About 600 UK churches of different denominations have signed up to welcome Christians from Hong Kong into their church communities. One in 10 of likely new arrivals is likely to be Christian. The UKHK churches initiative is a collaboration of organisations looking to equip the UK Church to be ‘Hong Kong Ready’. Training is being given to churches to give a good welcome. Later this year the Church of England’s committee for minority ethnic Anglican concerns (CMEAC) will host a conference on how parishes can welcome people arriving from Hong Kong. Last Monday a support group for Church of England clergy of east Asian heritage was launched at Southwark Cathedral, with a service presided over by Canon Andrew Zihni, who was born and grew up in Hong Kong. The Home Office earlier this year received 34,300 applications for a new visa for people in Hong Kong seeking residency in the UK in just two months. More than a million people with British national overseas (BNO) status could arrive in the UK in the next five years, according to official estimates. The programme was launched in response to emigration requests after Beijing imposing a harsh new national security law in the former British colony.
Four young friars have marked 800 years of the Dominican Order's presence in England by retracing the journey of the original friars in 1221 from Ramsgate to Oxford. Their 15-day pilgrimage ended at Blackfriars in Oxford last Sunday. Following the route to Oxford via Canterbury and London were Fr Toby Lees, chaplain at King's College London, Br Bede and Br John, both students at Blackfriars Oxford, and Fr Sam Burke from Edinburgh, a law lecturer at the University. Along the way, and clearly recognisable in their distinctive white habits, they were joined in places by other friars and friends with Dominican connections.
Pope Francis had wanted to celebrate Mass during his visit to COP26 in Scotland, it was reported. A source told the Scottish Mail on Sunday: “While the Pope saying Mass is not 100 per cent confirmed, we have had word that he wants to do it and that’s why people are looking at the practicalities, such as venue and timing, depending on the rest of his pretty tight schedule.” However, it was later confirmed that this was not possible to put into his schedule
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has expressed regret about the death in hospital of a refugee who was rescued from a small boat that was sinking in the Channel on 12 August, while trying to reach the UK. Sarah Teather, Director of JRS UK described it as "terrible news”, adding that, “we know very little about the man who lost his life but we know he is someone’s son, brother, father, friend or neighbour and we pray for all who loved him and who will grieve for him.” With this latest death, JRS UK has renewed calls for safe routes to sanctuary, and a more human approach to those seeking asylum, saying “the desperation of people making this treacherous journey is an indictment of our failure to provide safe means of sanctuary to those fleeing for their lives.”
The theme for Education Sunday, on 12 September, just after the new academic year starts, is “A word in season”, taken from Isaiah 50:4. CTE says it is particularly poignant this year, as recovery continues from Pandemic. Churches Together in England said: “In focussing on ‘a word in season’ we need to acknowledge the weariness that must surely have affected the whole education sector as it has coped with the disruption of Covid, but we also need to keep in mind the strength that will make enable us to open up the possibilities that lie ahead.”
Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin has expressed concern that developing countries risk being left behind in the race towards herd immunity. In his homily for the Feast of St Clare at Graiguecullen church, Bishop Nulty reminded his flock, “No one is safe, until everyone is safe.” Acknowledging how the past eighteen months have been “most unsettling” as people have learned to adjust their work patterns, school life, and home environment in order to cope with “a virulent virus”, he said “all around us we see the effects it leaves in its wake”. Referring to the successful roll-out of the vaccine programme, Bishop Nulty said, “It’s great to hear that we are becoming a significant contributor to the world vaccination programme.” “If we have a vaccine, we should give a vaccine.” But he underlined that real poverty would follow if developing countries were left behind in the distribution of vaccines. His message was echoed by Bishop William Crean of Cloyne who said in Cobh, “Covid reminds the world of our time, that none are safe until all are safe.”
A Boris Johnson lookalike was enlisted to help promote the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund-sponsored race. In the “race against time”, a man in a Boris Johnson costume raced against young SCIAF supporter dressed as a clock. SCIAF is using the stunt to draw attention to the countdown to COP26 and the urgency required to tackle climate change. The race took place along the River Clyde.
Catechists will be central to Archbishop Dermot Farrell’s renewal plan for the archdiocese of Dublin where he is facing the challenges of an ageing clergy, very few vocations, and a decline in the number of people who actively practise and live their faith. In an interview in the current issue of Síolta, a journal published by the national seminary in Maynooth, Archbishop Farrell admitted that the “current model of the Church is unsustainable” and that the visibility of faith in Ireland “has for all intents and purposes vanished”. According to Archbishop Farrell, there is a need for an effective programme of catechetics throughout the diocese to add to and, eventually, replace the current teaching of faith to the young.
Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, has thanked the public north and south of the border for donating €73 million to support its work despite the challenges of the pandemic. Launching its annual report, the agency said the money had helped to support and improve the lives of 2.7 million people who were in urgent need of humanitarian aid in 25 countries. Trócaire’s annual report details an increase of 15 per cent in funding from the previous year. The €73 million in donations is the highest income raised in three years.
Cheif executive Caoimhe de Barra said, “People here at home should be very proud of the positive and lasting change they have created.” Women’s empowerment and health were a key focus for the agency over the last 12 months, as well as the devastating impact of climate change in poorer countries, and the lack of access to vital natural resources for marginalised groups.