Government adviser accuses Fifa of sending ‘vile message’ that Jews don’t count
Lord Mann, the government adviser on antisemitism, has criticised Fifa for not allowing two antisemitism monitors to be present during the World Cup. He said Fifa’s track record on antisemitism had not been good, but he told the Jewish Chronicle that there was a “strong and particularly vile message here: Jews don’t count”. Lord Mann also responded to a tweet from the Jerusalem Post which reports that Qatar won’t allow any cooked kosher food to be sold or offered to visitors at the World Cup, leaving only cold bagel sandwiches. Jewish organisations have told Post reporters that Jewish prayer services have been banned in Doha during the games as security could not be guaranteed. An estimated 10,000 Jews from Israel and around the world are expected in Doha. The article says the Post asked Qatar’s Foreign Ministry for comment but has not heard back.
Russian orthodox monastery complex raided in Ukraine
Ukraine security services have raided the 1,000 year old Russian orthodox Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, to the south of Kyiv. The orthodox church has split in Ukraine, with one branch aligned to the Russian Orthodox church in Moscow, which has been supportive of the war, and the other centred on Ukraine and aligned to Constantinople. The monastery complex, with caves and tunnels, is the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox in the country, but suspected to be also harbouring Russian operatives. Ukraine says the operation was to expose and stop subversive activities by Russian special services based there and they found pro-Russia literature and more than $100,000 in cash. The Guardian quotes the Russian Orthodox church condemning the raid as an “act of intimidation”.
Scheme to train more minority ethnic headteachers in CofE schools
The Church of England is to double the number of UK Minority Ethnic headteachers in all schools in England over the next five years. The CofE says that the ‘Leaders Like Us’ scheme, which is now open for applications, aims to equip UKME teachers with the skills for headship, and has funding to train more than 450 teachers by 2027. Around 1:3 students in schools in England are from UKME backgrounds, but there are fewer than 400 headteachers from the same backgrounds out of more than 20,000 schools, 1:50 of the total. The scheme is funded by a CofE racial justice grant.
Bishop: same sex partnerships in a different category to marriage
As the Church of England continues to discuss whether to allow same sex marriage, the Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun, says he expects the Church of England’s rules on marriage will not change in his lifetime. He told the Southwark diocesan synod that same-sex unions and marriage were entirely different, but he supported civil unions, saying that the Church of England has had an agreement that bishops encouraged partnered gay and lesbian ordinands and clergy to consider civil partnership. It was “theologically coherent to conceive of vocational and covenanted relationships as a category that includes marriage as one constituent and same-sex unions as another”, he said, adding that marriage was not the only form of covenanted relationship. Text of his speech is here
Bible verses on same-sex relationships “not appropriate” in modern society
The Christian Legal Centre says it has seen documents from the Crown Prosecution Service that say some verses in the Bible are “no longer appropriate to modern society”. It says the comments were in response to a case of street preacher, John Dunn, who was arrested for hate speech after telling a gay couple holding hands that “the Bible says that homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God.” The documents are said to have also referenced Biblical justification for slavery and the death penalty. The CPS comments have been described as deeply concerning, by the chief executive of the conservative organisation Christian Concern, which includes the Christian Legal Centre. Premier Christian News carries a statement from the CPS saying “the comments were made in a document sent to the defence, and not in court, in order to draw comparisons to ideas and practices they deem to no longer be acceptable”. In the end, the gay couple could not be found to give evidence and the case against John Dunn was dropped.
Former bishop banned from ministry after historic cases of misconduct
The Times and Telegraph report that Peter Hullah, a former suffragan Bishop of Ramsbury in Wiltshire and now aged 73 and retired, has been banned from ministry within the Church of England after allegations of misconduct that took place 40 years ago. It quotes his spokesperson saying “he expresses deep regret to those affected in any way and apologies for any distress caused to anyone involved in this process.”
