News Briefing: from Britain and Ireland

The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II, is on his first pastoral visit to the United Kingdom, where he will visit a number of parishes and take part in a series of ecumenical and interfaith events. Last weekend, the Pope addressed hundreds of young people from the Church’s Youth Mission at the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St George in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. He also met a number of ambassadors to the UK and took part in a Vespers Service in his honour which was attended by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, and the Archbishop Emeritus of Southwark, Kevin McDonald.

Golden weekend
Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King will hold a “grand weekend” of celebrations from 2 to 5 June, as part of a series of events to mark the cathedral’s golden jubilee. Archbishop Malcolm McMahon will be joined by Cardinal Vincent Nichols to celebrate the Solemn Mass of Pentecost on Sunday 4 June. The Liverpool poet, Roger McGough, has written a new work that will be premiered on the jubilee weekend: other events include a concert by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra featuring composer Sir James MacMillan and an exhibition of work by the artist John Piper at Tate Liverpool in November. (See page 4)

The death has occurred of Archbishop Thomas White, a former Papal Nuncio to Rwanda, Ethiopia and New Zealand. Archbishop White, who had been a priest of the Diocese of Ossory in Ireland, retired from the papal diplomatic service in 1996. He carried out several important missions for the Vatican Secretariat of State, including liaison work with the Church of the Syro-Malabar rite in India.

Leaders of the UK’s main faith groups, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi have backed a community initiative in memory of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox (above). The “Great Get Together” hopes to unite people in their neighbourhoods across the UK on the weekend of 16-18 June with a series of street parties, barbecues and picnics.

Brendan Cox, the MP’s widower, said he wanted the first anniversary of his wife’s murder to be marked by a joyous occasion that brought communities together, adding that it will be particularly pertinent so soon after the 8 June General Election.

Catholic organisations around the world have announced they are to withdraw their investments from fossil fuels companies in what is the largest joint “divestment” to date.

The groups include Cafod, the Catholic Church’s international development and aid agency, religious orders and dioceses from the UK, the United States and Italy. It follows a conference in Rome earlier this year where Catholic institutions demonstrated ways to move assets away from fossil fuels and reinvest in measures which protect the environment.

“The announcement that yet more Catholic institutions are moving their money away from fossil fuels once again shows how the Church is leading the way in the fight against climate change,” said Neil Thorns, director of advocacy at Cafod.

Organisations are now responding to the Pope’s call for us to take action, he added.

The nine groups made the announcement ahead of international negotiations later this month on implementing the measures set out in 2015 in the Paris Agreement on climate change. The latest talks take place amid ongoing concern about future US participation in the agreement, and worries that President Donald Trump may pull out of the deal. During the presidential campaign, Mr Trump criticised the climate deal, which has been ratified by more than 140 countries.

Blasphemy referendum likely
Ireland is likely to hold a referendum on its constitutional provision on blasphemy after Gardaí dropped their investigation of actor Stephen Fry (above) over alleged blasphemous comments made in an RTÉ programme in 2015. A complaint was made to the Gardaí after the programme aired, claiming Mr Fry’s comments to Gay Byrne were in breach of the 2009 Defamation Act.

The Department of Justice has said preliminary consultations are under way as the Government considers a referendum to amend Article 40.6.1(i) of the constitution to remove the reference to blasphemy. A referendum bill and a bill to amend the Defamation Act 2009’s provision on the offence of blasphemy are needed.

The former minister for justice, Dermot Ahern, who oversaw the introduction of the 2009 Defamation Act’s blasphemy provision, said the law was framed so as to make it “virtually impossible to prosecute”. Mr Ahern said this week he had wanted to delete the blasphemy provision in the constitution in 2009 and the Law Reform Commission had advised that the blasphemy law was not appropriate, but as it would have entailed a costly referendum he chose not to proceed. This week, health minister Simon Harris backed calls for a referendum to bring about constitutional change on the issue. “It’s silly. It’s a bit embarrassing. It needs to be changed. I’m very pleased that the Government wishes to see a referendum on this issue [that]  does require constitutional change,” Mr Harris said.

The Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact), a national charity that supports prisoners, people with convictions and their families, said the number of people contacting its national helpline nearly doubled from 2,335 in 2015 to 4,187 in 2016.

An independent report by Dr Carlie Goldsmith, “At the End of the Line”, found that 80 per cent of callers were women, with the largest sub-group being mothers or carers of prisoners and the second largest being partners of prisoners. The biggest concerns included how to keep in contact with a relative in prison, advice on telling children that a parent has gone to prison and housing issues. Andy Keen-Downs, Pact CEO, said the report shows that thousands of family members want to play a part in keeping their loved ones safe in prison but are “effectively ‘locked out’ of the system”.