Quakers hold silent vigil at Scotland Yard against police raid
More than 300 Quakers, politicians and supporters held a silent Quaker Meeting outside New Scotland Yard yesterday, as a sign of resistance to the police raid on their meeting house in Westminster, when six young women were arrested on the premises. The women were from “Youth Demand” a protest group campaigning on Gaza and climate change, who had booked a room for a meeting. A student journalist was with them, reporting the meeting, and she too was arrested. Yesterday the Quakers stood in silence for forty minutes on the Victoria Embankment, joined by Green MPs Carla Denyer, Ellie Chowns and Sian Berry, Baroness Jenny Jones and London Assembly members Zack Polanski and Zoe Garbett. Quakers are calling for the repeal of laws which they say restrict the right to protest and criminalise peaceful protest. A further 25 silent meetings were held nationwide and online.
Jerusalem Post editor held under house arrest after story on Qatar
The editor of the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s oldest English-language newspaper, was placed under house arrest after he was questioned by police in connection with a report he had written on Qatar. Zvika Klein has since been released and has written about his experience in his paper. He explains it relates to an interview he published with the prime minister of Qatar. He said: “I received nothing in return. No benefits, no payment, no promises. I came back to Israel, and apparently one fact puzzled the police: I got nothing in return”. He explained that an investigation is underway and “the time will come when the full story can be told”. The Jewish Chronicle reports there are calls for the Attorney General to examine the case. Israel’s Journalists Organisation said the arrest and investigation of a journalist could create a chilling effect on other journalists.
Bishop calls for courageous leadership to bring peace in Gaza
Bishop William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, has told a meeting of MPs of the “feeling of hopelessness” in the region and appealed for leaders to show a “courageous spirit of leadership” to bring about peace. In a meeting organised by Aid to the Church in Need, he told a story of widespread unemployment, travel restrictions and food shortages. He said in the West Bank, 50 percent of the Palestinian population are unemployed and in Bethlehem this rate is even higher as tourism and pilgrimage have collapsed. At the Holy Family Church in Gaza, 640 people are currently sheltering, and the aid deliveries have stopped because of the renewed violence and blockade.
Safeguarding review into disgraced priest David Tudor
The Church of England has commissioned a Safeguarding Practice Review into the case of David Tudor, a former rector in the Chelmsford Diocese, who was banned from ministry for life in October 2024 following sexual abuse complaints. He was first banned in 1989 for sexual misconduct, but allowed back into the ministry. He was then made a team rector on Canvey island and then an Area Dean, but was suspended again before being eventually banned. At the time, his bishop was now the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who has since faced calls to resign for his handling of the case. He has said he was “deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier”. The review is to be led by Sue Williams, a former Commander in the Met Police, joined by a former senior police officer. It will examine the allegations against David Tudor, how the church handled them and how it responded to victims and survivors. It will then suggest improvements in a final report.
CofE awards grants of over £40 million for mission and ministry
The Church of England has announced grants of over £40 million for mission and ministry projects to attract new church members. The Diocese of Chelmsford is to receive £6.45 million for ‘Believing in Barking’, a programme for children and youth workers, including estates and minority languages. The Diocese of Sheffield has £14.3 million for plans to make Sheffield Cathedral a centre of mission through funding for music ‘missioners’, a digital evangelist and support for a new religious community; as well as money for parishes in Rotherham, Goole and Doncaster. In Carlisle Diocese, a £6.8 million grant will fund new worshipping communities in Barrow in Furness, Carlisle and the rural Derwent Deanery. The Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich has £2.7 million to support mission in Ipswich and rural areas. The Diocese of Rochester has £11 million to revitalise parishes in Medway, north and west Kent, and the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley. In the Diocese of Winchester, St Clement’s Church in Boscombe has been awarded £412,333 for mission to children, young people and families.
Meeting in Leicester to campaign against caste discrimination
The National Secular Society has announced plans to hold a discussion, in Leicester, on how to end caste discrimination in the UK. A report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said it had found caste discrimination in relation to work, public services and education, among people with roots in the Indian sub-continent. It said it was not specific to any one religion and was mainly high caste against low caste, or “Dalits”. The discussion at Leicester Secular Hall on 10 June will include campaigners against Caste discrimination and is aimed at increasing awareness of the issue and calling for legal protection against caste discrimination.
Oldest kiddush cup in existence to be auctioned by Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s is to sell a medieval Kiddush cup, used for drinking wine on the night before the Sabbath or before a holy day, which is expected to fetch up to £4million. It dates from the 11th-12th century and is the oldest cup in existence, sold from a private collection. The cup is inscribed in Hebrew and Arabic: “Simcha son of Salman, Simcha may he live for Eternity,” and “With Good-fortune, and Blessing, and Joy and Joy, and Happiness… Long Life to its owner.” Jewish News reports a Sotheby’s spokesperson saying it is “an extraordinarily rare record of the existence and importance of Jewish communities in Central Asia and in the Middle Ages”. The cup is on display at Sotheby’s London later this month, and up for auction in New York in October.
In search of Christians with a “Biblical world view”
Dr. George Barna, founder of the California based Barna Group which surveys religious beliefs and behaviour of Americans, has produced an online quiz so individual and groups can test whether they are “Bible believing Christians” – “thinking and acting like Jesus”. He says only 4 per cent of the US adult population thinks and acts biblically. Even among the 66 per cent of American adults who self-identify as Christians, only 6 per cent have a biblical worldview. The ACU (Arizona Christian University) Worldview Assessment, priced at $9.99, measures worldview beliefs and behaviour in five categories – The Bible, Truth, and Morals; God, Creation and History; Faith Practices; Sin, Salvation and God Relationship; and Lifestyle, Behaviour, and Relationships. There are assessment tests for children aged 9, 13 and 16, church groups and college students.
