Lords given more time for Assisted Dying Bill debate
The House of Lords has supported a move for more time to be allocated to debate the Assisted Dying Bill, which has attracted more than 1,100 amendments. Humanists UK and the campaign group My Death, My Decision, have welcomed the extra time. The Times reports that this may mean the Lords starting sessions earlier and ending later, to get through the work. The Lords have been accused of filibustering, drawing out the debate so that the bill runs out of time before the end of the parliamentary session. Dave Sowry, Board Member of My Death, My Decision, said: “If peers wreck the assisted dying bill through dirty tactics and procedural shenanigans, they would also be wrecking their own reputation, and potentially their future”. The Times quotes a source close to peers who are opposed, saying there are extensive issues with the bill, especially around the danger it poses to vulnerable groups. Times report here
Dame Sarah Mullally cleared over abuse handling complaint
The Times reports that the Archbishop of York is to take no further action in relation to a safeguarding complaint against the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, over her handling of an abuse allegation while she was Bishop of London in 2020. It was alleged that she breached the church’s disciplinary protocols and the complaint against her was not properly dealt with. But The Times reports that she has been exonerated and will be able to take on her role as the new Archbishop at a ceremony on 28 January. Critics have argued that disciplinary decisions should not be taken by peers, but by independent professionals. Andrew Graystone, an advocate for abuse survivors, told The Times: “Survivors of abuse in the Church of England aren’t likely to have any confidence that they will be treated justly, given the incestuous complaints processes of the Church of England”. Statement here
Pope calls for annual meetings of worldwide cardinals
Pope Leo says he wants the world’s Catholic cardinals to meet annually, in a departure from the governing style of Pope Francis. Crux Now reports that at the end of the cardinals’ meeting in Rome yesterday, the Pope invited them to a second session at the end of June and from then onward, on an annual basis for three to four days each year. The report says that Pope Francis “had largely eschewed consistories and the College of Cardinals as a whole to help him govern. Instead, he had a hand-picked group of nine cardinals who met every few months at the Vatican to advise him”. But cardinals had asked for regular consistory meetings when they elected Pope Leo.
Clergy on frontline of protests at shooting of woman in Minneapolis
Clergy were among protesters who assembled on the roadside after the shooting of a 37 year old woman by ICE agents in Minneapolis. The Religion News Service reports that they were shot at with pepper rounds and exposed to pepper spray while protesting at the actions of the ICE federal immigration agents, who opened fire on Renee Good, a mother of three, as she drove her car. The Rev Susie Hayward, a United Church of Christ minister, is quoted saying she responded to a request for clergy to gather at the scene of the incident. She was joined by the Rev Ashley Horan, from the Unitarian Universalist Association, who lives locally and filmed the protests. Several other clergy also arrived and the film shows them praying together, including prayers for the woman who was shot. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Renee Good had used her car as a weapon to run over an ICE officer, a version of events which was dismissed by Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis Democratic mayor, as a “garbage narrative”.
Capitol Hill riot anniversary with two polarised Christian events
The Religion News Service reports on two events marking the fifth anniversary of the 6 January Capitol Hill riots. In one, around 75 people who participated in the Capitol attack heard a speaker say that their action was righteous: “We were chosen by God to lead this nation, this war against evil forces of our government”. In another, at Luther Place Memorial Church, clergy assembled to assert the truth of God’s love and justice, saying their stand was a Christian example of a “conscience to the government”.
