Jewish Labour peer says Nigel Farage should come clean and apologise
Lord Mike Katz, a Jewish Labour peer and former head of the Jewish Labour Movement, has urged Nigel Farage to “come clean” about the allegations that he made antisemitic remarks when he was at school and “apologise to those who bravely spoke out”. The Guardian interviewed people who were with Nigel Farage at his school, Dulwich College, some 50 years ago, who said he had made antisemitic and racist remarks. He has insisted that he had “never directly racially abused anybody”.
National Trust ‘denies film-maker permission’ to use St Cuthbert’s Cave
The Catholic Herald reports that the National Trust has refused to grant a Catholic film maker permission to film at St Cuthbert’s Cave, a historic site in Northumberland where the seventh century saint is said to have been buried. Christian Holden had been commissioned to produce a documentary exploring the Way of St Cuthbert, following a US university professor and his students along the path to Lindisfarne. The report says the National Trust declined the request citing a policy against filming with “religious affiliation”. The organisation “Voice for Justice” has taken up the case saying the National Trust is in breach of the Equality Act 2010, which makes religion or belief a legally protected characteristic. A National Trust spokesperson told the Catholic Herald that it was proud to look after historic chapels, churches and other sites of religious significance: “We are reviewing what has happened in this case. We do not have a formal policy about religious filming at our places.”
US Christian right ‘sees Britain as fertile ground for its movement’
Writing in The Guardian, Lamorna Ash charts the invoking of Christianity by the British right, including establishment figures such as Danny Kruger, James Orr and Nigel Farage, to the further right Unite the Kingdom march in London, where crosses and St George’s flags were on display. She suggests that “powerful backers and strategists on the US Christian right increasingly see Britain as fertile ground for its movement” and cites the increasing influence of the Alliance Defending Freedom legal organisation, US based but now active in Britain, taking on cases such as prayer outside abortion clinics. She concludes: “This striking project to empower conservative Christianity in Britain should serve as a reminder of the fragility of Britain’s largely secular politics. It is also a reminder that anti-trans, anti-queer and Islamophobic positions do not spring from nowhere.”Article is here
London faith based volunteers ‘creating a city where everyone belongs’
Volunteers from more than 40 faith based charities and organisations in London were honoured at last night’s Dangoor Awards, organised by the Faith and Belief Forum. There were eight categories, with the largest number of entries coming from projects tackling the cost-of-living crisis and supporting health and well-being. Some initiatives were rooted in a single faith tradition, while many were interfaith efforts providing practical help, from meals and food parcels to emotional support for people at every stage of life, including at-risk young people and isolated older people. The Forum’s director, Carrie Alderton, said the organisations were creating a London where everyone belongs. And the Deputy Mayor Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard said seeing a large gathering of people offering positive help, gave hope for the future. Their leadership gave people someone to turn to at times of tension.
38 church members abducted in Nigeria are freed
Thirty-eight members of the Christ Apostolic Church in central Nigeria, who were abducted a week ago when Fulani militia stormed a church service killing three people, have been released. The organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide says they were freed after the kidnappers reportedly reduced their ransom demand from around £52,000 per person to £10,500. There has been a series of abductions in Nigeria recently – 303 students and 12 teachers were taken from a Catholic school in the north west last Friday, though 50 children escaped; 25 Muslim girls were abducted from a state school in Kebbi state, also in the north west nine days ago; and Fr Bobbo Paschal was abducted from his home in central Nigeria the same day. The UN World Food Programme is warning that a surge in militant attacks and instability in northern Nigeria could mean 35 million people going hungry as resources run out.
Ancient rite to confirm Dame Sarah Mullaly as next Archbishop of Canterbury
An ancient rite to confirm Dame Sarah Mullally as the Archbishop-elect of Canterbury, was held in the medieval chapter house of Canterbury cathedral yesterday. The dean and canons of Canterbury Cathedral, the bishops of Dover and Richborough, and the archdeacons of Canterbury and Ashford, were under orders from the King to meet in a ceremony dating back to the 13th century. They confirmed her election in a certificate sealed with a press, and a notice was pinned to the cathedral door. The ceremony was witnessed by a journalist from The Times, and the report is here
CofE’s education chief to step down in the new year
The Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, Canon Nigel Genders, will step down in the new year, after more than ten years in the role. He will take up a new role as the Government’s Chief Schools Adjudicator in February. Ini his 30 year ministry, he has been a parish priest, school chaplain, university governor, and Director of Education for the Diocese of Canterbury. The Church of England says that during his tenure in education, he has overseen a church-led programme of National Professional Qualifications, a revised framework for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools and a strengthening of relationships between schools, their local communities, parish churches and households.
CofE tribunal upholds complaints of serious sexual abuse against David Tudor
The Church of England has issued a statement saying that a bishop’s disciplinary tribunal for the diocese of Southwark has upheld a new complaint against David Tudor under the clergy discipline measure 2003. He was prohibited from ministry for life in October 2024 following two complaints under the clergy discipline measure, related to an admission of guilt on disclosures of serious sexual abuse from the time when he was a priest in the diocese of Southwark. He went on to become an area dean in Chelmsford. Both Southwark and Chelmsford dioceses have issued statements on the tribunal ruling. The David Tudor Safeguarding Practice Review, commissioned by the national safeguarding team and both dioceses, will report next year.
Vatican promotes virtues of monogamy
The Vatican has published a document “One Flesh: in praise of monogamy”, responding to concerns raised by African bishops about the practice of polygamy in their congregations. The Associated Press says that the Vatican’s doctrine chief and author, Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, said the text wasn’t so much a condemnation of polygamy and polyamorous relations in the West as it was a celebration of the virtues and benefits of monogamy. On “polyamory”, non-monogamous unions, the document explains that only two people can give themselves fully and completely to one another, otherwise the gift becomes partial and fails to respect the other’s dignity.
Baroness Gohir reported to parliamentary standards watchdog
The Times reports that the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has been asked to investigate Baroness Gohir, for hosting an event in parliament attended by Haleem Kherallah, founder of a Palestinian restaurant in Marylebone. People had been filmed at the restaurant in June, celebrating Iran’s attack on Haifa and Tel Aviv. The complaint to the commissioner came from a Jewish woman in Britain who lost family members in the 7 October attack, and said the invite was hurtful and harmful to the Jewish and Israeli community in the UK. Baroness Gohir, who is helping to draft an official definition of Islamophobia, told The Times that the event was organised by a charity to celebrate the diversity of Muslims in public life, and she was not in charge of the invite list.
Christmas and New Year services scheduled on TV and radio
The Bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, is to deliver a Christmas meditation on BBC Radio 4 on Boxing Day, on the theme of trust, which will include her thoughts on the repercussions after her sermon at the inauguration of President Trump. The Archbishop of Canterbury designate, Dame Sarah Mullally, will deliver the New Year message. On Christmas Eve, the traditional festival of nine lessons will be broadcast from King’s College Cambridge on Radio 4, and Carols from Kings will be on BBC1. Midnight Mass will come from Our Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs church, Cambridge, on BBC1, and from Liverpool Cathedral on Radio 4. Songs of Praise will be a Christmas celebration from Bolton. ITV will carry a Christmas Carol Service, hosted by the Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey, on Christmas Eve. BBC Christmas programming here
