UN committee says religion should be banned as criteria for school admission in England
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that schools in England should be prevented from using religion as a selection criterion for school admissions. It also recommended repealing legal provisions for compulsory attendance in collective worship and establishing statutory guidance to ensure the right of all children to withdraw from religious classes without parental consent. A further recommendation was that the education syllabus in Northern Ireland should be revised to include education of and respect for a diversity of religions. The routine report is compiled by an 18 person team of people from different countries. It raised a litany of other concerns about the high numbers of children living in poverty; the long waiting lists for children seeking mental health services; the high prevalence of domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violence against children; the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on children; the criminalisation of arrival without prior permission; and restrictions on the rights of asylum and family reunification. It advised the government to urgently amend the Illegal Migration Bill to repeal all draft provisions that would have the effect of violating children’s rights. The National Secular Society head of campaigns, Megan Manson, said they welcomed the conclusion that faith-based selection at schools be abolished saying it was disgraceful that religious discrimination is permitted in “the schools we all pay for”.
Calls to move Westminster holocaust memorial into new Jewish museum in central London
Influential historians, politicians and Holocaust survivors have written an open letter calling for the establishment of a new Jewish Museum in central London, which could be combined with the Westminster Holocaust Memorial proposal. The existing museum in Camden is closing down after financial challenges, but the letter reported in the Jewish News, suggests a new museum could be financed by money now earmarked for the Westminster Holocaust Memorial in Victoria Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament, which has caused controversy because of its location, size and design. Signatories including Sir Simon Schama, Peter Bottomley MP, Baroness Ruth Deech, Dame Maureen Lipman and broadcaster Gavin Esler, wrote that their proposal would end the “toxic debate” over the memorial project: “What is the better use of funds – to present the tragedies and triumphs of continuing Jewish life in Britain over the centuries, as the Museum does? Or on a politicised perspective on our worst tragedy set in isolation from our survival, which is the theme of the ‘learning centre’?”.
Pope says Virgin Mary visions are not always real
In a wide-ranging interview on Italian public service TV Rai 1, the Pope said that apparitions of the Virgin Mary are not always real and the real Madonna doesn’t draw attention to herself. His comments have been taken as a reference to a woman from Trevignano, who said a statue of the Virgin Mary shed tears of blood, causing thousands of pilgrims to see the shrine before investigators identified the blood as coming from a pig. It was the Pope’s first visit to a television studio and he took the opportunity to affirm the role of the media to help people understand one another and remembering our common humanity. He also spoke of living through grief, the importance of teaching children limits of behaviour and his recurring appeal for peace in Ukraine.
Priest resisting the legal system over climate change
A report in the Church Times charts the story of the Rev Sue Parfitt, veteran climate change activist aged 81, this time outside the Inner London Crown Court. She, along with others, held up signs that juries can find people not guilty as a matter of conscience. Judge Silas Reid referred Ms Parfitt and 23 other protesters to the Attorney General for contempt of court which risks two years in jail.
Catholic priest guilty verdict for blocking road to port of Dover
Catholic priest, Fr Martin Newell, a member of the Passionist order, and Ben Buse, a Christian from Bristol, were among a group of nine environmental protesters found guilty of a public nuisance offence, after blocking a road to the port of Dover in September 2021. Sentencing will be next week on 14 June. The Independent Catholic News quotes Fr Newell saying he works with refugees and asylum seekers escaping destruction caused by climate change and he took part in the Insulate Britain protests as it was a gospel call.
Publisher of “The Cross and the Switchblade” dies aged 95
Elizabeth Sherrill, who was a co-founder of the American publishing house “Chosen Books”, producing “The Cross and the Switchblade”, “The Hiding Place” and “God’s Smuggler”, has died aged 95. The Open University’s Head of Religion Dr John Maiden said he struggled to think of a book which defined post-war transatlantic Christianity more than The Cross and the Switchblade, which offered a story of Christianity in a secular age and the hope found in an essential place of a community, a spiritual family. He says it was a book which shaped charismatic imagination.
Ukraine army chaplains trained near Swindon
The Times reports that ten chaplains from Ukraine have spent a fortnight being trained by British army chaplains at a centre near Swindon. The chaplain running the course, the Rev Robin Richardson, said the Ukrainian army has 116 chaplains who have been embedded with troops only since 2021, though the chaplaincy service itself is nine years old. They calculate they need 738 more chaplains to serve an army at war, an experience which is teaching them new lessons, observing that sometimes the soldiers pay as much attention to their chaplain as to their commander. Full article is here
Synagogue vandalised after lying empty for 16 years
Greenbank Drive Synagogue, once the centre of a thriving Jewish community in Sefton Park, Liverpool, has fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair after lying empty for 16 years. Plans to redevelop the site into 56 flats were passed in 2017 but a problem negotiating the lease has led to a stalemate. Residents living nearby have told the Liverpool Echo that the building is a magnet for vandalism and antisocial behaviour, with all the windows smashed in and fears that the roof may collapse. They say it causes anxiety for neighbours and is a poor reflection of the area. Liverpool City Council retains the freehold and discussions around the lease are continuing.
Vesak Day in Indonesia
The Guardian publishes a gallery of pictures to show how Indonesians honoured the Buddha on Vesak Day, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. The pics includes monks processing through the largest Buddhist temple in the world, Borobudur temple complex, a Unesco world heritage site. Others showed lanterns released into the air and monks collecting alms. Vesak Day was celebrated on 4 June in Indonesia, but a month earlier here in the UK.
