News Briefing: Britain and Ireland

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has welcomed the return of the Wintershall Passion Play to central London on Good Friday, 18 April. He said: “I am proud that Wintershall is back again to turn Trafalgar Square into an open-air theatre to tell the powerful story of Jesus’s final days and resurrection.”

Peter Bergin stars as Jesus in the 90-minute open-air production by the Wintershall players, portraying the final hours of Christ’s life, starting with the Last Supper and narrating his journey to the Cross and Resurrection.

Two free performances of the play – staged by a large cast and including animals – will be shown at Trafalgar Square on Good Friday, at 12 noon and 3.15pm. It will also be streamed live via Facebook.

Dennis Finbow, a former priest of the Diocese of East Anglia appeared last week in Cambridge Crown Court charged with non-recent sexual offences against children. In a statement, the diocese said: “We understand that he has pleaded not guilty to those offences and the case has been adjourned for a trial in June 2026.”

Six videos for Lent have been created by Christians living in the Palestinian Territories. Each video in the “Holy Sites, Holy People: Lenten Journey” series is located in a separate spiritual location in Palestine and contains a text from the Bible and an explanation of the history of the site alongside the experience of local Christians.

The first video focuses on Bethlehem, described by the presenter Fr Fadi Diab as “the city which gave love and hope to the world,” and is “now a sad, hopeless city, vacant of its visitors.” The series is available via Friends of the Holy Land.

On 9 March, the Bishop of Clifton Bosco MacDonald was commissioned as an ecumenical canon of Bristol Cathedral during choral evensong. The preacher was the Anglican Bishop of Bristol the Right Revd Vivienne Faull.

Wells – the cathedral rediscovering its Catholic heritage

Cathedral dean Bosco MacDonald to be new Bishop of Clifton

A life-sized replica of the Shroud of Turin is on display at St George’s Cathedral Southwark until 21 April. The exhibition contains research exploring how the imprint of a crucified male figure on the linen cloth aligns with Gospel accounts of the death and resurrection of Christ.

The Irish episcopal conference has published the timetable for Ireland’s first national synodal assembly in 2026. Feedback must be submitted online via www.synod.ie on 1 May, while delegates will discern the priorities for the synod on 18 October, at the National Pre-Synodal Assembly in Kilkenny. From November 2025 to September 2026, theological research groups will be established for each priority to inform preparations for the first National Synodal Assembly in October 2026.

The Bishop of the Forces Paul Mason has visited British troops stationed in Qatar. “The Catholic Church is committed to providing pastoral and spiritual care to the Armed Forces. This is of even greater importance when people are deployed and away from family and loved ones,” said Mason on his visit to Expeditionary Air Wing, the Royal Air Force operational Head Quarters in the Middle East and other co located units.

The Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine Bishop William Shomali will speak about the Gazan War and how ceasefire conditions affect the daily life of Christians on 31 March at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church in London. The event at 12pm is free but registration is required via Friends of the Holy Land.

Archbishop John Wilson invited more than 100 primary school children in South London to Eucharistic Adoration at St George’s Cathedral in Southwark to commemorate the Jubilee Year of Hope. He explained the importance of the Eucharist to the pupils as part of an effort to make “Eucharistic adoration a cornerstone of their prayer life”.

Sue Oram, headteacher of St Stephen’s Primary School, said: “This beautiful service with the archbishop helped our children to better understand the importance of the Eucharist for our Catholic faith and will help them in their prayer life.”

A sculpture of atonement for survivors of abuse at Jesuit schools in Ireland has been unveiled in a Dublin parish. Heart Wheel at the Jesuit parish of St Francis Xavier shows a fractured wheel with a heart at its centre.

In February, the Society of Jesus named 15 members “credibly accused of child abuse” in the past 70 years in Ireland. “The memorialising work preserves and honours the memory of those who have suffered abuse,” said Fr Shane Daly SJ. Five smaller versions of the sculpture by John Coll are to be displayed in each of the five Jesuit schools in Ireland.

Dublin parish unveils sculpture of atonement for Jesuits’ abuse

Archbishop praises Irish Jesuits’ decision to name abusers

Last week, representatives of the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission and London Catholic Worker attended the monthly ecumenical prayer vigil for refugees and asylum seekers outside the Home Office. Around 30 people prayed “for the end of the hostile environment, and the creation of safe, legal routes for people anywhere to claim asylum in this country.” Prayers were said “for victims of global borders.” A letter was read out, written by the brother of a refugee who died in the English Channel last December, suggesting that “humanity must never be sacrificed in the name of laws and policies.”

Around 50,000 people attended the 25th National Demonstration for Palestine in Central London on Saturday 15 March. The religious section included a prominent Jewish Bloc.

Last week 12 Holocaust survivors/descendants signed a joint letter protesting against Met Police plans to prevent the march from gathering in Park Lane, as originally planned. The letter said: “Along with thousands of other openly Jewish protesters, we have attended numerous Palestine demos in London and have received nothing but support and warmth from our fellow demonstrators. To suggest that the 15 March protest is a threat to Jews, or is in any way antisemitic, is simply a fabrication in order to restrict everyone’s right to protest.”

Nine bishops have written a letter to Sir Keir Starmer urging him to advocate for the rights of 23 Armenians imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The Bishop of the Diocese of the Armenian Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Hovakim Manuykan said the detained individuals were “now being tried in violation of all basic principles of fair trial,” having “been denied access to legal representation of their choice.”

Other signatories to the letter included Archbishop Angaelos, the Archbishop of the London Coptic Orthodox Church and Papal Legate to the United Kingdom, Metropolitan Nikitas, Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain and Mgr James Curry, an auxiliary bishop in Westminster, and the Right Revd Christopher Chessun, the Lord Bishop of Southwark.

The King and Queen Camilla are set to visit the Pope, provided his health continues to recover, on their forthcoming visit to Rome from 7-10 April.

In a statement last week, Buckingham Palace said the King would have an audience with Pope Francis and attend a service in the Sistine Chapel to reflect “the long-standing commitment to nature” of both the Pope and the King.

The King is also due to visit for the first time the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, where the Royal Chapel Choir and St George’s Choir will perform.

King to meet Pope Francis during state visit to Italy

Pope Francis blesses crowd in first public appearance since February

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