At an ecumenical Vespers on 24 January in honour of Pope Benedict XVI, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, paid tribute to the deceased pontiff, praising his work for Christian unity and “Christ-centred” theological work.
“The deep gestures of respect which he offered to those in other Christian communions…will stay in the mind,” said Dr Williams, whose term as Archbishop of Canterbury coincided with Benedict’s pontificate.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols presided over the service at Westminster Cathedral, which was accompanied by the cathedral choir. A number of Catholic bishops attended alongside and representatives of different Christian denominations, including the Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London.
The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have published resources for Racial Justice Sunday this weekend, which has the theme, “All are included in the mission of Christ and His Church. Let us walk together, pray together and work together.”
Intended to reflect the role that all can play in promoting the mission of Christ and the Church, the theme was inspired by conversations around last year’s Racial Justice Sunday and Pope Francis’ visit to Canada in July 2022 when he spoke about looking towards a future of “justice, healing and reconciliation”.
The bishops have published a prayer that can be used year-round as well as questions for reflection along with videos for Walking Together, Working Together and Praying Together.
In addition, there is a series of posters that individuals or parishes can download, featuring Our Lady and the Child Jesus from a diverse cross-section of countries and cultures.
“Although by no means exhaustive, we hope this series highlights the rich diversity of our Catholic community and encourages reflection n how we are all made in the image of God,” the bishops said.
“The posters also carry a prayer taken from Pope Francis’ document Fratelli Tutti. The posters are produced in English but, in some cases, where we have been able to, we have added a suitable translation.”
UK aid is being wasted on fossil fuel investments, Cafod reported to a House of Commons Select Committee last week.
Graham Gordon, Cafod’s head of policy, told the International Development Select Committee in an oral evidence session that despite promises in 2019 that fossil fuel investments would cease, there were around £700m (12.6 per cent of the overall portfolio) ongoing direct investments in fossil fuels in 2021 by the UK government’s development finance institution, British International Investment.
“If the government is serious about its commitment to preventing global warming of 1.5C, then we must make sure no UK aid is invested in fossil fuels,” said Mr Gordon. “We need to bring aid back to focusing on poverty very clearly, tackling climate change, and focusing on the poorest countries.”
A former guest at Caritas Bakhita House in London, a safe house for women escaping human trafficking on the property of Westminster archdiocese, has helped bring a serial sex offender to justice.
Nurazzaman Shahin (40) was sentenced to 31 years in prison at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 23 January having been found guilty of 22 offences. As a young woman, the former guest was exploited by Shahin when she applied for agency work at his escorting business. She was raped and forced into prostitution.
Shahin was reported to police in 2018 and, with support from Caritas Bakhita House and the Centre for Women’s Justice, the woman continued to fight for justice until 2021, when Shahin was prosecuted.
Caritas Bakhita House is named after St Josephine Bakhita, the patron saint of victims of modern slavery. In sentencing remarks, the judge thanked all the women who had testified against Shahin for their “enormous courage, dignity and determination”.
UK debt help and budgeting charity Christians Against Poverty is holding a free prayer event where more than 20 organisations are coming together at Westminster Chapel in London on Wednesday 8 February to pray for those impacted by the cost of living crisis.
Scotland’s only remaining Catholic print publication is moving to online-only. In an email to contributors, Ian Dunn, editor of The Scottish Catholic, attributed the switch to the post-pandemic drop in mass attendance, rocketing costs and the difficulties of creating media that appeals across the Church in the contemporary era.
The fortnightly magazine, which started publication in 2021, will continue as a website offering news, opinion and commentary and a monthly email newsletter.
“When we launched The Scottish Catholic in 2021, we believed there was an urgent need for honest, inquisitive journalism about the Catholic Church in Scotland,” Mr Dunn wrote in his email: “We still believe that.”
As the governments of the Isle and Man and Jersey consider the introduction of assisted suicide on their territories, a leading Catholic group has warned some of the measures are amongst the “most extreme versions of assisted suicide anywhere in the world”.
In evidence submitted to the legislature of the Isle of Man, the Catholic Union said proposals to permit people who are not terminally ill to seek assisted suicide and allow pharmacies to distribute lethal medication were “deeply worrying”.
The consultation carried out by Tynwald, the Manx Parliament, comes as the Jersey government considers the roll-out of assisted suicide while the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee is discussing change to the existing law of England and Wales.
New data has shown that pupils in Catholic schools and academies are significantly more diverse than average across England and Wales.
In England, 44 per cent of pupils at state-funded Catholic primaries and secondaries are from an ethnic minority background, compared to an average of 36 per cent nationally. In Wales the same figures are 30 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent. Of the 316,070 non-Catholic pupils, just under half are from Christian denominations and more than 34,000 are Muslim.
A talk on synodality held by the lay movement Focolare attracted an audience drawn from across the Church on 26 January.
Opened by Anglican theologian and ecumenist Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, the meeting, held in Welwyn Garden City, heard from speakers across Europe about the challenges and possibilities of “synodal living”.
Those attending online included Nicola Brady, the General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, joining from Belfast and Bishop Joseph Toal, Bishop of Motherwell, from Scotland. They were joined by representatives from the Church of England as well as from the Lutheran, United Reformed and Moravian Churches and two officers from the Salvation Army.
The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, founded in 1965, has launched a new website.
It highlights work over the past five decades of the official relief and development agency of the Catholic Church in Scotland. This includes supporting victims of emergencies in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and lobbying MPs to protest government cuts to overseas aid. More recently, parishes are encouraged to become eco-congregations to tackle the injustice of climate change and support refugees fleeing conflict.
Sciaf is a member of Caritas Internationalis. In 2021 Sciaf petitioned, marched and amplified the voices of people from the Global South as Glasgow hosted the COP26 climate conference. Before the close of the conference, the Scottish Government became the first developed nation to commit funding to Loss and Damage, pledging £2 million.
The co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, Fr Brendan Hoban, has hit out at populist trolls who claim the Irish Catholic Church is “dripping in wealth”.
Writing in his weekly column for the Western People, Fr Hoban took issue with some media commentators and their “naive and callow disregard for the data”. He said they often refer to the “unimaginable wealth of Rome” even though “the dogs in the street know that wealth, such as it is, is notoriously unrealisable”.
Responding to the argument that the Church’s wealth should sort out the homeless crisis in Ireland, the retired parish priest said, “There is no Catholic fairy tree in the Vatican or anywhere else” to do that. He used the 2021 financial accounts for his own diocese of Killala to underscore his point.
However, he also criticised dioceses and parishes that do not produce regular accounts. “It’s part of a wider clerical presumption that people have no right or can’t be trusted even with an account of the money they themselves have contributed,” he said.
The Bishop of Elphin has called for “tenderness” in all human relationships as he criticised “aggressive feminism” and “toxic masculinity” as “two sides of the same coin”.
In his homily for the last Sunday of January, Bishop Kevin Doran said some of the more extreme expressions of feminism have been harmful both to women and to men. “It became politically incorrect to talk about the unique contribution of women as mothers,” he said.
On the other hand, through toxic masculinity, characteristics which are traditionally associated with masculinity, “good things like strength and courage and honour, can sometimes become distorted and exaggerated in such a way that young men feel that it is OK to be violent and rude and to treat women disrespectfully”.
“Alcohol and pornography, of course, add fuel to the fire,” he said, adding: “In a changing environment, perhaps it is not surprising that men might question what it means to be male, and to wonder how they should freely express and even celebrate their masculinity.”
The parish of Sts Simon and Jude in Streatham Hill, London, has been shortlisted for the London and South East England Prestige Awards 2023/24 celebrating individuals, companies and organisations making a real and lasting difference to their local community.
Loading ...
