Refugees warning
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has warned that the UK Government must not be let “off the hook” over its treatment of people detained in immigration centres. It follows an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme which showed officers “mocking and assaulting” people being held at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick Airport. The security firm G4S which runs the centre, has suspended nine members of staff and is investigating the footage filmed inside Brook House. “Abuses like this take place in a context, that is that the UK locks up too many people in immigration detention for far too long,” said JRS UK director Sarah Teather.
Cardinal Raymond Burke (pictured) conducted a Pontifical High Mass in Glasgow last Saturday, at the invitation of Una Voce Scotland, a traditionalist religious organisation which promotes the cultural heritage of the Tridentine rite. The service at the Immaculate Heart of Mary church, Balornock, was attended by a large congregation. The cardinal, who has demanded that Pope Francis answer a series of questions on whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion, said that he prayed for a renewed Catholic life in Scotland.
A number of students who were excluded from the voluntary-aided St Olave’s Grammar School in Orpington, south-east London, because they did not achieve at least B grades midway through their A level courses, are to be allowed to return to the school, without conditions. In a statement issued by the Diocese of Rochester last Friday, the school said it had decided to remove the requirement.
St Olave’s is one of England’s top-performing grammar schools, with students selected by academic ability. The sudden change in approach came after The Guardian newspaper revealed details of the policy. Parents of some of the pupils affected are taking legal action. St Olave’s has not made any public comment.
Youth mission launch
The Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Davies, has announced the launch of a Youth Mission Team for the diocese. In a letter read out at all Masses on Sunday, he said it was necessary for the Church to support young people amid the challenges that confront them, which “were greater than those confronting previous generations”.
The team will include clergy and lay volunteers along with three full-time staff who will also aim to build up the youth mission on social media. Bishop Davies said that the Christian witness of young people is “a gift needed by the whole Church and the whole world”.
Burial plots fraud
The former superintendent of a Catholic cemetery in Edinburgh has admitted that he illegally sold burial plots to grieving families, while making thousands of pounds.
William Henderson, 46, pleaded guilty to a single charge of “fraudulent scheme”, having sold off the plots at Mount Vernon Cemetery between 2006 and 2015. Mr Henderson will be sentenced on 29 September.
The Catholic Church, which runs the cemetery, has apologised to families and said that it “deeply regrets” the criminal activities of Mr Henderson.
He sold forged burial deeds, which usually involved identifying and selling spare unutilised ground in the cemetery such as access paths.
The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Leo Cushley, has sent a personal letter to each of the families affected by the crimes.
Tabernacle Chapel in Morriston, Swansea, has been voted Wales’ favourite place of worship in a competition organised by the National Churches Trust. It beat off competition from 49 other churches and chapels with over 7,000 votes from the public.
The Archbishop of Cardiff, George Stack, who launched the competition with BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards, said that the church was a “stunning example” of the Nonconformist heritage that is at the heart of the modern social history of Wales.
The Grade I-listed building was opened in 1870 and its design led it to be known as the “cathedral of chapels”. Its construction originally cost £18,000, and the chapel’s interior and fittings remain largely unaltered.
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