Senior bishop does not “entirely trust” Church of England to tackle abuse
The Bishop of Birkenhead, Julie Conalty, the Church of England’s deputy lead on safeguarding, has said she does not “entirely trust the church” on tackling abuse. She was speaking in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s World at One 24 hours after the chair Meg Munn and two members of the Independent Safeguarding Board, Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves, were sacked. The bishop, a former social worker and probation officer, supported the board members saying she did trust them to provide robust scrutiny of the actions of the church on safeguarding cases and she was concerned at the distress caused to survivors and victims who had trusted them and saw the organisation “disappear before their eyes”. She said the church was resistant to accountability and criticism and therefore “I don’t entirely trust the church, even though I’m a key part of it and a leader within it, because I see that the way the wind blows is always in in a particular direction”. The church did not have a good record on safeguarding and needed to establish “independent, effective, uncomfortable scrutiny”, she said. A lay member of the Archbishops’ Council, Allison Coulter, told the programme there had been a reluctance by the board members to engage in discussions to resolve a dispute.
Safeguarding is on the agenda of the church’s parliament, the General Synod, which meets next month in York. The Archbishops’ Council secretary general, William Nye, has written a paper outlining the reasons for the sudden decision to sack the board members and this will be debated for up to one hour. Synod will also discuss a redress scheme for survivors, a new Clergy Conduct Measure and a new Code of Practice on how to conduct Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
Church of England to disinvest from fossil fuels
The Church Commissioners and Church of England Pensions Board have announced they will disinvest from fossil fuels this year, in line with a 2018 commitment, having found that no fossil fuel company has passed the tests set down by synod five years ago. They say they have encouraged companies to adopt climate targets and transition plans, but none has achieved the bar of an alignment with the Paris Agreement to reach net zero.
President and vice president stay away from Methodist conference
The President and vice president of the Methodist Conference are not attending the church’s annual conference in Birmingham starting this week, because both face internal investigations. The inquiry into the President, the Rev Graham Thompson, is understood to relate to the management and handling of allegations made within the church. The ex-President, the Rev Sonia Hicks, will preside in his place. And the Vice-President, Anthony Boateng, is currently suspended while an investigation into his conduct is taking place. The ex-Vice-President, Barbara Easton, will deputise for him. A statement simply states their absence is “in the context of an ongoing investigation and in the wake of press reports and subsequent publicity”.
Investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr receives first Quaker truth award
Investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who exposed the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, has been awarded the inaugural Quaker Truth and Integrity Award by Quakers in Britain. The award was set up last year to recognise an exceptional contribution by a British individual or organisation towards the enhancement of standards of truth and integrity in public life. Carole Cadwalladr won the Orwell Prize for political journalism and was a finalist for a 2019 Pulitzer Prize. The award citation reads: “As an investigative journalist and author, Carole has with great courage exposed serious instances of malpractice and threats to democracy. In doing so, she has made a major contribution towards the enhancement of truth and integrity in public affairs.”
1.3million pilgrims arrive in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj
More than 1.3 million pilgrims are reported to have arrived in Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, which starts on Monday 26 June. In total, 2.6 million Muslims are expected to come together. There are reports that Muslims in the west, frustrated at difficulties getting tickets online, are using their secondary nationality to make a booking. Middle East Eye explains that last year, Saudi Arabia introduced a new rule that prospective travellers from western countries must book their visits to Mecca through the government website Nusuk, rather than via travel agencies. Quotas are set for different countries and this year the tickets available for British Muslims was reduced from more than 25,000 to 3,600. The report says the Pakistani quota is 180,000 and it tells the story of British and American Pakistanis who, frustrated at attempts to book online from the UK and US, booked via Pakistani travel agencies instead.
Islamic art and culture feature in Bradford Literary Festival
The Bradford Literary Festival gets underway today with a ten-day programme featuring hundreds of events. British Muslim magazine draws attention to several Islamic events including photographer Peter Sanders looks back over 55 years and his transformation by a spiritual experience which led him to “capture” the beauty of the Muslim World including forgotten heritage sites; calligrapher Haji Noor Deen Mi Guang Jiang will demonstrate a technique which is a fusion of Chinese and Arabic art; and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed will speak about his book The Golden Age of Islam and its Contribution to Science and Philosophy.
Kate Forbes defends – again – a politician’s right to freedom of belief
The SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes, a member of the Free Church of Scotland whose conservative views on morality were widely documented in her campaign, has given another interview to a journalist defending her freedom of choice, belief and expression. Speaking to Robert Wright, for Seen and Unseen, she challenged the idea that her opponents were neutral on questions arising from religious conviction, asserting that everyone views the world through a philosophical framework. Her own views on personal morality, for example against same sex marriage, were mainstream in Christianity, she said. She confirmed that it was highly unlikely she would ever stand to be leader again, but would remain an MSP for the foreseeable future, though she could not see beyond that: “The honest answer is that I don’t know what to do next”.
Lula pledges to fight for the release of jailed Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Álvarez
The Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, has offered to help efforts to release a Roman Catholic bishop imprisoned in Nicaragua. The Associated Press reports that Bishop Rolando Álvarez was jailed by the regime of President Daniel Ortega for undermining the government, spreading false information and disobedience. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison, after he refused to board a plane carrying exiles to the United States in February. The report says that since anti-government street protests broke out in 2018, Ortega has restricted Catholic activities, jailed clergy, arrested religious figures and expelled nuns and clerics, forcing many others to flee. Lul’as pledge to help follows his visit to the Vatican this week.
