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Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, has been appointed Archbishop of Canterbury – the first woman to hold the role. Tim Wyatt reports on her background and what she will bring to the Church of England’s top post >> Her first address delivered in Canterbury Cathedral is here >>
In our Religion Media Centre briefing, journalists and church leaders reflected on Sarah Mullaly’s qualities and achievements, outlining their hopes and expectations for her leadership. Speakers described her style as “courageous” and “pastoral,” traits seen as vital for her role in healing divisions. View the briefing again or listen to the podcast via links here >>
A terrorist attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester killed two and injured three more on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. The Prime Minister said: ‘Antisemitism is a hatred that is rising, once again. Britain must defeat it’. Manchester has the second largest Jewish community of any city in the UK and there was widespread condemnation of the killings from all faith and civic groups, compiled here >>
Faith was in focus at Labour’s Liverpool conference, where new Faith Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh addressed a fringe event. Meanwhile, Communities Secretary Steve Reed told The Telegraph he would overrule the working group on defining Islamophobia if its proposals risked restricting legitimate free speech.
The US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, and President Trump prayed with hundreds of US military officials summoned to a meeting in Virginia, where they vowed an end to “woke culture” and new “male-level” fitness tests for women and men.The Religion News Service reports on Hegseth’s mix of fervent Christianity with his Department, where he has led prayer meetigs and a worship service. Critics have said he may be breaching the US constitution in doing so.
Pope Leo has marked the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’, the landmark encyclical on care for the planet published by his predecessor. Speaking at the “Raising Hope” international conference on climate justice, he said its message is “even more relevant today” than a decade ago. He criticised world leaders who dismiss climate science and stressed that environmental concerns are not only political and social, but also spiritual — requiring a “conversion of the heart.”
Three Austrian nuns, Sisters Bernadetta, Regina and Rita, aged 82, 86 and 88, who were removed to a care home two years ago, have broken back into their old convent, the 15th century castle Schloss Goldenstein outside Salzburg, to the fury of local church officials. The Guardian explains they had lived there for 60 years and local people helped them get back in.
More headlines ..
Here are headlines from this week’s daily bulletins. Sign up here to receive them in your inbox every morning.
- Speculation mounts over the next Archbishop of Canterbury
- Former Archbishops of Canterbury give advice to their impending successor
- Two killed and eight injured in shooting at US Mormon church service
- World’s oldest religious leader has died aged 101
- Communities Secretary will ‘overrule Islamophobia definition’ if it restricts free speech
- King and Queen to meet Pope Leo on state visit in October
- National Secular Society report on ‘misogyny in churches and mosques’
- The UK’s oldest witch has died aged 97
- New research uncovers Betjeman’s bitter battle with CS Lewis
- Three nuns break out of a care home and back into their old Salzburg convent
- Board of Deputies ‘appreciates Trump’s efforts to drive a hostage ceasefire deal’
- New Faith Minister speaking at Labour fringe event
- One in nine Labour members are in ‘Christians on the Left’
- Home Secretary: anti Muslim hatred ‘on a scale I’ve never known in my lifetime’
- Poll shows 80 per cent of British people like living in diverse communities
- Labour conference calls on government to prevent ‘genocide in Gaza’
- Archbishop of Canterbury decision to be announced on Friday?
- Church should listen and learn from survivors of Mike Piavachi abuse
- ‘2025 Westminster Declaration’ to bring Christian moral compass to public life
- BBC Daily Service series on the Lord’s prayer within ‘Faith in the North’ initiative
- Pete Hegseth ‘tests Constitution in Pentagon worship services’
- Gaza parish priest pleads for war to stop
- UK Armed Forces recruits first Humanist ‘pastoral carer‘
- Charity Commission concludes case into Nottingham Islam Information Point
- Police appeal after woman raped in Banbury churchyard
- Miranda Threlfall-Holmes becomes chair of CofE Racial Justice Board
- Chair appointed to lead new CofE safeguarding governance structures
- Closure of Latin Mass signals shift in Brooklyn
- Yom Kippur, a day of atonement, starts this evening
- Bishop of Sheffield contender for Archbishop of Canterbury job
- Former faith minister Lord Khan urges government to tackle hate crime against Muslims
- Bishop calls on asylum hotel protesters to swap megaphones for conversations
- Pope Leo: Climate call of Laudato Si’ more urgent than ever
- Muslim Council of Britain welcomes long jail sentence for Rochdale grooming gang leader
- Ozanne Foundation for LGBT+ rights has closed down
- World Jewish Relief wins contract to help refugees from Ukraine and Hong Kong
- Templeton pays tribute to Dame Jane Goodall
- Manchester synagogue attack: ‘Antisemitic hatred is rising and Britain must defeat it’
- Shock, fear, anger and anxiety from attack ‘on city’s ‘values and soul’
- Name of next Archbishop of Canterbury announced this morning
- Government plans for wedding law reform will be ‘major boost to economy’
- Pope says ‘pro-life’ should be applied to treatment of migrants, not just restricted to abortion
- US megachurch founder jailed for sexually abusing 12-year-old girl
- US Supreme Court hears conversion therapy case
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