Muslim groups and bereaved families call for accountability after Grenfell Report
Muslim groups have demanded accountability after a damning report on the Grenfell Tower fire found that the deaths of all 72 residents, including 18 children, were avoidable. The final report, released last week after a seven-year inquiry, found a “significant degree of discrimination” was faced by those with religious, cultural and social needs, and the cultural and language needs of Muslim residents had not been met. Reporter Maira Butt spoke to Muslim community leaders involved in the emergency response. One said: “The issue here is it is not a blatant type of racism. It’s more of a systemic structural issue. It’s far more subtle. There’s a mixture of Islamophobia, xenophobia, anti-migrant feelings, and classism.” Another said the whole community was very deprived and perhaps being Muslim contributed further to its negligence. Relations with the council do not appear to have improved in seven years, with one describing it now as cosmetic. Read Maira Butt’s article here
Government suspends free speech legislation to stop Holocaust denial
The Government’s decision to suspend legislation enshrining free speech on university campuses, has been criticised by academics who warn that it could lead to more staff and students being “hounded, censured and silenced” for holding views which some may call offensive. The Education Secretary Bridget Philipson told the Commons that she acted because the legislation may leave students open to harmful hate speech, particularly the spread of Holocaust denial on campuses. Jewish News reports that the decision to pause the legislation has been welcomed by groups including the Board of Deputies, the Union of Jewish Students and the Antisemitism Policy Trust.
Pope Francis addresses sex abuse in speech in East Timor
Pope Francis arrived in East Timor yesterday, a predominantly Catholic nation, for a three-day visit that will include an open-air celebration of Mass today which the Vatican says could draw more than half the population of 1.3 million. The 87-year-old pontiff is on a12-day Asia-Pacific tour, his longest overseas journey yet. He landed in East Timor, after making visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, and will end the trip in Singapore. The Catholic Herald reports that one of the key underlying issues he will have to grapple with is the country’s clerical sexual abuse crisis, as the island “continues to reel” from allegations against its clergy. Pope Francis made a veiled reference to the abuse issue, calling on the authorities “to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people”. However, the paper reports that he did not apologise or link the abuse issue to the Catholic Church or to church representatives. Anne Barret Doyle, co-director of the organisation Bishop Accountability which documents abuse in the church, said if he had explicitly condemned the disgraced clerics it might have encouraged child sex abuse victims to come forward.
Mission agency USPG launches programme to atone for slavery in Barbados
The Anglican mission agency the USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) has outlined details of its £7million reparatory justice programme in Barbados to atone for its “shameful” links to the slave trade in the Caribbean. “Renewal & Reconciliation: The Codrington Reparations Project” was set up 12 months ago. At the time, USPG pledged £7 million to be spent in the country over the next ten to 15 years to address the wrongs of the past, which go back to 1710 when USPG, then known as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, received a bequest of two plantations from Sir Christopher Codrington, from which it benefitted. The Codrington Trust has introduced five “project pillars” of work on which the USPG funding will be spent, beginning with research to locate the burial places and living quarters of slaves. Other elements include writing a history of the estates, improving the lives of qualified tenants, encouraging enterprise among residents and nurturing the work of Codrington theological college. Church Times report here
A further 17 abuse allegations against poverty campaigner Abbé Pierre
The BBC reports that more abuse allegations have been made against Abbé Pierre, the late French Roman Catholic priest and campaigner who was regarded as a modern day saint. In July, the Emmaus anti-poverty charity, which Abbé Pierre founded, said it had heard allegations of sexual assault and harassment from seven women and it believed them. Emmaus has now decided to expunge Abbé Pierre from the organisation after 17 more women spoke out about having suffered abuse at his hands. The Abbé Pierre Foundation is to be renamed and the board of Emmaus France is to vote on removing the priest’s name from its logo. The Abbé Pierre Centre in Esteville in Normandy, where he lived for many years and is buried, is to close for good. Perplexing to many is the growing evidence that colleagues in Emmaus – and in the Catholic Church – were aware of Abbé Pierre’s sexual behaviour, but failed to speak out. The head of Emmaus International, Adrien Caboche, confirmed that Abbé Pierre’s behaviour had been no secret to those in the know, but they were “stunned by the violent aspect”. The most recent claims relate to when he was 92. The priest, who died in 2007 aged 94, was one of the most popular French people of modern times because of his work for the poor and homeless.
Government urged to do more to regulate strict Orthodox Charedi schools
The UK Jewish group Nahamu, which campaigns against religious extremism, is pressing the Government to do more to regulate the Jewish Charedi community. It says that strictly Orthodox children who are home schooled or attend “yeshivas” are suffering from a lack of secular education. Speaking to Jewish News, the founder, Yehudis Fletcher, said yeshivas are schools that should be properly regulated, but children come out not knowing any maths or English or how to read and write in any language. The Charedi Orthodox Community in Stamford Hill, north London, is reportedly the largest Charedi community in Europe with 30,000 people. A spokesperson for Chinuch UK, which represents Charedi schools, described the report as “disappointing” and said if there are weaknesses, it works to improve standards. Jewish News story here
Philippines church leader arrested on charges of trafficking girls for sex
Apollo Quiboloy, a spiritual adviser to the Philippines’ former president Rodrigo Duterte, has been arrested after a manhunt across the vast compound of his church, that includes a network of underground tunnels and dozens of buildings. Quiboloy, controversial founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church, who claims to be the son of God, is facing various charges in the Philippines and the USA, including the alleged trafficking of women and girls as young as 12, who were required to have sex with him. A national police spokesperson said the pastor handed himself over after he was warned he should surrender within 24 hours. Local media reported that police had started to dig a tunnel to locate him within the KOJC compound. The site has a network of underground spaces, a hanger and a taxiway that leads directly to Davao’s international airport. The country’s president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said that Manila had not yet received an official request from the US regarding his extradition, and that cases filed against the pastor locally must be dealt with first. Quiboloy has previously demanded a written guarantee from the government that he would not be handed over to the US as a condition for his surrender.
Five world religious leaders are men over 84 – and now one has topped 100
Pope Francis is 87. The Dalai Lama is 89. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who leads Eastern Orthodox Christians, is 84. Ali al-Sistani, the grand ayatollah who is the senior religious figure for the world’s 200 million Shia Muslims, is 94. And yesterday Russell M. Nelson, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – known as the Mormons – turned 100, becoming the first of this generation of faith leaders to hit the century mark. By tradition, the new president is chosen from among the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles, one of the faith’s top governing bodies — specifically its longest tenured member. Selected to join the Quorum in 1984, Nelson has spent four decades in the upper echelons of church leadership. His advanced age has not been a great concern mainly because of his dynamic leadership, said Patrick Mason, a religion and history professor at Utah State University. “There is a general sensibility that there is wisdom and steadiness that comes with age. There are people who’ve been around and seen things. People find comfort in that,”, he said.
