News Briefing: from Britain and Ireland

Holy Doors in England and Wales were closed this week to mark the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy and to coincide with the closure of the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome last Saturday. The Bishop of Norwich, Alan Hopes, presided over the closure of the door at St John the Baptist Cathedral in Norwich (above). “Today prompts us to reflect on how we might keep those doors open in our own lives,” he said.

A Holy Door at the Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham in East Anglia was also closed, as were doors at the Shrine of Our Lady in Glastonbury and at Clifton Cathedral. The door at Westminster Cathedral was closed the weekend before.

The Government has said that its first tranche of funding for the protection of places of worship will predominantly go to Christian churches.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced last week that 45 of the 59 religious buildings awarded a share of the £405,000 grant for security measures including CCTV and protective fencing are churches, which cannot be named for security reasons. Only 12 mosques and one Hindu temple are receiving support from the initiative. Some of the money comes from the Government’s hate crime action plan. The statement came after Ms Rudd and Communities Secretary Sajid Javid met with faith leaders on Wednesday.

The funding is the first part of a £2.4m allocation announced by Prime Minister Theresa May in July shortly after Fr Jacques Hamel was murdered by Islamist terrorists in his church in Rouen, France. The next wave of funding will be open to applications from April 2017.

Anti-slavery move
The Vatican has asked the UK-based charity Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) to take the lead in tackling the trafficking and exploitation of fishermen.

In a message ahead of World Fisheries Day on 21 November, Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, called on AoS to increase its presence in fishing ports to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking.

Cardinal Vegliò said within the fishing industry there are hundreds of thousands of migrants who are smuggled and trafficked for forced labour on board fishing vessels. AoS works closely with the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to identify and support victims of trafficking and exploitation in the fishing and shipping sectors.

Inquiry barrister resigns
The barrister leading the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) investigation of Catholic and Anglican Churches has resigned. The BBC reported last week that Aileen McColgan (above) quit over concerns about the inquiry’s leadership, but the inquiry responded that lawyers “come and go” according to their professional obligations – and a spokeswoman declined to “comment on specifics”.

The inquiry is working under its fourth chairwoman, Professor Alexis Jay.

Catholic media officers from around Europe gathered in Glasgow this week for the annual meeting of Media Officers and Spokespersons of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE). The theme of the gathering, which took place in Scotland for the first time, was “Communicating the Christian message where commonly shared values are lacking”.

Delegates included Bishop José Ignacio Munilla Aguirre of San Sebastián, who is president of the CCEE Commission on Social Communications. In a message of welcome, Archbishop of Glasgow Philip Tartaglia described the meeting’s subject as “a well-chosen and timely thematic for our times and for our situation”.

‘Gay cake’ appeal
Following an intervention by Northern Ireland’s attorney general, John Larkin QC, the Supreme Court in London may review a ruling that found that a Belfast bakery had discrim­inated by refusing to bake a pro-gay marriage cake. The move follows last month’s decision by the Court of Appeal in Belfast to uphold the ruling against Ashers Bakery. The court has asked lawyers to make written submissions for consideration.

Caritas Westminster is to launch a new course designed to introduce parishes, schools and youth groups to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. The seven-week Love in Action programme introduces six principles of Catholic Social Teaching through Sunday Liturgies and special resources for school assemblies and groups of young people. It is due to be launched on 1 December.

Westminster Cathedral marked the end of the Year of Mercy by unveiling an exhibition of photographs from World Youth Day 2016 during a special service on 19 November (above). The exhibition, which features photographs by Cardinal Nichols’ official photographer, Marcin Mazur, who accompanied Pope Francis during his visit to Poland for World Youth Day in July, was organised by the Polish Embassy, Polish Cultural Institute and the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales. The images will be displayed until 28 November.

Churches lit in red
Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament were among the places of worship due to be lit red this week as an act of solidarity with Christians suffering persecution around the world. The Red Wednesday initiative on 23 November, organised by Aid to the Church in Need, was also due to include a red Routemaster London bus emblazoned with the words Stand up for Faith and Freedom #RedWednesday, which was to travel through London.

A former employee of an Edinburgh cemetery has been arrested and charged following allegations of burial fraud. The Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, in which Mount Vernon Cemetery is situated, notified police last year following claims that families were sold fake documentation entitling them to burial plots. Police Scotland said a 45-year-old man had been charged and would appear in court at a later date.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm Street in London will join churches across the capital in hosting the UK Aids Memorial Quilt to commemorate the lives of those killed by the Aids epidemic.

Hundreds of people in Britain made quilt panels in memory of loved ones who died from Aids in the 1980s and 1990s, inspired by a project that started in America. The panels will be on display in churches and community centres following World Aids Day on 1 December. A Mass will be celebrated on the same day at Farm Street Church at 6 p.m.