‘Wee Free’ Kate Forbes in the running to be the next first minister of Scotland
One of the frontrunners to take over from Nicola Sturgeon as first minister of Scotland is Kate Forbes, the Scottish government’s 32-year-old finance secretary. The BBC explains that she is the daughter of missionaries, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, known as the “Wee Frees”, which is opposed to gay marriage and believes there are few circumstances in which abortion is justified. The report says the church allowed the singing of hymns and playing of musical instruments in its church services only in 2010, and traditionally opposes most activities on a Sunday. In the BBC podcast Political Thinking, she said she has often been guilty of “tiptoeing around” her Christian faith. She is a fluent Gaelic speaker, and represents Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
Cardinal’s Santa Marta group against slavery signs US agreement
The Santa Marta Group, a global alliance of police chiefs and bishops to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery, has signed a partnership with the US Federal body for homeland security responsible for action against crimes relating to human trafficking. Steve Francis, from Homeland Security Investigations, said the agreement demonstrated how both parties can bring awareness, prevention, justice to perpetrators and relief to survivors. The Santa Marta group was launched in an initiative led by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who is its president, and the agreement was signed at the Holy See Mission to the United Nations in New York. Cardinal Nichols said human trafficking is an evil crime engendering profits of over $150bn a year, which Pope Francis calls “blood money”. He said the partnership is a model of how working together can effect change.
Archbishop’s visit to Ghana slave port a reminder of church’s eternal shame
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, led a visit by members of the Anglican Consultative Council to Cape Coast Castle, in Ghana, where Africans were shipped to colonies in North and South America and the Caribbean as slaves. The Episcopal News Service says the Castle was one of 50 points on the west coast of Africa where between 12 and 25 million Africans were transported. After the visit, the archbishop said he was deeply moved. The Castle was a reminder that the “abomination of transatlantic chattel slavery was blasphemy” and it was to the Church of England’s eternal shame. ENS spoke to delegates on the visit who said there were tears of anger at the church, combined with grief and despair.
Nurturing church communities not just the buildings
The Methodist church’s initiative to build new Christian communities in low-income communities has been reported in the recent Church Action on Poverty report on church at the margins. Eunice Attwood, the church on the margins officer for the Methodists, spoke in our recent RMC briefing on the report, saying that she had been aware of closures in low-income communities for many years, but sometimes in such communities the building was absolutely essential and her team pleaded with churches to keep those buildings open. However, the Methodist Church was intentionally putting resources into low-income areas, to nurture communities — not buildings: “The church that emerges may look very different — we’ve seen walk-in churches, muddy church, a church that meets on a Wednesday, not a Sunday. New places for people need not to be tied to bricks and mortar.” Read our full report on the briefing here; listen to the briefing on our podcast here; and view the briefing on our YouTube channel here
Equalities and Human Rights Commission ends Labour Party monitoring
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has confirmed that it is content with the Labour Party’s action plan to root out antisemitism and it has concluded its work with the party. The EHRC took action after its report in 2020 found the party responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination. The present Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the conclusion to the process and said the party had changed.
Prue Leith and her son debate assisted dying
The TV chef and Bake Off judge, Prue Leith, debates assisted dying in a TV programme on Channel 4 this evening at 9pm. She is patron of Dignity In Dying which campaigns for assisted dying, and she explains that she wants to see it legalised. But her son, the Tory MP and evangelical Christian, Danny Kruger, disagrees. He tells his mother that it is an execution, a deliberate decision to end a life. “It’s a very, very sinister scenario in which there is a cadre of state employees who decide who should live and who should die,” he says.
Chinese government official visit cancelled after protest over Uyghurs
The governor of Xinjiang has cancelled visits to London and Brussels after opposition from politicians and campaigners protesting at the treatment of the mainly Muslim Uyghurs in the region. It has been widely reported that millions have been detained, persecuted and disappeared. Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith had protested against the visit saying the UK “should be standing up for those who have free expression” and for those who “are in dire need of some kind of support” .
Bible could sell for $50m at auction
The Guardian reports that a ninth-century Hebrew Bible is to be auctioned with an estimate of $30m-$50m (£25m-£42m), the most valuable historical document or manuscript to appear at auction. The volume, composed of 24 books divided into three parts — the Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Writings — is known as the Codex Sassoon, and is said to be a critical link between the Dead Sea scrolls and the Bible of today.
