Christian Aid urged the UK Foreign Secretary and the UK Chancellor attending last week’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland to scale up international commitments to support the world's most vulnerable communities to deal with climate crisis. “Climate vulnerable communities in poorer countries may be a world away from Davos, but this gathering of world leaders has it in their gift to change the odds and improve the lives and life chances of millions,” said Christian Aid. “They must scale up loss and damage funding.” A new Oxfam report to coincide with the Davos meeting showed the EU's five richest billionaires increased their wealth by 76 per cent since 2020, while 99 per cent of the EU's population became poorer. Oxfam is calling on governments to reduce the gap between the super-rich and the rest of society.
The Churches’ Refugee Network is advertising a meeting on 24 January to focus on this year’s general election, exploring what churches and Christian groups can do regarding narratives around immigration, asylum and refugee matters, titled, “Churches, Migration and the General Election”. Meanwhile, following the passing of the UK government’s Rwanda Bill last week, the Jesuit Refugee Service has pledged to continue to oppose “this profoundly cruel, unworkable scheme”. As the government attempts to cut the asylum backlog, the SVP has flagged up mounting refugee homelessness. And St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School in Birmingham is the latest Catholic school to become a School of Sanctuary, which means it promotes welcome, inclusion and awareness for refugees seeking sanctuary.
The Faith and Belief Forum, the largest interfaith charity in the UK, will lead an initiative to repair the harm done by faith-based hate in the UK after being awarded almost £500,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund. A partnership between the Forum, the Why me? restorative justice charity, and Interfaith Glasgow will use the funding to forge new approaches to resolving faith-based community conflicts in Solihull and Glasgow over the next three years. It is hoped that a new network of restorative justice practitioners within the interfaith sector will be created to address faith-based hate.
Monks have returned to Iona for the first time since the Reformation. Five monks from the Orthodox Monastery of All Celtic Saints on nearby Mull moved to the island last year. They have established a hermitage at Iona Cottage, near the ferry, and it is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God and all the Saints of Iona. The monks’ website says, “We are an English speaking, multi-national community living on the Islands of Mull and Iona…… We strive to support the Orthodox in the West and to pray for the world.” Iona is the most ancient centre of Christianity in Scotland, dating from 563, when St Columba travelled from Ireland and founded a monastery that is now home to the ecumenical Iona community.
A church in the heart of the South Downs has been named among the most captivating “tiny tourist attractions” in the UK. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lullington, near Alfriston, is featured among seven miniature attractions in the list from The Times newspaper. Karl Newton, deputy chief executive of the National Churches Trust, which helps keep the church open, told The Tablet, “It is great to see the Church of the Good Shepherd in Lullington listed as a captivating tourist attraction and we hope it encourages many people to visit this wonderful church.” Nearly half of Britain’s most important historic buildings – Grade I or equivalent – are churches and chapels, he added.
The Cross of Wales, a new processional cross presented by His Majesty King Charles as a centenary gift to the Church in Wales, will be officially presented to the Church this week (Jan 25). The Cross, which led the Coronation procession at Westminster Abbey on May 6, includes a relic of the True Cross, given to the King by Pope Francis to mark the Coronation.
Racial Justice Sunday on 28 January has as its theme,“Seeing one another in the life of the Church”, particularly exploring “saints of colour” who opposed racism and promoted equality and justice. Bishop Paul McAleenan, lead bishop for racial justice, said such saints “will inspire us, teach us, and make us sensitive to the importance of racial justice and why we work for it”. Assumption Sisters UK have posted images featuring Our Lady and the child Jesus from a cross-section of cultures, encouraging reflection on how everyone is made in the image of God. Special Masses included St George’s Cathedral, Southwark at 10am, which will be livestreamed with Archbishop John Wilson presiding.
Galway Cathedral’s annual novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help will mark its 40th anniversary this year. The nine-day event takes its theme from the words of Pope Francis, “But above all, do not lose hope.” Bishop Michael Duignan will give the keynote address. The Novena begins 5 February and continues to 13 February. Each day a talk will be given to participants by one of a panel of speakers, including those who have lived through tragedy, addiction or spearheaded evangelisation. The novena also includes daily Mass, confession, the Sacrament of the Sick and the Consecration of the Family to Our Lady.
“Synodality is a commitment to conversion without which we cannot develop authenticity,” Dr Elissa Roper told 854 participants in a Zoom talk hosted by Root and Branch, the lay reform movement. The Australian theologian called for open minds and open hearts. In her address, “The Foundations for a Synodal Church: A Church beyond Clericalism”, she said synodality is asking the people of God to attend to the signs of the times today. “Synodality means walking together, but we are not in some conformity where we all look the same and do the same. We are walking together in diversity.” She said the “hard work” is to become “friends and be able to do that together and have some agreement on our values and on our tradition and what we want for the future”.
A new Malankara Catholic Mass chaplaincy has been inaugurated in Galway to meet the needs of the growing Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Ireland. The main celebrant at the inauguration ceremony at St Patrick’s Church in the West of Ireland city was Fr Cheriyan Thazhamon, the Ireland Coordinator of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Regular services will be offered there in the West Syriac Rite, also known as the Malankara Rite, which is one of the liturgical traditions of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The Malankara Catholic Mass Centre in Galway is the latest addition to cater for the growing presence of families and students belonging to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Ireland.
Two nuns and a carer found guilty last month of cruel and unnatural treatment of children who were under their care at the former orphanage, Smyllum Park, in Lanark, have been sentenced to three years each in jail. At the six-week trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court, Sister Sarah McDermott, 79, carer Margaret Hughes, 76, and Sister Eileen Igoe, 79, were found guilty of the charges relating to children in their care. The incidents happened at the orphanage between 1969 and 1981 while children were in the care of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. The victims included boys and girls, according to Police Scotland.
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