Badenoch lost her faith in God after the Josef Fritzl case
The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has revealed that she lost her faith in God after becoming disillusioned with prayer while reading about the case of the Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter captive underground and for 24 years. She told Amol Rajan in a BBC programme broadcast last night, that at the time the story came out, she was “praying for all sorts of stupid things and I was getting my prayers answered. I was praying to have good grades, my hair should grow longer and I would pray for the bus to come on time so I wouldn’t miss something”. But when reading the story of Fritzl, and of his daughter who prayed every night to be released from her nightmare, she said her loss of faith was like a candle being blown out, and she could not understand why her prayers were being answered while those of Fritzl’s daughter were not. However, Ms Badenoch, whose grandfather was a Methodist minister in Nigeria, said that while she had “rejected God”, she had not rejected Christianity and remained a “cultural Christian” wanting to protect things in the UK built on Christian values. View the interview here. Times report here. The Telegraph takes the story on by asking five faith leaders whether they have experienced doubt and what they make of Ms Badenoch’s confession.
Summer camps for traumatised children from the West Bank and Gaza
Aid to the Church in Need is providing summer camps in the West Bank for children traumatised by war. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is organising camps in Palestine and Israel for more than 600 young people from Gaza and the West Bank. Father Louis Salman said the rockets started flying from day one: “We would get messages from the phone network 10-15 minutes before each strike, so we would gather them in the hall, and create a party environment, or talk to them about Jesus, so that they would not have to see the rockets overhead. It was better for them to be with us than to be at home, because we were there as a community, we were having fun and helping them not to be scared. But it was still a very strange experience.” More camps are also being organised in the Holy Land by the St James Vicariate for young Hebrew-speaking Catholics who face completely different realities and challenges. Monika Faes, lay pastoral coordinator of the Vicariate, told ACN: “Most of the children who go to the camps are undocumented migrants. They are already traumatised with the constant fear of being deported, and they had to spend 12 days in bomb shelters. So, to take them to the camps, where we have a very trauma-aware approach, is an opportunity to just let them be children again.”
World faith leaders call for nuclear abolition 80 years after Nagasaki
The 80th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Japan continue this weekend, with a commemorative event at the Catholic Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, near the site where the atom bomb fell on 9th August 1945, killing 74,000 people and destroying the original cathedral. A reproduction bell, the St. Kateri Bell of Hope, restored by American funders, will toll at the event. The World Council of Churches and dozens of other organizations have signed a Joint Interfaith Statement to mark the 80th anniversary, calling for peace, nuclear abolition, and justice. “While the challenges are immense, this is a time to affirm that another way is possible: one rooted in solidarity, human dignity, and hope. The 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings offers a critical moment to reimagine our priorities.” Read the full statement here
Christianity the basis of a ‘close friendship’ between David Lammy and JD Vance
The Guardian reports that the foreign secretary David Lammy, has forged a close friendship with the US vice president JD Vance, partly due to their firm Christian faith. Daniel Boffey reports that “when JD Vance and his family join David Lammy at the foreign secretary’s grace and favour home in Kent at the start of their summer holiday in the UK, they are expected to deepen their relationship by praying together, it is understood”. The report says this is a return match, as Lammy and his family were hosted by Vance in Washington in March, when they joined together for Mass. Vance is a Catholic, whose faith informs his socially conservative morality and who famously said Augustine’s concept of “ordo amoris”, a hierarchy of love,backed the ‘America First’ commitment to family and nation first. Lammy is an Anglican in the Anglo Catholic tradition – and a Christian socialist. Chevening has a 12th-century parish church, St Botolph’s, which the report says is “one option for a place to take communion”. Article is here
US survey finds post Covid, people go to church multiple times – online and in person
A US survey indicates that 46 per cent of church goers attend church services in multiple locations, in person and/or online. The survey, from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, based at an interfaith university in Connecticut that has been surveying the religious landscape in the US for 40 years, found that increased online access as a result of the coronavirus pandemic may have driven up multiple church attendance. The younger the churchgoer, the more likely they were to seek out multiple church homes. The survey found that 63 per cent of churchgoers aged 18-34 said they attend multiple churches, and that percentage drops the older the churchgoer is. Only 34 per cent of churchgoers older than 65 participate in multiple church services. The story is told by the Religion News Service here
International advice on combatting anti-Christian hate crime
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which represents 57 states – mainly European, plus Russia, Canada, US and Central Asia – has published a report on “Understanding Anti-Christian Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Christian Communities”. The report outlines the current problem and offers advice and guidance to member states on how to combat the challenge. It says anti-Christian hate crimes continue to pose a serious concern across the OSCE region and “threaten the fabric of social cohesion, erode the foundations of peaceful coexistence and undermine the broader peace, security and stability of entire societies”. Its advice includes properly recording incidents of hate crime, providing security to Christian communities, promoting dialogue and collaboration across society to effect change. The report is here
Training for faith leaders across Europe
An organisation based in Dublin is arranging training for faith leaders in 12 European countries, on matters as diverse as crisis communications and extremism. Enhancing Faith Institutions describes itself as “a non-theological consultancy working to meet the needs of faith-based communities in Europe”. It provides research, training and advice, especially on governance and strategy. It says: “EFI recognizes the key roles places of worship play in providing guidance. We also recognize the difficulties that are faced by Faith Leaders and other key members of community institutions when providing guidance, sound thinking and educational experiences”. Its training programme includes Dublin in November and then capitals across the continent of Europe. It partners with Faith Associates in England and the European Commission.
St Mary’s Church in Somers Town saved from demolition by Historic England
The Grade II listed St Mary’s Church in Somers Town in north-west London will receive £639,000 from Historic England, to save it from the threat of demolition. In December 2023, the building needed restoration valued at £1.7 million and “church bureaucrats” were blamed for considering demolition. The BBC reports that the grant will allow the church to repair the west front of the Gothic-style building, failing masonry, brickwork and joinery, and repointing, cleaning and improved drainage. Historic England said it will ensure the church’s administrators can seek further funding to restore the rest of the building. The grants are part of the wider £15m Heritage at Risk Capital Fund across 37 sites in England at risk of “dereliction or demolition”. The fund prioritises sites serving disadvantaged communities and providing local benefits.
Caravan chaplains on the east coast of Lincolnshire
The Methodists have a “caravan chaplain”, Neil Baxter, who ministers to people living in 38,000 caravans on the east coast in Lincolnshire. He is one of an ecumenical team of ten who visit people in caravans, which for many is their home. He told the Methodist online news that conversations can be about winning a football match, or about a spouse who recently died. He said: “You never know what you’re going to get.” One of their initiatives was to gather together women on the site who formed a friendship circle, meeting under a gazebo, for coffee, quizzes and that old Methodist word, fellowship.
