News briefing Britain and Ireland

A Scottish Catholic bishop has carried a sink up a large hill to highlight the global clean water crisis.

Bishop Brian McGee of Argyll and the Isles, the bishop president of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, was drawing attention to the annual Lent Wee Box Appeal 2026, which is raising funds for local organisations in Ethiopia to bring clean water to communities. “Getting that big sink up the hill was a struggle. It weighed a tonne and it was blowing a hooley, but I just did it once,” he said. “It’s nothing compared to the daily struggle many have to access clean water.

The Catholic Investors’ Forum was due to hold its inaugural online meeting on 5 March. Backed by Operation Noah, it is for diocesan finance professionals and those responsible for investments within religious orders and congregations. The initiative is being led by Fr Seamus O’Neill of St Patrick’s Missionary Society, Sr MaryAnne Francalanza of FCJ Centre for Spirituality and EcoJustice in London and Br Stephen Power of the Society of Jesus. “Managing institutional funds today presents a unique set of challenges,” said a spokesman. “We believe there is a great deal to be gained by sharing our experiences and working more closely together to ensure our Catholic faith is reflected in how we invest.”

The Benedictine nuns of Minster Abbey in Kent are offering a discernment retreat from 27 – 29 March to single Catholic women. The event is one of three this year providing women aged 18-35 years old with a “taster” of monastic life. To register, please email Sister Walburga minstervocations@gmail.com.

Scotland’s Catholic bishops expressed “deep concern” over new legislation that will allow “young people to withdraw from religious observance” in schools without parental involvement. The Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) Bill recently passed its third reading in the Scottish parliament. In a statement, the bishops said: “This narrative risks creating a false divide between children’s rights and parental responsibilities,” adding: “Religious education remains a central part of the curriculum and will continue to be an entitlement for all pupils.” They decried the policy of the Scottish Green party to “impose a fully secular model of state education – an approach that would strip away Scotland’s denominational schools entirely.”

Michael P. Hornsby Smith, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Surrey and the author of Roman Catholic Beliefs in England and An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought died on 25 February. A former chairman of the British Sociological Association’s sociology of religion study group, he published research into lay Catholic opinion post-Vatican II.  He served as a chair for the Justice and Peace Commission for Arundel and Brighton Diocese and for six years was a member of the Committee of the Catholic Institute for International Relations, now Progressio. In 2023, he published Coping with Dementia: Memoirs of a Catholic Husband charting the final 10 years of his 62-year-long marriage to his wife Lennie. 

 A poster produced by The Art of Living and Dying Well centre at St Mary’s University Twickenham has won a joint runners-up commendation from Marie Curie’s Joanna Mugridge research award. The poster on ethnically diverse perspectives on end-of-life care and death literacy details a community-based research project in 2025 in Birmingham, exploring how health providers and faith communities can improve practice surrounding end of life care and the availability of information around faith rituals for death for Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists. 

The Catholic historian and pro-life activist Professor Jack Scarisbrick died 28 February. Renowned for his seminal biography of Henry VIII and work establishing pro-life charities in the UK, Scarisbrick was educated at The John Fisher School in Purley, Surrey and Christ’s College Cambridge. A professor of history at the University of Warwick, he co-founded the anti-abortion charity Life with his wife Nuala in 1970. Later, he founded Zoe’s Place, a hospice for children in Coventry. 

Special educational needs coordinators from Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland took part in an “inclusion and belonging” conference run by Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust. The aims included supporting understanding of neurodivergence and helping teachers with theory and practical ideas. 

The healing and reconciliation movement LOUDfence is holding a three-day event at St John Henry Newman parish in Wolverhampton this weekend (6-8 March) to show support and solidarity for those affected by abuse. People will be encouraged to tie brightly-coloured ribbons, tokens and messages, to railings, suspended wires and on internal displays. There will also be the opportunity to send a virtual ribbon and message. The event will include Masses, quiet time and reflection, craft activities, the chance to talk with members of the diocesan safeguarding team and more.

Christian Art, an online platform which shares works of art connected with the Gospel to help nurture faith through the beauty of art, has announced that it will hold its first conference at London’s Queen Elizabeth II Centre on 14 November. The inaugural conference will explore the dialogue between faith and creativity through speeches, panel discussions and live performances. The speakers will include Archbishop Richard Moth, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP, Baroness Sheila Hollins, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Sir Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery. Founded by Fr Patrick van der Vorst, a former director of Sotheby’s Europe and now a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Westminster, Christian Art has grown into a global network of writers, translators, developers, artists and art lovers.

Archbishop of Westminster Richard Moth has become a patron of the St Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales), to help with the mission of tackling poverty and providing practical help to those in need. He said, “The mission carried out by SVP members reflects the power of service and the significance of protecting the human dignity of those we encounter who are in need, regardless of background or circumstance.”

Pope Leo has made Dr Philip Howard a Knight of the Pontifical Order of Saint Gregory in recognition of his service in the field of Catholic medical ethics and his commitment to the sanctity of life through teaching, writing and campaigning.

Bishop John Arnold of Salford, bishops’ spokesman on the environment and Dr Maria Exall, of the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University, are speakers at an event in Sheffield on 21 March, “Everything is connected – How do we care for our common home?” Organised by Hallam Formation and Mission for 21 March at St Vincent’s Church, Sheffield, the encyclicals Laudato Si, Rerum Novarum and Dilexit Té will be explored.  Last month, Ed Miliband MP, the Energy and Net Zero Secretary, visited Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Primary School in Doncaster, Hallam diocese, to hear about its Care for Creation project linked to Cafod’s Pilgrims of Hope programme. He was asked about the UK’s role in tackling the global climate crisis. “Their engagement in these issues gives me great hope for the future,” said Miliband. 

Bishop of Cork and Ross Fintan Gavin of has expressed “great sadness” at the Augustinians’ decision to withdraw from one of Cork City’s best-known churches from this summer. Bishop Gavin said that for generations, the Augustinian community at St Augustine’s church “has been an important and cherished part of the cultural, spiritual and faith life of our city. Many people have found there a place of prayer, welcome, and belonging.” The move is due to declining vocations and the advancing age profile of members.

St Mary’s Cathedral, Dublin is to undergo a major refurbishment programme which will see the church closed for two years from Easter Sunday. Last year Pope Leo designated it as a cathedral on the 200th anniversary of St Mary’s dedication in 1825. Popularly known as the Pro, the €25 million (£21.8m) upgrade will see the baptismal font, pulpit and altar repositioned. The congregation’s sightlines of the altar will be improved as will accommodation for the Palestrina choirs. The project is being led by the architects that oversaw the rebuilding of St Mel’s Cathedral, Longford after the 2009 fire.

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