Inter Faith Network faces closure as government fails to commit to funding
The Inter Faith Network is facing closure after the government failed to provide funding to March 2024, despite a letter in July saying a grant would be given, subject to “grant funding agreements and other conditions”. The story was raised in the Commons on 10 January by Holly Lynch MP, who said the charity’s team of four had been issued redundancy notices and the organisation was on life support. Several MPs lined up to praise the IFN for its work. Stephen Timms said interfaith dialogue was especially needed at the moment and it would be a tragedy if the IFN were to close. The minister for faith, Simon Hoare, was asked to commit to funding on the spot, but he declined: “The work of the network is understood and the importance of that work is very clear. The network is not the only body that provides forums and organisations to deliver inter-community and inter-faith discussions. There are others, but we hope to be able to make an announcement in due course”. Telegraph story here
Nicaragua frees bishop and 18 clergy
Nicaragua has released Bishop Rolando Álvarez and 18 Catholic clergy who were imprisoned more than a year ago in a crackdown on opposition to the regime. President Daniel Ortega had accused them of supporting protests in 2018 , which he said were trying to oust him from power. The Associated Press reports that the group is expected to be moved swiftly to the Vatican. Bishop Álvarez was an outspoken critic, convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to 26 years. He had refused to be sent to the United States and be stripped of his citizenship in a deal accepted by 222 other prisoners.
Pope Francis hopes to visit Argentina this year and has no plans to resign
Pope Francis has said that while resignation is “a possibility”, it is currently not something in his plans. He was speaking in an interview with the Italian TV Channel Nove. The Pope is 87 and dogged by ill health, with speculation that he could resign like his predecessor. But in the TV interview, he said: “It is neither a thought nor a concern nor even a desire. It is a possibility, open to all Popes, but for the moment it is not at the centre of my thoughts.” He also said that he hoped to visit Argentina in the latter half of this year. Two days earlier, President Javier Milei had formally invited him, saying: “I know time is short”. Milei, a far-right libertarian, has in the past said the Pope was an “imbecile” for his emphasis on social justice. But in the invitation, he had a transformed view: “I reiterate to your holiness the assurances of my highest consideration and respect for your work and person”.
Romanian Orthodox order of monks move into Iona
The Times reports that monks have returned to the island of Iona, on the west coast of Scotland, marking the end of 500 year absence following the Reformation. Five monks from the Orthodox Monastery of All Celtic Saints, a Romanian order and charity registered in Scotland, bought a £1.2 million former holiday let and moved in last year. Iona is an ancient centre of Christianity, dating from 563, when St Columba came from Ireland and founded a monastery. Now it is the home of the Iona community, an ecumenical order, and hundreds of pilgrims visit each year for retreats and worship. The new monks are in an order founded by an Oxford University educated monk, Father Seraphim Aldea, who was inspired by the landscape. Nuns from another Romanian Orthodox order, on the neighbouring island of Mull, joined the monks for Christmas and held their services in the chapel of St Oran.
Influence of Black, African, British Christians on religion in Britain
The influence of Britain’s black African communities on faith and belief is examined in a BBC Radio 4 programme Black, African and British in Belief at 1100 today. It explores the way black majority churches as well as congregations of established denominations, have grown with members from Africa. There are “reverse missionaries” sent from Africa to plant churches here, and organisations to encourage “inter-cultural churches” where all nationalities gather. The Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana, Director of One People Commission at the Evangelical Alliance, told the Sunday programme on Radio 4 that African Christians “see the need” to evangelise in a secular society. He said the western church is declining in numbers, while the African churches grow: “Christianity is no longer from the west to the rest of the world, but actually from the majority world to the west. And so we need to pay attention to the power dynamics in that”.
Teaching assistant sacked after street preaching accepts compensation
A 65-year-old teaching assistant has accepted compensation after being sacked following his arrest for street preaching in Leeds city centre, when the conversation turned to LGBTQ issues. Andy Nix and a colleague were arrested, but public order charges against him were dropped. The Christian Legal Centre, which took up his case, said he was sacked after complaints that students felt unsafe and his views did not align with the school on inclusion. He lodged a claim with the Employment Tribunal, but settled for £7,000 in compensation. The Centre’s CEO, Andrea Williams, said: “No Christian employees must be discriminated against for expressing their Christian faith in public in their own time.”
Russian priest expelled for refusing to read prayer supporting war
Aleksiy Uminsky, a priest in the Russian Orthodox church, is facing expulsion from holy orders for refusing to read out a prayer asking God to guide Russia to victory over Ukraine. Reuters reports that a church court said he had violated his priestly oath by refusing to read the “Prayer for Holy Rus” which Patriarch Kirill, who supports Putin, has made compulsory in services.
“God Made Trump” film draws evangelicals’ wrath
Evangelicals are said to make up two thirds of the Iowa Republican caucus, who will vote today on their choice of candidate to run as president of the United States. But their traditional support of Donald Trump has been thrown into question because of a film he has produced which depicts him as the Messiah. In “God Made Trump”, the narrator explains “God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker,’ so God gave us Trump”, who is a “shepherd to mankind who won’t ever leave nor forsake them.” It was posted on Truth Social and has amassed millions of views, but it has also enraged pastors, with the BBC quoting one: “He’s not the saviour. Our allegiance as evangelicals is to Jesus, not to the Republican Party or to Donald Trump.”
