News briefings: Britain and Ireland

Many Catholics in contemporary Ireland feel that they are obliged to hide their faith, according to Belfast priest Fr Timothy Bartlett. Speaking at the Aid to the Church in Need pilgrimage in Knock, he criticised the crude caricatures that sometimes used to describe people with a faith. They are being “burdened with religious stereotypes and historical caricatures that are long out of date and, at times imbalanced and unjust”, he said. Fr Bartlett criticised the existence of anti-Christian, including specifically anti-Catholic cultural bias, in countries which openly pride themselves on being free, diverse and tolerant democracies.

Bishop of Oxford Steven Croft has condemned Nigel Farage’s Reform party’s new policy on migration, announced in Oxford last week, that would involve deporting around 24,000 people a month. In an open letter to Farage on his website, Bishop Croft, a patron of Asylum Welcome, said migration was a complex, global issue. “I heard no compassion in what you said for those who are at risk from people traffickers; those who fled for their lives; those who long for sanctuary and safety; the vulnerable who would be forcibly deported. The British people, as I understand them, want public policies founded on the deeply British and Christian values of compassion and care for those in need.” He condemned Farage’s attempts “to politicise the questions of migration and asylum by deliberately increasing fear of the stranger in our communities”. 

A new report on assisted dying has warned of the “financial challenge” ahead of implementing the service. The report by the Nuffield Trust reviews evidence from countries where assisted dying has been legalised, to understand the implications of a change in the law for the health and social care system in the UK. It come as the the UK and Scottish Parliaments are debating bills to legalise assisted dying across England, Scotland and Wales. Archbishop of Liverpool John Sherrington, lead bishop for life Issues, told The Tablet,  “This Nuffield report once again confirms that, despite what the bill’s proponents might say, there is no ‘safe’ way to introduce assisted suicide. It always leads to the erosion of a culture of care, puts a material and moral strain on the health services, results in more and more patients being left vulnerable at the end of their lives, and places healthcare professionals in morally difficult situations.”

There is an “urgent need” to discuss what impact technologies such as generative AI and autonomous systems have on society, through a deep reflection with Catholic Social Thought, a conference at St Mary’s University in Twickenham was told this week. Academics, theologians and others came together to discuss how AI and related technologies present challenges for “living a holy life”. They examined questions such as whether the AI revolution could blur the lines between human dignity and creativity at work, and its impact on financial and other systems.

A week of events commemorating the Victorian architect Augustus Welby Pugin is being held from 10 – 14 October at the Shrine of St Augustine, Ramsgate. An exhibition will explore Pugin’s renovations at Alton Towers, where he worked for the Earl of Shrewsbury. At 10am on Saturday, 13 September a virtual tour exploring Pugin’s work at Alton Towers will be held, while at mid-day the annual Pugin Mass will be celebrated at St Augustine’s Church Ramsgate. At 4pm the art historian Jacqui Ansell will deliver the annual Pugin Lecture, titled Sources and Personal Symbolism. For information, please visit www.augustine-pugin.org.uk/pugin-week-2025/

The Catholic Union of Great Britain has published its 146th annual report. “We live in the shadow of two votes in the House of Commons (Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the Crime & Policing Bill) which have the potential for enormous impact on society,” notes the report which is due to be submitted to the AGM of the Union on 4 November. Bishop Nicholas Hudson of Westminster Diocese said he was “delighted” to become the Union’s new ecclesiastical adviser, and “particularly pleased” by “the warm, friendly, and professional relationship” between the Catholic Union and the Bishops’ Conferences of England, Wales and Scotland.

The annual John Bradburne pilgrimage walk, hosted by the John Bradburne Memorial Society, is due to take place today, honouring the life of the martyr who helped sufferers of leprosy in Zimbabwe before he was kidnapped and murdered by supporters of Mugabe in 1979. The event begins with Mass at the St John Evangelist Church in Skirwith, where John was baptised, with the 11k pilgrimage taking place afterwards, in support of Mutemwa Leprosy Care Centre.

An unnamed benefactor has paid for a new statue of St Michael, which has now been installed in the porch of St Mirin’s Cathedral, Paisley. Modifications to the porch, entrance and frontage of the Cathedral were made in 2015.

Dr Fáinche Ryan of Trinity College Dublin was elected president of the European Society of Catholic Theology at the Society’s International Congress hosted by the Loyola Institute in Dublin last month. Speaking about her election Dr Ryan said: “Theology has a real task to offer genuine hope to people at this time. My focus over the next two years will be to continue to foster our young scholars thus ensuring a real future for theology, to increase our active European membership and to continue to foster critical engagement with the ecclesial magisterium.”

The Irish bishops have published a pastoral message encouraging the faithful to return to Sunday Mass following a drop in attendances during the Covid pandemic which never fully recovered to pre pandemic levels. In the message, “Why Sunday Matters”, Bishop Denis Nulty recalls the theme of the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012, “Communion with Christ and Communion with One Another”.  He says, “This is what we missed most during those pandemic days. Sunday worship was disrupted, the sacramental life of the parish was put on hold. Some have not returned to worship and some never connected,” he said in Carlow Cathedral.

The first tranche of artifacts recovered at the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam which was run by the Bon Secours Sisters between 1925-61 did not include any infant remains. The first update was published by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention in Tuam after six weeks of work at the sealed off site in the Co Galway town. The two locations which archaeologists have focused on since they began their excavation in July were not expected to uncover human remains according to historian Catherine Corless. A two-year programme of excavation is planned.

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