Happy New Year! from all at the Religion Media Centre
Pope’s New Year’s message: respect dignity of life
In a New Year’s message, Pope Francis called on people to “respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death”, seen as a comment on the vote in support of assisted dying in the UK parliament in November, and his continued opposition to abortion. He said: “I ask for a firm commitment to respect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, so that each person may cherish his or her own life and all may look with hope to the future”. He said everyone should feel guilty for the devastation on earth, and action which fuel conflicts that “plague our human family” and he called on rich countries to forgive debts owed by poorer nations because of pollution they had created. In his Christmas blessing “Urbi et Orbi”, to the city and the world, the Pope called for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan, and expressed concern over the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza. And delivering a Thought for the Day, on BBC Radio 4, the Pope urged people not to look at the future with pessimism and resignation, but to always choose the path of love and view the world with “the gentle gaze of hope”.
Year of Jubilee 2025 begins for Catholics all over the world
The first of January marked the start of Jubilee Year 2025, when Catholic pilgrims will journey to Rome, entering by the newly opened Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, guided by an ancient bell. The pilgrimage is one where people seek forgiveness and renew hope for peace. The basilica holds a relic of the Holy Cradle, and the icon of Mary, of especial significance to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, who said in an address opening the year: “where the Madonna is present, turmoil does not prevail, fear does not win. Her maternal hands caress our lives, her mantle shields us, just as she protected the infant Jesus in the manger.”
The Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah, ends today
Menorahs, nine candled candelabras, have been lit in private and public across Britain for the 9-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which began on 25 December and ends today, 2 January. The Board of Deputies and other leadership organisations called for candles to be lit every night in remembrance of the British-connected hostages, in a campaign called “Be Their Light”. The Trafalgar Square menorah had to be taken down due to high winds ahead of the first day in December. In Jerusalem, 16 ambassadors attended the lighting of the 7th candle at the Western Wall. And in Guildford, Rabbi Alex Goldberg arranged for the final lighting of the menorah outside the Guildhall, in a city where he became the first rabbi for 750 years. And the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said he had been “so inspired by the countless Chanukah celebrations that I have been part of throughout the UK this year. May the forces of light indeed overcome the forces of darkness”. Factsheet here.
Police record large rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes
The Press Association reports that some of the UK’s largest police forces have reported increases in religious hate crimes in the past 18 months, with rises after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and again last August after the Southport attacks. The figures were obtained by freedom of information requests and include information from 33 of the 40 police forces in England, including Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Avon and Somerset, West Yorkshire and the Metropolitan police. In Manchester, there were 39 Islamophobic incidents a month from January to July 2024, rising to 85 in August after Southport. In West Yorkshire, antisemitic cases averaged six a month in earlier 2023, rising to 44 after 7 October before falling again. Avon and Somerset saw anti-Muslim crimes doubling within two years. Most forces recorded clear year-on-year increases in the total number of these crimes. BBC report here
Priest jailed in Belarus for criticising government in his sermons
A Catholic priest in Belarus has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted on charges of high treason for criticising the government in sermons. Father Henrykh Akalatovich, 64, rejected the treason charges. He was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery just before his arrest and has been in custody since November 2023. The Associated Press says this is the first case of politically driven charges against Catholic clergy since Belarus became independent in the 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is said to be among dozens of clergy — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant — who have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave President Lukashenko a sixth term.
Praise for Jimmy Carter, a ‘shining example’ of faith and public service
Political and religious leaders have expressed their appreciation and praise for former US President Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday aged 100. Known for his committed Christian faith, he is described as an example of someone whose beliefs and actions were rooted in his Baptist affiliation, from his days as a Sunday school teacher in Georgia, through to the end. He was president from 1977-1981 during which time he sought peace in the Middle East and secured the Camp David accords, leading to the framework for a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. After his time in office, he continued diplomatic peace missions as one of the “Elders”, former world leaders still working for peace. The Religion News Service has extensive quotes from admirers here, including Senator Raphael Warnock, a fellow Georgian and Baptist pastor, who said: “Jimmy Carter is a shining example of what it means to make your faith come alive through the noble work of public service”.
New Lords and New Year honours for public figures associated with religion
New Lords and knights were named by the government over the holiday season. Those associated with religion included new members of the House of Lords, nominated by the Prime Minister just before Christmas, including Mike Katz – national chair of Jewish Labour Movement and a former Camden councillor; Krish Raval, founding director of Faith in Leadership; Marvin Rees, former Mayor of Bristol and head of Bristol City Council; Rev Dr Russell David Rook, partner at the Good Faith Partnership and Anglican priest; Nigel Biggar, chair of the Free Speech Union, regius professor emeritus of moral theology at the University of Oxford and Anglican priest. In the New Year honours list, among the hundreds of awards listed in full here, knighthoods went to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, recognised for his contributions to engineering and education, both were lauded by the Muslim Council of Britain. MBEs went to the former Dean of Carlisle, Mark Boyling; Roger Evans, chair of Friends of Friendless Churches; and Dr Alfred Garwood, Holocaust survivor. OBEs went to Phil Champain, Director, The Faith and Belief Forum and Elizabeth Jane Harris-Sawczenko, for services to Faith and Integration.
Bishop of Dover criticised for ‘stop lynch mob environment’ comment
The Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, gave an interview to The Guardian on her soon to be published autobiography, The Girl From Montego Bay, describing her life from a childhood in Jamaica to ordination and her role as a bishop. She discloses that she was raped and sexually abused from a young age, including at the hands of “religious men”. She told interviewer Harriet Sherwood: “I have never spoken about this before, probably due to a determination not to be defined by what happened to me. I was not going to become anyone’s victim.” On the current crisis in the Church of England over its handling of abuse cases, she said her heart went out to all affected by abuse, but said the C of E is putting in place measures to improve safety. The Guardian reports that she warned against a “lynch mob effect” in the calls for the removal of senior leaders, which she said would not resolve issues. She is quoted saying: “We need to stop a lynch-mob environment. It’s in the media, on social media and in parts of the church where flames are being fanned.” Her comments were criticised on social media as being “unwise”.
‘Bumper Christmas’ congregatoons despite ‘a crisis at HQ’
The Rev Richard Coles, responding to many social media posts showing large numbers of people attending Christmas services, said: “In spite of a crisis at HQ it seems to have been a bumper Christmas in parish churches, go figure”. Christmas messages from the bishops continued mostly as normal, collated by the Church Times here. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, told the congregation at York Minster on Christmas morning, that the Church of England needs to “strip off her finery and kneel in penitence and adoration And be changed”, saying there was a need not just to talk about justice and love but to “walk the talk”. Minutes afterwards, the Bishop of Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley took to Twitter / X to criticise the sermon, describing it as “empty words. I have no words more than that to describe their meaning.”
