Welcome return of Israeli hostages and calls for immediate aid to Gaza
The Board of Deputies of British Jews has welcomed the release of three young women, held hostage by Hamas since 7 October 2023. They were Emily Damari, aged 28, a British Israeli who has lived in Israel all her life, but whose mother, Mandy, is from Beckenham and so she has visited Britain frequently, adopting Spurs as her home team. The Jewish Chronicle reports that Mandy is the daughter of Sidney Moss who was for many years the JC’s managing director. Emily captured from her flat near the Gaza border and was freed alongside Romi Gonen, 24, seized at the music festival, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse seized from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. They are in hospital but said to be stable. Emily is pictured missing two fingers, with a bandage over her hand. BOD president, Phil Rosenberg, said thoughts were with them, their families and the people of Israel, saying they would not stop campaigning until all the hostages were released.
Under the deal between Israel and Hamas, a ceasefire has begun and 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli military jails are waiting to be released. Displaced Palestinians in Gaza have been filmed returning to their homes, now flattened after bombardment. Aid trucks are also entering Gaza. Under the agreement, 600 lorries will cross the border each day.
During his weekly Angelus address, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the Gaza ceasefire, thanking the mediators and hoping all hostages return home. He called for the agreement to be respected and for the “so-urgently-needed” humanitarian aid to arrive in Gaza as soon as possible in large quantities.
Faith leaders line up support Trump on Inauguration Day
Faith leaders will figure at today’s Inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump, as the 47th US President. Cardinal Timothy Dolan and evangelist the Rev Franklin Graham, both of whom prayed at Trump’s first inauguration, will pray again today. Graham told the Sunday programme on BBC Radio 4, that he would pray for God to give Trump wisdom. He believed Trump was a stronger man now than in 2017, who would be a better president and do extremely well: “Jesus came to save sinners and Donald Trump is a sinner “, he said. There are also two newer faith supporters on the platform – Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, a Black evangelical from Detroit, who spoke at last year’s Republican National Convention and Imam Husham Al-Husainy, from the Karbala Islamic Center in Dearborn, a city with a large Muslim and Arab American population that Trump won. The background is reported by Jack Jenkins, from the US Religion News Service, who also told NPR that two high-profile religious services in Washington – at St. John’s Church next to the White House, and Washington National Cathedral – have edited their liturgy so they cannot be used as a platform for Trump. At St John’s there will be no sermon and at the cathedral, the preacher has not been picked by the president, instead Bishop Mariann Budde will give the address. The day is also Martin Luther King day and there will be a march to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and a series of addresses in response to Trump, at an event in Tennessee this evening. Jack Jenkins says he is hearing reports that white evangelicals who supported Trump in large numbers feel overshadowed by Elon Musk. The NPR interview is transcribed here
Pope and Chicago cardinal denounce Trump’s mass deportation plan
Pope Francis has denounced Donald Trump’s provisional plans to carry out a massive deportation of migrants as a “disgrace.” Interviewed on Italian TV last night, he said the incoming president’s plans were “not the way to solve things. If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the inequalities. It won’t do.” Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago has said that mass deportations of immigrants would be “not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply”. In a statement released on Sunday in Mexico City, where he is undertaking a pilgrimage, he said: “The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defence of the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers. Similarly, if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of U.S. citizens born of undocumented parents”. He also said that he wished the new Trump administration success in promoting the common good. The Cardinal affirmed the Catholic Church’s commitment to protecting sacred spaces as places of sanctuary. Vatican News story here
Pope delighted that Cuba is releasing prisoners in “Year of Jubilee”
Pope Francis said he is delighted that Cuba will release 553 prisoners in a move which the president said was made “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025”, a year designated for pilgrimage and renewal. Speaking yesterday, the Pope said the church hoped for more initiatives of this type, as they instil confidence in people and populations. When he introduced the Year of Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis said that “governments undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope; forms of amnesty or pardon meant to help individuals regain confidence in themselves and in society; and programmes of reintegration in the community, including a concrete commitment to respect for law.” Independent Catholic News report here
Moral dilemma in the Church of England over its use of Twitter /X
The Church Times reports consternation in the Church of England over whether dioceses should leave Twitter / X, after critics say it has become more toxic since Elon Musk took over. Madeleine Davies reports that the diocese of Winchester is no longer active on X; Norwich – and its bishop – are leaving on 31 January; Bristol is stopping on X; Salisbury and its three bishops are leaving; Canterbury, Oxford and Ely’s accounts have been dormant since 2023; Chester is considering its use of X; Truro’s account has been dormant for a month; Sodor and Man (The Isle of Man) has been dormant since 2017. Reasons include disquiet that it polarises rather than fosters understanding, and has a negative impact on social cohesion. Richard Chapman, head of parliamentary affairs at the CofE, moved from Twitter/X to BlueSky before Christmas but has been criticised for hiding and choosing an echo chamber. On the moral question, the Bishop of Barking, Lynne Cullens, said closing accounts on Twitter was “disappointing. . . Never was there greater need for the Established Church to maintain presence, and to bring an on-going Christian critique of the site’s political trajectory and increasingly malign influence.”
Westminster Hall debate on Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme
The National Churches Trust reports that Bradley Thomas, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, has tabled a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday 22 January, to consider the importance of the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme, which runs out in March. Under the scheme, introduced in 2004, listed places of worship can reclaim VAT on their repair projects. More than 13,000 places of worship have been supported for building repairs which kept them windproof and watertight. Sir Philip Rutnam, Chair of the National Churches Trust, said: “The Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme needs to be renewed urgently – otherwise local volunteers will have to pay VAT to the Government on top of everything else. That would inevitably mean more churches close, and more communities suffer”. The Trust is appealing to its members to write to their MP asking them to attend the debate and highlight the impact of the bill on churches.
Fire in Maha Kumbh festival tent city
Fire swept through a temporary camp site at the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India, destroying about 18 tents but no injuries are reported. Police say it was caused by an exploding gas cylinder. 400 million people are expected to take part in the event, which lasts for six weeks and is held at the confluence of three rivers, where devotees bathe for their sins to be forgiven, pray and meditate. A temporary tent city is created on the riverbanks to cater for the pilgrims. The festival, the largest gathering of people in the world, takes place every 12 years.
Tesco worker who wore a “fez” to work, loses religious discrimination claim
A Muslim Tesco worker, Kester Charles Bey, who claimed that he was a victim of race discrimination because he was compared to Tommy Cooper, the late comedian, for wearing a fez to work, has lost his case at an employment tribunal. He said he was subject to religious and racial harassment because of his “Moorish” background. But the case was dismissed after he failed to explain his harassment complaint or provide any names or dates attached to it . The Telegraph reports that Paul Housego, the employment judge, said: “He describes himself as Moorish, and always wears a fez. He says this is connected with both race and his religion [he is Muslim]. He says that it was harassment to describe him as looking like Tommy Cooper.”
