Cafod is calling on Catholics to help “stamp out hunger, one step at a time”. Those will to take part are asked to create a JustGiving page through Cafod with the challenge to walk 200 kilometres this Lent. “You can walk, roll, skip or stroll your way to 200k. You can boldly go it alone and take it on 5k a day for 40 days, or you can smash the target all at once as a team. There are 200 million children in the world whose lives are at risk from malnutrition. So, this Lent, challenge yourself to conquer 200k, and help give hunger its marching orders,” Cafod says on its website. For the walk, distance can be tracked through an app that can be linked to the JustGiving page.
A survey by the University of Birmingham has found that Islamophobic views are more common in the middle and upper classes than amongst working-class groups. The findings featured in the report “Dinner Party Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain” which investigated the social and political background of prejudice towards Islam, and called on government and civil society groups to address the “systematic miseducation about Islam” in British society.
Seeking Sanctuary held a small service at the Dover Migrants’ Memorial on 21 January, remembering two migrants recently buried in Calais after dying in their attempt to seek sanctuary in the UK. Ben Bano of Seeking Sanctuary commented that, “it was heartbreaking to have remember two more victims of the struggle to find sanctuary in the UK.” He felt, “the message on the memorial 'May God care for them more than we did' confirms the need to stop this senseless loss of life and to find safe and legal routes for all those who put their lives in peril.” Justice and Peace networks are currently circulating a ‘Nationality and Borders Bill Multi-Faith letter for signatures, criticising the repercussions of the Nationality and Borders Bill and urging the British government to reconsider the proposals. The Bill would penalise most refugees seeking asylum in Britain.
The Association of Catholic Priests has criticised the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore over his treatment of a recently laicised priest, saying it was “inappropriate, unreasonable and unacceptable”. Fr Richard Geoghegan served in Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary. According to the ACP, the group was contacted by another priest in diocese in 2020 because he felt Fr Geoghegan was being “pushed out of priesthood”, even though there was no allegation or official complaint against him. In a meeting between the priest, Bishop Phonsie Cullinan and a leader of the ACP, Fr Geoghegan expressed his wish to remain a priest. However, Bishop Cullinan told him he felt it was best if he left the priesthood. During 2021, Fr Geoghegan's celebret was withdrawn. Fr Geoghegan said that because he felt unsupported and “not wanted” by Bishop Cullinan, he reluctantly signed the laicisation papers. This had left him, according to the ACP, at 54 years of age after 28 years of service to the diocese, without an income, accommodation and “dependant on a derisory financial settlement”. However, in a statement Bishop Cullinan said, “Of his own accord, Richard Geoghegan petitioned Pope Francis for laicisation from the priesthood on 31st March 2021.”
Dioceses such as Birmingham are planning Lourdes pilgrimages again for 2022. Birmingham Diocese tweeted last weekend that its Lourdes Pilgrimage team is planning for the annual Diocesan pilgrimage in late May/June. “After two years' absence we feel that we must make every effort to be present in Lourdes in 2022,” it said and provided a link to Marian prayers on the diocesan website. The Archdiocese of Liverpool is also planning a youth pilgrimage to Lourdes in July. However, in Ireland the Diocese of Clogher has announced that its 2022 pilgrimage to Lourdes will not be going ahead due to the ongoing pandemic. It will be the third year the annual pilgrimage, which has been a fixture in the diocese for the past 50 years, has been called off due to Covid.
Justice and Peace Scotland and Catholic Worker Glasgow were among the groups attending a vigil at Faslane nuclear base last Saturday. They were marking one year since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force of 22 January 2021. Faslane, on the Gare Loch, is home to Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons. “We call on the UK Government to adopt the necessary measures to implement the Treaty,” said Justice and Peace Scotland, adding, “we pray that, as with previous treaties to prohibit chemical and biological weapons, nuclear weapons will soon be a thing of the past.” Catholic Worker Glasgow stated, “we are deeply concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons.” (with possible pix in production titled Faslane and Faslane1, credit Justice and Peace Scotland)
Dioceses such as Birmingham are planning Lourdes pilgrimages again for 2022. Birmingham Diocese tweeted last weekend that its Lourdes Pilgrimage team is planning for the annual Diocesan pilgrimage in late May/June. “After two years' absence we feel that we must make every effort to be present in Lourdes in 2022,” it said and provided a link to Marian prayers on the diocesan website. The Archdiocese of Liverpool is also planning a youth pilgrimage to Lourdes in July. However, in Ireland the Diocese of Clogher has announced that its 2022 pilgrimage to Lourdes will not be going ahead due to the ongoing pandemic. It will be the third year the annual pilgrimage, which has been a fixture in the diocese for the past 50 years, has been called off due to Covid.
Religious believers who want to talk about their faith will sometimes be portrayed as extremists and fanatics, whose views ought to be ignored by normal people, Bishop Donal McKeown has said. In his homily for Catholic Schools Week, the Bishop of Derry warned that there are people who want to get rid of any role for faith in public life and especially in schools. There is “clearly a campaign to blame Catholic schools for being something to be embarrassed about in a modern society,” and “we ought to have schools that must talk about everything - except making reference to God,” he said. “The message goes out that you can believe anything that you want – but that religious beliefs should be avoided. The implication is that faith is little more than a private hobby that should not be talked about in polite company.” Bishop McKeown said Catholic schools are clear that they are not just about teaching maths and literacy very well. Inviting them to find opportunities in Catholic Schools Week to celebrate “the great work” that they do, he urged them not to get caught up in league tables.
Bishop Tom Deenihan has strongly defended Catholic schools describing them as inclusive and paying tribute to their role in fostering respect.In his homily to open Catholic Schools Week 2022, the theme of which is, ‘Catholic Schools: Living Life to the Full’, Bishop Deenihan said there can be confusion about what a Catholic school is and does. “For some, it is an excellent academic education… Unfortunately, others see is as indoctrination. The reality is broader.” At Mass in Christ the King Cathedral in Mullingar, attended by representatives of local catholic schools, the Bishop of Meath said inclusion is not just about religious denomination.“Inclusion must also take nationality, ethnicity, socio-economic background and ability into consideration. When these five criteria are taken into consideration, I would challenge anyone to tell me that Catholic schools are not as inclusive as any other type of school.” He also paid tribute to teachers in catholic schools who know and respect their students, acknowledge difference and support the students’ many and varied abilities and gifts. “Our teachers are integral to the mission of the Catholic school and they have our thanks and our admiration.”
The Anglican Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, called on the Government to delay the requirement for all health workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. She was speaking in the House of Lords today. Her call comes amid growing anxiety before vaccination becomes compulsory for frontline NHS staff from 1 April, following the passage of legislation last month, and warnings that London could lose 12.5 per cent of its midwives as a result.
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