to make LGBTQ people feel welcome. Community groups from Ballyfermot held a solidarity vigil outside the parish church.
Health authorities in Ireland have written to three dioceses requesting that they defer Communion and Confirmation ceremonies until the autumn over concerns about the high rate of Covid infection. Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick said the recommendation had come as “a surprise”.
The Abbot of Douai Abbey, Geoffrey Scott OSB, celebrated Mass in the gatehouse of St John’s Abbey, Colchester, last week, the first Benedictine to celebrate Mass at what was once the fourth-largest abbey in England since 1539. Elsewhere, the monks of Downside have announced they will withdraw from the parish of Bungay, Suffolk, after 350 years. Abbot Nicholas Wetz recognised the community’s diminishing numbers.
A new collection of inspiring stories of has been sent to all bishops of England and Wales to underline the creative work undertaken by youth ministry during the Covid pandemic. Case studies were produced by the Catholic Youth Ministry Network.
Four men were ordained to the priesthood last Saturday in the Diocese of Westminster, including one of the youngest priests in the UK, and the youngest in Westminster, Fr Timothy Mangatal.
The Anglican General Synod will meet online after Covid restrictions prevented a meeting in person. Sessions, including feedback from the Racial Justice Commission, will meet from 9 to 12 July.
Members of the Young Christian Climate Network on a 1,000-mile relay pilgrimage from Cornwall to the Glasgow COP26 climate summit are due to reach Bristol this weekend. Also, on 24 June Green Christian launched Plenty! – a discussion resource for churches on the economic drivers of the ecological crises.
The Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) has announced the formation of a new survivor reference panel to replace the Survivor Advisory Panel of the decommissioned National Catholic Safeguarding Commission. Members will support and inform the work of the CSSA.
The remains of the first Irishman elevated to the rank of cardinal were transferred from a tomb in Holy Cross College Chapel, Clonliffe, to the crypt in St Mary’s Pro Cathedral, Dublin, last week. The sale of Clonliffe College necessitated the removal of the remains from under the altar in the chapel. Cardinal Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin from 1852 to 1878 (pictured), spearheaded ecclesiastical reform in Ireland in the nineteenth century.
The Irish bishops’ overseas development agency Tro´caire has helped to distribute food to refugees seeking shelter in Rwanda after the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on the edge of the Congolese city of Goma. Around 400,000 people fled Goma following the 22 May eruption, which killed more than 30 people and destroyed many homes.
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