News Briefing Britain and Ireland

On 6 May, “Procession”, above, a painting capturing Middlesbrough’s Catholic history by local artist Philip Meadows, will be unveiled at an exhibition.

Painted to mark the fortieth anniversary of St Mary’s Cathedral, Middlesbrough, the foot of the canvas depicts the “old cathedral”, continuing upwards to the “new” cathedral. “The whole painting captures a procession – not only a physical journey from the old cathedral to the new, but a procession through time,” said Meadows. “It begins almost in monochrome, reflecting the area’s early industrial heritage, and gradually works its way into full colour as it moves toward the present.”  He added: “The train represents the immigrants who founded Middlesbrough. Many were from Ireland…their story is woven into the fabric of the town.” Figures of St Hilda of Whitby, Blessed Nicholas Postgate and St Margaret Clitherow of York are visible in the Cleveland Hills on the horizon. The dean of Middlesbrough Cathedral, Canon Paul Farrer, said Meadows’ inspiration had included the “layered stories” of “Renaissance narrative paintings”: “This is a celebration of memory – past and present in a time when we are being asked to consider the changes we need to make to step into the future with confidence,” added Canon Farrer, who commissioned the work.  

Nearly 4,000 crimes including theft, vandalism and violence were committed on church property and other places of worship last year according to data from the Countryside Alliance. Thirty-seven of the 45 police forces in the UK responded to the Alliance’s Freedom of Information Request. This revealed that on average more than 10 crimes took place at Churches and places of worship every day in 2025.

An exhibition on the life of the Virgin Mary depicted in paintings reproduced from the National Gallery opens at the Church of the Immaculate Conception Farm Street on Friday 1 May. Edmund Matyjeszek will read poems from his forthcoming collection A Book of Feasts: The Marian Year, which covers 21 feasts of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Every Tuesday in May at 2.30pm, an event will be held at Farm Street to explain the pictures, including the recital of related poems. For information please contact friendsofquarr@quarr.org

The Sandford St Martin Trust which promotes excellence in religious broadcasting, is giving a special Trustees’ Award to the BBC 2 series Pilgrimage. Now in its eighth year, the series follows celebrity pilgrims as they travel together to a holy site. The recent series, featuring Patsy Kensit, involved seven celebrities on a nearly 250-mile trek in the footsteps of northern Celtic saints to Holy Island on Lindisfarne. Dr Tony Stoller, chairman of the trust, said: “In our increasingly fragmented and fractious times, Pilgrimage has consistently shown how through thoughtful and respectful conversation, strangers from different faith perspectives and with very different world views can still find common ground”. He added that the series was a “shining example of why we still need the BBC”.

A conference on international parish renewal with a focus on youth is being held with Divine Renovation from 6-7 May at St Elizabeth of Portugal Church in Richmond, London. The keynote speaker is Fr James Mallon, a priest of Nova Scotia, author of Divine Renovation: Bringing Your Parish from Maintenance to Mission. This explores how parishes may be transformed through the Holy Spirit, leadership and evangelisation. 

Jonathan Heard has been appointed the new director of Jesuit Missions. A former deputy director of international programmes at the maritime charity Stella Maris, in May Heard will replace Paul Chitnis, who served as director at Jesuit Missions for nearly 14 years.

Am ecumenical service will be held at Our Lady of Victories Church, London W8 on Thursday 30 April at 7.00 pm arranged by Westminster Justice & Peace.  Principal Celebrants: James Curry KC*HS, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster & Lead Bishop for the Holy Land and Fr Nigel Woollen, Parish Priest at Our Lady of Victories Church.  Address by Dr Harry Hagopian, an Armenian Christian originally from Jordan. RG

The daughter of Edgar Riches, 78, a fundraiser for Cafod, who was killed in Kenya after being hit by President William Ruto’s motorcade, said justice had “not been served” when the driver escaped jail after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. Pauline Olden told an inquest, “My father was in the final part of his charity walk he does every year to raise money for the country he loved visiting. He was tragically killed while crossing at a designated pedestrian crossing by a driver going far too quickly. The police car and ambulance did not stop and the driver was fined the equivalent of a £575 fine. He was able to pay it and move on with his life but we can’t.” Riches was in Nairobi visiting his sister and nephew. ” Dorset Senior Coroner Brendan Allen said authorities in Nairobi provided “very limited” information to the inquest.

Sister Genevieve, 87, a sister of St Joseph of Annecy and formerly known as Anne Clanchy, has died in Newport, Wales after she was hit by a car. Sisters at her convent paid tribute, saying, “She will be remembered for her great kindness to everyone that she met, her interest in them and their lives, her love of life and her quiet, deep faith.” They said her sudden death was a shock to all who knew her. Before retirement she had been a teacher in England, including working as headteacher of St Winifred’s School in Lewisham, London.

A further 51 victims came forward with allegations of abuse at Jesuit schools last year following the public naming of 15 deceased Jesuits accused of abuse in 2025. The figures in the latest annual report from the Jesuit Safeguarding Office “reflect the impact of that naming”, said Jesuit Provincial Fr Shane Daly SJ. Most of the new complaints were made against 14 of the 18 Jesuits who were named publicly last year. While the majority related to child sexual abuse, nine related to physical and emotional abuse and a further seven were complaints of inappropriate behaviour that was not sexual abuse.

A further 36 infant remains have been recovered during the ongoing excavation at the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway. According to the latest update from the team overseeing the forensic dig, these infants were buried in coffins which have since decayed. The evidence indicates that the majority of coffins were single shouldered with mounts and had been painted white. In a small number of instances, two or three individuals were buried in the same coffin. This brings the total number of infant remains recovered since the excavation commenced on 14th July 2025 to 69.

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