A couple who founded a charity in memory of their murdered son and the head of the Anglican Communion’s mission to the Holy See are among the Christians honoured in the New Year’s Honours list this year.
Margaret and Barry Mizen, whose 16-year old son Jimmy was murdered in south-east London in 2008, have said that their Catholic faith helped them cope with their loss.
They have been made MBEs for services to young people. The Jimmy Mizen Foundation gives talks in schools and has paid for minibuses for community groups.
Mrs Mizen, 60, dedicated the award to her son’s memory.
"On the night that Jimmy died, I promised him two things in the quiet of my bedroom when I was trying to make sense of what happened, and that was that I would do everything to keep his name alive and that I would dedicate my life to working for peace. I feel that this is something that will help me fulfil my promise to him," she said.
The New Zealand-born head of the Anglican Church's mission to the Holy See has received a knighthood.
Archbishop David Moxon, 62, who until his move to Rome last spring was one of the three Anglican archbishops in New Zealand and the South Pacific, has been appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his services to his Church.
He said: "I respect this honour as a sign of the role that the Church I am a part of plays in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. This role is the quest for a united Church committed to Christ and the search for a world where God's justice and peace usher in a society which values everyone. That is the goal and the mission of the Church in the world. The Gospels hold that every person created by God is to be honoured, one way or another."
Barry and Margaret Mizen speak at the Flame Youth Congress in 2012 ©Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk
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