Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, steps down after evensong this evening
Justin Welby will step down as Archbishop of Canterbury after evensong at Lambeth Palace this evening, bringing to an end his 11 years in office. In an unprecedented move, he resigned after criticism of the church’s handling of abuse allegations against John Smyth, an evangelical leader who groomed boys at a Christian summer camp, then beat them until they bled in his garden shed. The Makin review said Justin Welby could and should have done more to bring Smyth to justice. A report in The Times says he will need to obtain permission to carry on in ministry, from the local bishop where he chooses to live. This is unknown at present, though the report says he has a home in France. Tomorrow, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell will assume Dr Welby’s duties until a successor is appointed, probably in the autumn. He will be overseeing a church in turmoil and the Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme that the priorities were safeguarding, rebuilding trust and prayer, which may mean setting everything else aside – this would include the fractious debate over same sex blessings.
Action, not ‘racist witch hunt’, needed to tackle grooming gangs
The Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Zara Mohammed, has said action is needed to tackle grooming gangs, but not a “racist witch hunt”. She addressed the running story of whether there should be a public inquiry into grooming gangs in northern towns, where men raped and sexually abused vulnerable girls, with the government resisting saying there have already been inquiries. Ms Mohammed said the issue was being weaponised, with persistent racist narratives, and hatred directed against British Muslim politicians. “Baseless suggestions” that prosecutions are avoided for fear of a voting backlash were offensive insinuations. “No perpetrator should hide behind false notions that this behaviour is condoned in our community or our faith”, she said. The Ayaan Institute, which researches ways of achieving a “Muslim world that is united, independent, strong, prosperous, free of wars”, issued a statement condemning the association of grooming gangs with Muslims: “Sex Crimes: For those who are religiously illiterate and want to attach the criminal and vile behaviour of some sick men to Islam, let us be clear about how Islam considers such acts. 1. Sex outside marriage is considered a sin for men and women. 2. Making, selling, buying, and drinking alcohol is a sin. 3. Selling girls and women for sex as some of those men did and deriving income from it (once called pimping) is considered illicit (haram) income, which is impure and pollutes other genuine halal income. 4. Raping anyone of any age/sex is considered a crime under Islamic law with severe punishment”. It continues: “Muslim men are now 3rd and 4th generation born and bred. They live in Britain subject to its Western culture and societal/environmental influences like everyone else. Why is only the culture of their country of origin considered relevant to their crimes?”
The vicar on ‘The Traitors’ obsessed with murder
The Rev Lisa Coupland, an Anglian priest from Mawgan near Helston in Cornwall, has joined the BBC TV show “The Traitors”, a game based on deception where some are faithful and some are secret traitors who murder people at night, and hide their true identity to the wider group in order to win. Lisa is a “faithful” and has managed to stay in the game for three episodes. So far, she has admitted she can lie and spoken of her love for Agatha Christie novels. She told her local paper, the Falmouth Packet, “My main driving force [for applying] is that I am completely obsessed with murder mysteries. If there’s a murder mystery on the go, I’m there. I’ve watched every episode of Poirot, every Agatha Christie more than once, Midsomer Murders, Inspector Morse, Grantchester, Father Brown, Sister Boniface. I’m just obsessed with murders and the mental aspect of trying to work out who did it.”
Christian festivals observed today, 6 January
Today, 6 January, is the date for Orthodox Christians to celebrate Christmas, a three-day event which ends on 9 January. The majority of Orthodox Churches are found in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, but in Britain there are 250,000 Orthodox Christians from many traditions including Greek and Russian. In preparation, the Russian Orthodox Bishop Matthew of Sourozh led the liturgy yesterday, at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition in South Kensington. The 6 January is also the date for the Christian Feast of the Epiphany, where Western churches remember the Magi’s visit to the infant Jesus, and churches in the East, the baptism of Jesus. There are services in cathedrals and churches in the UK, and in the US, a growing popular ritual of “holy graffiti”, where people chalk the symbol “ 20+C+M+B+25” on their front doors, representing “Christus Mansionem Benedicat,” which means “May Christ bless this dwelling”, with plus signs referring to the cross and numbers referring to the date.
Sacked ‘uncooperative priest’ wins unfair dismissal claim
A Greek Orthodox priest from a church in Leeds, was unfairly dismissed by his diocese after insisting he continue working from home after Covid lockdowns ended, and refusing to conduct services other than on Sundays. A report in The Telegraph says Father Stavros Bozos moved to the Three Hierarchs Orthodox Church from Greece in 2018 and was dismissed in 2022 after being accused of an “uncooperative and defensive” manner in meetings where concerns were raised. An employment tribunal in Leeds heard he did not provide divine liturgy classes between January and March 2022 and limited unplanned face to face contact with parishioners, until it got to a point where the diocese said this could not continue and wanted “a divorce, preferably with consent, but was prepared for an acrimonious one”. The tribunal ruled it was unfair dismissal because the diocese did not understand fully his employment terms and no proper dismissal procedure was followed. He was awarded £2,232 in compensation.
Pope Francis has told nuns not to gossip or adopt ‘a vinegar face‘
Pope Francis has warned nuns not to have a “vinegar face”, which is not friendly and drives people away from faith. Speaking to a gathering of missionaries at the Vatican, he emphasised three essential qualities for religious educators: holiness, preparation, and friendliness. He warned against gossip: “Gossip kills, gossip poisons. Please, no gossip among you, none. And to ask this of a woman is heroic, but come on, let’s go forward, and no gossip.” And he urged the nuns to cultivate joy in their ministry, saying: “Many times in my life I have encountered nuns with a vinegar face, and this is not friendly, this is not something that helps to attract people”.
