News briefing Britain and Ireland

A sculpture of Jesus made from scrap and recycled metal is now on display at the British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry, Shropshire.

It hangs from a large wooden cross, visible across the sculpture park which also displays a  figure of the Hindu deity, Lord Ganesha. Clive Knowles, chairman of The British Ironwork Centre, said: “We’ve spent two years preparing and perfecting this sculpture of Jesus Christ, as we know it will matter tremendously to our surrounding communities and our visitors.” On  the centre’s website, a spokesman added that Christianity had “historically been central to British culture, identity, and institutions yet year after year we are seeing a fast-climbing increase in those who do not engage in Christianity.”

The Dominicans are launching a weekly video series on the Psalms for Lent. Each Sunday, a new video on the psalms chosen for the readings at Mass on the Sundays of Lent will be released. Each will explore themes including sin, temptation, Baptism, redemption and the freedom of the children of God and feature Fr Richard Ounsworth OP, prior and parish priest of Holy Cross Priory, Leicester. He teaches Scripture and New Testament Greek at Blackfriars, Oxford. 

The Archdiocese of Liverpool announced it was no longer posting on the social media platform ‘X’ for “ethical and moral reasons.” “Please follow us on our other channels: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn,” it said on a post read by more than 200,000 people. 

Fifteen faith leaders in Wales including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, the Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia Mark O’Toole and Bishop Peter Brignall  of Wrexham have issued a statement opposing the legislation of assisted suicide. “Wales has a long and proud tradition of compassion and of valuing the dignity of every human life. True compassion does not mean ending a life. It means accompanying those who suffer, easing their pain, supporting families, and ensuring that no one feels abandoned, a burden, or without worth,” said the statement whose signatories include the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Wales, Cherry Vann. The leaders urged the Welsh parliament, the Senedd to withhold consent to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill when it is debated on 24 February. 

A former employee of the Diocese of Westminster, Francisca Yawson, was given a suspended sentence of two years in prison on 6 February at Southwark Crown Court, following a conviction for nine counts of theft totalling nearly £100,000. Southwark Crown Court heard that Yawson, a 37-year-old mother of four from Stonebridge Park, made nine bank transfers to herself between September 2018 and August 2019, while employed as a gift aid and operations technician in the diocese. The Diocese of Westminster said in a statement “This incident, through the deliberate and repeated subversion of our established procedures, represents a gross breach of trust.”

BBC Two will broadcast a new series of Pilgrimage this spring. Pilgrimage: The Road to Holy Island tracks seven celebrity pilgrims as they walk to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Co. Durham. They include the Muslim comedian Hasan Al-Habib, the Christian dancer, Ashley Banjo, Ashley Blaker, a Jewish comedian who is no longer observant,  Tasha Ghouri, a former Love Island star and atheist, the television presenter Jayne Middlemiss, who describes herself as ‘spiritual’, the actress Hermione Norris who believes the divine may be found in all things, and the actress, Patsy Kensit, a self-described “à la carte Catholic”. 

Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark will lead the Rosary at the national shrine of St Oscar Romero in St George’s Cathedral on Ash Wednesday at 5pm. He will lead the praying of the rosary at the shrine at the same time on Friday 6 and Friday 27 March. During other Fridays in Lent, Cathedral clergy will lead the rosary, followed by the Stations of the Cross at 6pm. In addition, the Lay Community of St Benedict is offering online Lenten talks on Wednesday evenings, ‘Growing closer to Christ through a rule of life.’ The online Zoom sessions will include a time of discussion and reflection and all are welcome to join all or any of the talks.

The programme for Romero commemorations in March, organised by the Romero Trust, includes an ecumenical service at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 14 March and the Romero Schools Award Mass St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, on 26 March. The speaker at events 10-14 March will be Dr Todd Walatka, professor at the University of Notre Dame in the US. He is the author of Words of Life: The Preaching of St. Oscar Romero and editor of Oscar Romero and Catholic Social Teaching. Talks will be given at Leeds Trinity City Campus and Durham Catholic Studies Centre. Masses will be celebrated in Windsor and Cardiff. 

The internship program at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York offers Catholic college graduates or graduate students the opportunity to gain experience assisting the work of the Holy See in its multilateral work at the UN. This highlights Catholic Social Teaching in debates of the international community. Interns receive an orientation on the history of the diplomatic work of the Holy See at the UN, attend UN meetings, conferences and debates, and file reports. Application deadlines are 15 April for the Autumn Session and 1 October for the 2027 Spring Session. 

Missio hosted Cardinal Giorgio Marengo IMC, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on a visit to St Peter’s Catholic Church in Stockport, Greater Manchester where he celebrated a special Mission Mass. Cardinal Marengo spoke about the challenges facing the Church in Mongolia where there were no local Catholics prior to 1992. “You are a vital and vibrant community, I see,” he said. “But the risk is always there for us who come from Christian traditions to take it for granted that the Church is there.” The Church in Mongolia could not be more different, he added. “I feel privileged to be in Mongolia because I am invited to accompany people who’ve never had the chance to know the Lord before.”

An advocate for women’s ordination detailed the abuse and threats, including rape, which she has been subjected to since she revealed she felt called to priesthood.  Soline Humbert spoke to Dr Mary McAleese at a Root and Branch Zoom last week about her memoir, A Divine Calling.  She recalled how in 2001 a catholic journalist suggested that she was doing the work of the Devil.  “How many women have gone to their graves with their vocation hidden,” she asked and said efforts to silence women with a vocation to priesthood was “spiritual abuse”. 

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