Sombre mood at Nottingham vigils after devastating “barbaric” attack
The Catholic chaplaincy at the University of Nottingham has spoken of the sombre feeling on campus following the devastating killing of two students on their way home after a night out in the city. The families and friends of Barnaby Webber and Grace Kumar gathered in an emotionally charged vigil at the university yesterday afternoon, amidst profound shock. The multi faith chaplaincy is offering support and space for quiet reflection, as is Saint Barnabas Cathedral in the city and St Peter’s Anglican church, whose rector, the Rev Christopher Harrison, told the Church Times that the church was filled with students for a vigil, in an atmosphere of anxiety and lingering questions over where “this sudden eruption of barbarity” had come from. A third person stabbed to death in the attack has been named as school caretaker and grandfather Ian Coates, aged 65.
Synthetic human embryos created in a lab
The Guardian reports that scientists have created synthetic human embryos using stem cells, without the need for eggs or sperm. It says that the development raises serious ethical and legal issues because the embryos “fall outside current legislation in the UK and most other countries”. The story comes from a plenary address by Professor Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, at the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s annual meeting in Boston. Guardian exclusive by Hannah Devlin is here.
Southern Baptists throw out churches for having women pastors
The Southern Baptist Convention has voted to expel two Southern Baptist churches because they employed women as pastors. Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, a mega church founded by pastor Rick Warren, was ousted for naming Stacie Wood, wife of the Rev Andy Wood, as “teaching pastor”. Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, was expelled despite its pastor, Linda Barnes Popham, having served at the church for 33 years. Both pastors had addressed the convention appealing to stay, but the Religion News Service reports that the votes against were overwhelming – 9,437 to 1,212 and 9,700 to 806. Full story here
More than 300 dead exhumed in Kenya religious starvation cult
Reuters reports that the death toll from a Kenyan starvation cult has passed 300. Authorities say the dead were members of the Good News international church, whose leader is accused of ordering them to starve themselves and their children to death so they could go to heaven to meet Jesus before the end of the world. A total of 600 people have been reported missing and authorities are continuing to exhume bodies from mass graves in Shakahola forest, near the church. The church leader, Paul Mackenzie, is in custody awaiting trial.
Pope Francis to be released from hospital in the next few days
The Vatican says Pope Francis is expected to be discharged in the next few days, following his abdominal surgery a week ago. In a statement, the director of the press office, Matteo Bruni, said: “The Holy Father rested well during the night. The medical staff reports that the clinical course is proceeding regularly, without complications, and therefore they are planning his discharge for the next few days”. The statement revealed that the Pope, aged 86, has been working while in hospital.
Catholic church in Ireland reports increase in allegations of abuse against clergy
The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland has produced its annual report for 2022-23, revealing that the number of allegations of abuse made against members of the clergy rose to 251, compared to 178 the previous year. CEO, Teresa Devlin, said: “Many of these relate to boarding schools during a time when they were run by religious orders” and some date back to the 1940s. In the autumn of 2022, the RTE documentary “Blackrock Boys” exposed the abuse of boys at Blackrock College in Dublin and afterwards more survivors came forward.
Jewish and Muslim teenage footballers join together at Arsenal
Muslim and Jewish teenage girls played football together at Arsenal Emirates Stadium yesterday, in a match to promote diversity and inclusion in the run up to the women’s world cup in July. They trained on the Arsenal Community Hub pitch with the club’s female coaches, side-by-side. The game was organised by the Professional Footballers’ Association, Faith Forum for London and Aliya Azam, Head of Science at Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahra Schools. She said the day opened the door to a deeper understanding between the girls, which was vitally important in countering negative stories. Jewish News story here
New gravestone for family who visited wrong grave for 17 years
The Northern Echo tells the story of a family who discovered they had been visiting their father at the wrong grave for 17 years, finally being given permission to move the gravestone to the actual burial pace. The mistake came to light last year, when their mother died and they wanted to bury her next to her husband in a plot at Holy Trinity Church Wingate, Durham. But gravediggers found his coffin was not in the place the family had visited and eleven plots were uncovered before his coffin was found four feet away. The couple were laid to rest together in a burial service on 12 August 2022 and now the Northern Echo has found the gravestone has been placed there too. A report into the error blamed poor record keeping by the then vicar. The family received an apology in the House of Commons from the Second Church Estates Commissioner.
