News briefing from Britain and Ireland

A priest has hailed the sight of England, France and other players joining in prayer at the end of games at the World Cup in the US.

England won the game 6-4 to finish third at the World Cup, and afterwards England players Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Trevoh Chalobah joined in a prayer huddle with French players Jean-Philippe Mateta, Dayot Upamecano and Maxence Lacroix. Catholic priest Fr Marc Lyden-Smith, chaplain for Premier League team Sunderland, said: “It’s refreshing to see so many players at the World Cup taking a moment to pray. Faith remains bigger than the game.”

The Disagreeing Well discussion, photos courtesy of UCL.

Religion is being increasingly used to legitimate anti-immigrant and exclusionary politics, religious leaders, academics and politicians were told at an event organised as part of UCL’s Disagreeing Well campaign. Dr Katie Gaddini, associate professor in sociology at UCL and visiting scholar at Stanford noted the fusion of religion and politics in the US and a growing sentiment that “being a Christian means being a Trump supporter”. Chaired by Revd Keith Magee, senior fellow in culture and justice at UCL’s Centre on US Politics, the event was open to the public and held in-person at the university.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, former Chief of the General Staff, British Army, who was born in 1966 and was educated at Worth, was among this month’s political peerages, one of three nominated by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.

Motherhood exposes “vulnerability and interdependence in a culture that prizes autonomy, productivity, and self–optimisation” according to the latest Theos report, Motherhood, Inside Out, which draws on interviews and focus groups with 91 mothers as well as interviews with 14 professionals involved in maternal care. 

Keith Leslie, chair at Samaritans in UK and Ireland, will deliver Catholic Union pub talk on Monday 5 October titled “Mental health – is it now becoming a fad?” The discussion will be chaired by forner Tablet editor Catherine Pepinster.

The Catholic Women’s League celebrates its 120th anniversary on 1 August at Farm Street, Mayfair with Mass followed by a talk and lunch.

Leading theologian Tina Beattie was the keynote speaker at the first LGB Christians national conference in Wolverhampton on 11 July.  She was one of the group’s founding supporters in October 2023 when the new organisation was launched. Its goals include to “overcome the isolation felt by gender-critical LGB supporters – by connecting regionally and nationally as lesbian, gay or bi Christians”.

Amnesty International said it regretted a report, subsequently withdrawn, that included the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, the Evangelical Alliance, the Christian Institute, Christian Concern and the Catholic Herald on a list of “anti-rights” organisations.  The report, A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK, also listed Beira’s Place, the sexual violence support centre for women set up by JK Rowling in Edinburgh. Amnesty said, “We regret that this briefing was uploaded to our website without going through the established internal review processes that are in place to ensure consistency, accuracy and alignment with Amnesty International UK’s positions.” 

David Willey, the highly-regarded BBC Vatican correspondent who covered a total of five popes, has died aged 93. He wrote a book on Pope Francis and was awarded an OBE for services to broadcast journalism.

Justice and Peace Scotland will hold its annual Faslane Christian Peace Witness Vigil at the north gate of the nuclear submarine base at Gairloch on the Firth of Clyde. The event, an occasion for prayer, reflection and music, will happen on the morning of August 1. A free bus service will ferry those wishing to attend from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Reservations can be made through office@justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk. The annual Whithorn Pilgrimage will be held at the end of the month, August 30, with Bishop Frank Dougan of Galloway as the celebrant of a beach Mass on that afternoon. Individuals and groups are invited to register via whithorn26@rcdg.org.uk

A Mass of Thanksgiving for all those who have been part of the story of Knock Basilica since it opened 50 years ago took place last weekend. The concelebrated Mass, led by Archbishop Francis Duffy of Tuam, followed a series of events exploring personal memories of the construction of the basilica in 1976. Rector of Knock Shrine, Fr Richard Gibbons, said the “true legacy” of the Basilica was the “faith of the people who have gathered here”. Knock Basilica was visited by John Paul II in 1979, Francis in 2018, St Teresa of Kolkata in 1993, and US president Joe Biden in 2023.

In his address following the announcement that Pope Leo had appointed the auxiliary bishop of Armagh to succeed Bishop Donal McKeown in Derry Diocese, Bishop Michael Router stressed that change is not simply about reorganising parishes. “It is about conversion,” he said. “Managing change is perhaps one of the greatest responsibilities entrusted to Church leaders today.” Reflecting on his almost four decades of priesthood and seven years of episcopal service, he expressed strong support for synodality. Synodality, he said, is not primarily about meetings or committees. “It is about learning once again to walk, pray, listen and discern together.”

Visionary priest, Fr Frank Fahey, who turned Ballintubber Abbey into one of Ireland’s best-known pilgrimage centres, has died at the age of 90. He was ordained in 1973 after a degree at Oxford and studies in Maynooth. In 1976 he was appointed curate at Knock Shrine and served there for the visit of St John Paul II in 1979. Under his stewardship, Ballintubber Abbey underwent a major restoration project re-establishing the ancient Tóchar Phádraig Pilgrim Path, linking Ballintubber with Croagh Patrick. Fr Fahey died on the day that work began on a new state-of-the-art visitor centre at the Abbey.

Hundreds of young people from across Ireland attended a special Mass in Dublin at which the well-known digital evangeliser Fr Mike Schmitz preached and Bishop Fintan Gavin presided. Fr Schmitz, who uses his platform Ascension Presents to spread the Gospel, hosted the only European leg of his Parables Tour in Dublin. Bishop Gavin, chair of the Irish bishops’ Council for Evangelisation, Catechetics and Pastoral Renewal, described the event as a wonderful opportunity for young people to come together, deepen their faith, and to hear the message of the Gospel presented in “a novel, energetic and engaging style”.

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