Peace veteran dies at 90
The indefatigable peace campaigner Sarah Hipperson, has died aged 90.
Hipperson had lived in the east London suburb of Wanstead for many decades. In her mid-fifties, in 1983, she joined the women’s peace camp at Greenham Common, to protest at the siting of cruise missiles there. Hipperson saw nuclear weapons as an offence against God and humanity. A devout Christian, she continued to campaign throughout her life. Following the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in September 2001, she became involved with a local anti-war group, Peace and Justice in East London.
Seventy-five Catholic academics and clergy have signed an appeal to the Cardinals of the Catholic Church, calling on them to tell Pope Francis that he must teach the authentic Catholic doctrine concerning capital punishment.
The appeal follows an addition to the Church’s Catechism announced by Pope Francis on 2 August. The new paragraph, the signatories claim, is confusingly worded, has been taken by many inside and outside the Church to say that capital punishment is intrinsically immoral and must never be used. They argue that such a teaching would run contrary to many passages in the Bible, and to the teaching of the Church down the centuries.
The English signatories include Fr John Hunwicke, Professor Thomas Pink, Fr Andrew Pinsent and Joseph Shaw. The petition has been sent to the cardinals because they are traditionally considered to be the Pope’s own councillors.
Abortion pills appeal
SPUC Scotland is to appeal against a judge’s decision that will allow Scottish women to take abortion pills at home. Lady Wise dismissed an earlier challenge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, clearing the way for women to seek terminations by taking the drug Misoprostol at home. SPUC Scotland’s chief executive, John Deighan, accused the Scottish Government and the chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, of taking a “lax attitude” to the subject and of a “reprehensible” neglect of the harm caused by abortion. He said that “decades of propaganda and emotional manipulation” had clouded many people’s judgement.
A continuous Rosary is to be said during a fund-raising climb of Britain’s highest mountain. The scheme is the brainchild of 85-year-old Calum MacFarlane-Barrow, in support of the Craig Lodge retreat centre, which he co-founded with his wife, Mary Anne. Mass has been celebrated at the top of Ben Nevis but Mr MacFarlane-Barrow said that this Rosary would be a first. The climb of the 4,409-foot (1,344m) mountain is scheduled to take place next Saturday.
There has been a significant drop in the number of young people taking Religious Studies at A level in England and Wales, reports the Religious Education Council of England and Wales and the National Association of Teachers of RE. The drop in RS entries, of 22.8 per cent, stands in contrast to the subject’s recent growth in popularity. Despite this fall in entries for RS, there are still 65 per cent more than in 2003, when 11,132 entries were recorded. The drop comes at a time when there is also a shortfall in recruitment for teacher training in Religious Education.
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