Board of Deputies chief praises Starmer for stamping on Labour Party antisemitism
The chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has expressed his “absolute belief” in Sir Keir Starmer’s “root and branch” approach to stamping out antisemitism. Michael Wegier said the Jewish community experienced “a very difficult period” when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader but that his successor was making amends. But speaking to Roger Bolton for the Religion Media Centre’s Big Interview, he said the job is incomplete. In a wide-ranging interview, he was asked about politics in Israel, the need for education about Judaism in the UK, the holocaust memorial and relationships with the BBC. He said there was a specific problem with the reporting of an antisemitic attack on Jewish students on a London bus, but he vehemently denied any suggestion of systemic antisemitism. “We believe the BBC is a wonderful organisation that contributes huge amounts to British public life, and the board will not be associated with any sort of demonisation of the BBC.” Read our full report here and hear the interview here
Almost 5,000 sex abuse cases by priests in Portugal
A commission set up by Catholic bishops in Portugal to investigate child sex abuse cases has found that at least 4,815 children were abused over the past 70 years. The Independent Committee for the Study of Child Abuse in the Catholic Church, said the cases mostly involved priests and were the “tip of the iceberg”. 57 per cent of the victims were boys aged between 10 and 14 abused in Catholic schools, churches, priests’ homes and confessionals. The youngest victim was two years old. Bishops will meet on 3 March to consider “mechanisms” to prevent future abuse.
Muslim Hands marathon TV appeal for earthquake victims
Muslim Hands has ran a marathon appeal on Islam TV last night, for money to help earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey. People were asked to give particular sums for goods such as winter tents, blankets, hot meals and winter clothing. The appeal with contributions on the phone from people throughout the UK and live films from reporters on the ground, told the stories of how aid workers are providing help for shell shocked people, living outside in temperatures that have reached minus 18. TV viewers were asked to give their contributions saved for Ramadan, to this pressing cause in advance.
Jesuit priest in Aleppo describes the utter devastation after the earthquake as ‘deepest hell‘
The Jesuit Refugee Service has been present in Aleppo since 2008, and its mission head, Fr Tony O’Riordan, has told the BBC of the utter devastation in a city where war created a living hell even before the earthquake, and now it is “deepest hell”. He told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One that thousands of people have escaped from buildings made unsafe and are now sheltering in mosques, schools and churches, sleeping in their cars or even outside in sub-zero temperatures. They have no resources for food, medicine or heating. Aid has been reaching the region from within Syria, but Fr O’Riordan said aid from outside is urgently needed. The impact of those few minutes of the first earthquake in the middle of the night had traumatised people who fear going back into buildings and this has created a psycho, social, spiritual challenge, he said.
MCB calls for humanitarian corridors in Syria to deliver aid
The Muslim Council of Britain has written to the Foreign Secretary calling on the government to work with international partners to establish humanitarian corridors into northern Syria, allowing aid to be delivered to people affected by the recent earthquakes. The letter says there are significant challenges after the long conflict severely damaged local infrastructure and the healthcare system. It acknowledges an international outpouring of donations and aid but continues: “The people of northern Syria are in dire need of support, and it is time for us to act”.
US Democrats condemn perversion of religion in white nationalism
The Religion News Service reports that the Democratic National Committee has passed a resolution condemning white religious nationalism, declaring that “theocracy is incompatible with democracy and religious freedom”. A report from Jack Jenkins says the resolution, from more than 30 sponsors, linked forms of religious nationalism to racist ideologies, arguing that white nationalism uses a perversion of religion to make the message more palatable. It said its influence was apparent in the Capitol Hill insurrection of 6 January 2021. The report quotes Michael Bearfoot, a Democratic delegate from Minnesota: “White religious nationalism has an end goal of a white religious state, this has no place for me as a black pagan”.
St Valentine ever popular among those who love love
If you get a card on Valentine’s Day and don’t know who it’s from, that’s entirely appropriate. For we don’t really know who St Valentine was. Among the theories are that he was a bishop who sent a love message to a judge’s daughter after being arrested for evangelism and was martyred by Emperor Claudius II on 14 February in 269. Or was he executed after secretly performing wedding ceremonies for Christian couples?Or perhaps visited in prison by a girl with whom he fell in love and to whom he wrote: “your Valentine”. We may never know. Ten top facts about the mystery of St Valentine on our website here >>
Independent Catholic News helpfully lists 15 Christian singles websites
