King distributes Maundy Thursday money for the first time
Today is Maundy Thursday, in the Christian calendar, remembering the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples before his death on Good Friday. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an act of humility and some churches repeat this ritual today. In Rome, Pope Francis will visit the Casal del Marmo juvenile prison where he will wash the feet of 12 young people. In England, by tradition, the monarch hands out Maundy money, specially minted coins, to people who have contributed to their communities. This year, for the first time, the King will carry out this duty at York Minster.
Read our factsheets explaining Good Friday and Easter Sunday, The Resurrection
Chief Rabbi praises Jewish communities for response to challenges in a fragile world
The Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, has thanked Jewish people for their communal achievements in a fragile and precarious world. In a statement for Passover, he says “The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a cost-of-living crisis and serious mental health issues have devastated numerous lives”. On his visits around the UK, he said he has been deeply impressed by “the way communities have adapted and responded to such extraordinary adversity”. He cited support for the financial, emotional and psychological needs of their members.
Keir Starmer attends a seder meal with a family of doctors
Jewish News has published a film of Keir Starmer’s presence at a Seder meal in London, among families of medical professionals. Around the family table, he was filmed speaking to a GP and two hospital doctors on their work in the NHS and an explanation of how hospitals provide places where patients can gather for their own version of a seder meal. The doctors took the opportunity to report “13 years of brutal underfunding” and a staff recruitment and retention crisis.
Another football club plays host to an open iftar during Ramadan
The Ramadan Tent Project is continuing to organise public iftars in its tenth year of operation. The project says it has spread to six continents, connected 500,000 people, distributed 300,000 plus meals and engaged more than 1,000 volunteers. Yesterday there was an event at Aston Villa, whose CEO Christian Purslow said the club welcomed the Muslim community to Villa Park. It was their pleasure to open their doors to break the fast, as Ramadan is a time to bring the community together.
Tension in Jerusalem as Ramadan and Passover overlap
There have been repeated outbreaks of violence in Jerusalem’s old city, at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest shrine in Islam which is also the most sacred site in Judaism, referred to as the Temple Mount. Tension has increased as the festivals of Ramadan and Passover co-incide. The Associated Press explains that on Tuesday 80,000 worshippers attended evening prayers at the mosque and hundreds of Palestinians barricaded themselves inside overnight to pray. Israeli police broke in and there are reports that they attacked and beat Palestinian worshippers, using stun grenades and rubber bullets. Israeli police say they responded after being attacked with fireworks. Afterwards, rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip and Israel carried out air strikes in response.
Church leaders call for “appalling” Illegal Migration Bill to be withdrawn
A statement signed by more than 1,450 church leaders opposing the government’s Illegal Migration Bill has been handed in to 10 Downing Street, saying that the government’s proposals are “incompatible with our Christian conviction that all human beings are made in the image of God”. Representatives from Churches Together in England, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church in Britain, the United Reformed Church and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland joined together outside Number Ten. The statement says they are appalled by the proposals which they say would “detain, punish and reject thousands of people seeking safety”, adding that the measures will foster discrimination and distrust and cause immeasurable harm. They are calling for the Bill to be withdrawn.
Horrific and repeated abuse of 600 children in Archdiocese of Baltimore
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office has released a report on child abuse in the Catholic church which has found that more than 600 children were abused by over 150 clergy and other Catholic church members since 1940. It identified 156 abusers, including priests, deacons, teachers and seminarians, who “engaged in horrific and repeated abuse”. The report accuses the Archdiocese of Baltimore of “depraved, systemic failure” to protect children and identifies systemic coverup by clergy and others to conceal the abuse, including moving priests to other parishes, failing to investigate or report abuse to civilian law enforcement authorities, and providing financial support to priests in retirement. The report is here
Sister Helen Alford leads scholars on Catholic social teaching
Dominican Sister Helen Alford, born in London with a PhD in engineering management from Cambridge University, has been appointed president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The Tablet explains that she is the third woman in this role and will lead scholars in the fields of economics, sociology, law and political science, to study questions such as work, human rights and modern-day slavery, as a development of Catholic social teaching.
ECUSA and Church of Sweden sign full communion agreement
The archbishops of the Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, ECUSA, have signed a memorandum of understanding, establishing a full communion relationship between the two churches. The Episcopal News Service says the document outlines ideas in common, including shared confession of the apostolic faith, and makes nine commitments for their future partnership, including regarding baptised members of each church as equal members in both. The agreement follows 14 years of dialogue and 200 years of shared ministry and worship.
