Over the coming weeks in schools, churches, high streets, and venues across this country, the Christmas story that began with Mary and Joseph's journey for a census will be enjoyed and celebrated by millions of people.

But of what story are we a part?

What story do we want to tell about ourselves?

The UK census gives us a particular and important snapshot of the identity of our nation, decade by decade.

Interpreting the story of trends, values, perceptions, and identities that underlies these snapshots is complicated, however.

Some commentators have responded to the census data about religious affiliation released last week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by predicting the terminal decline of Christianity in our nation or declaring this as a statistical watershed moment.

I am interested in the overall story that this census snapshot informs. Christians should approach this data with humility, attentiveness, and self-reflection.

Though the most common response to the voluntary question of religious affiliation remains "Christian," there was a 13.1 percentage decrease from 2011 to 2021.

The ONS clarifies that these figures are about "the religion with which [respondents] connect or identify, rather than their beliefs or active religious practice."

I do not find the trend in the responses to this particular question surprising: we have left behind the time when many people almost automatically identified as Christian.

Yet the story of the relationship between the identity expressed on our census forms and our engagement with faith is far from straightforward.

There are fewer people in the pews on a typical Sunday morning than a few decades ago, but at the same time, some of our churches - of all traditions and styles - are growing significantly, and we are also seeing people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, to whom the idea of joining a weekly service would not necessarily occur.

These apparently contrasting statistical snapshots inform a more complicated, though the incomplete story, which is not one of terminal decline for religious faith nor Christianity, but more about how individuals in our ever-changing nation and culture choose to express their identity.

This is a story on which other Christians and I must reflect carefully and humbly.

For Christians, however, the story that defines our identity has never been one of overwhelming numerical growth nor fear of extinction. Amid the complexities of identity, values and nation, Christians strive to live by the story of the Good News of Jesus Christ - a story notable for the absence of success by the world's usual standards.

A watershed moment in that story happened when "Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world." The events that then unfolded will be shared by millions of people in the UK this Christmas.

They will hear the baby Jesus described as a light that shines in the darkness. His story is not a tale of linear success but about how that light shines through the difficult realities of our lives and finally overcomes all darkness. Continue reading

The change followed the murder of Catholic MP Sir David Amess, who didn't receive the Last Rites before he died because police wouldn't let the priest who would administer them into the crime scene.

The priest, who had hurried to be with Amess, instead prayed a rosary outside the building where the crime took place.

Catholic leaders say the guideline change will help meet the religious needs of crime victims in England and Wales.

"This is really encouraging news. For the first time, we have official guidance from the police that recognises the importance of priests and the sacrament of the Last Rites," says Nigel Parker, executive director of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.

"We are extremely grateful to everyone involved in the working group for producing such a clear and sensible set of guidance notes."

For Catholics, the "Last Rites" involve the final sacraments and prayers for the dying. Catholics in danger of death are strongly encouraged to take part in these rites.

After it became publicly known why Amess was unable to receive the Last Rites, a working group was set up to revise national guidelines for the College of Policing for England and Wales.

The new guidelines allow better access for priests and other religious ministers at crime scenes where the victims of murder or other violence remain on site.

"At a critical time, such spiritual and family support can make all the difference for those for whom it is important," says Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark.

The Catholic Union worked across political parties to raise concerns about the police response to clergy.

"We were all deeply shocked by the news of Sir David's murder," Parker says.

"He was a friend to the Catholic Union and a supporter of many of our campaigns. This new guidance should prevent people at crime scenes being denied access to the Last Rites in future.

"However, there is still work to do to make sure people working in public services have a better understanding of the importance of faith to those who believe. The Catholic Union will continue to campaign for the culture change we need to bring that about."

Although the battle for priests at crime scenes has been won, they still face difficulty in administering the sacraments in hospitals and care homes. The Catholic Union said a change in culture is needed.

Source

• CNA
• Image: Herald Scotland

"Our concern was not in relation to Fr. David's views themselves, but the manner in which these views have been expressed in the context of our diverse community of people of many faiths," the university says.

Palmer had been named as chaplain to the Catholic community at the University and as Catholic chaplain to Nottingham Trent University.

Nottingham Trent University accepted the appointment. However, after interviewing Palmer, the University of Nottingham wrote to McKinney about concerns regarding the appointment.

It later explained the concerns related to Palmer's social media posts, highlighting one on assisted suicide and another on abortion.

"They referenced a tweet where I had referred to the proposed ‘assisted dying' bill [introduced in Britain's Parliament in May] as a bill to allow the NHS ‘to kill the vulnerable,'" Palmer says.

"I was told it was fine for me to have this opinion, but they were concerned with how I expressed it. When I asked how they would suggest I express it, quite remarkably, they suggested I should call it ‘end of life care,' which is a completely unacceptable policing of religious belief."

Palmer tweeted last week that the university also objected to a second post in which he described abortion as the "slaughter of babies,". His comment was made in the context of the debate over U.S. President Joe Biden's reception of Holy Communion despite backing legal abortion.

Palmer says he defends both posts as reflecting Catholic belief.

He says after the university rejected his placement, the bishop declined to nominate another priest. The university then agreed he could offer Mass on campus on Sundays as a "guest priest."

Stressing that the university supported its Catholic community, a university spokesperson said: "We have no issue with the expression of faith in robust terms, indeed we would expect any chaplain to hold their faith as primary."

"The University of Nottingham remains committed to supporting staff and students of Catholic faith and continuing our 90-year tradition of providing Catholic chaplaincy for them," the spokesperson said.

Tweeting about the issue, Palmer noted that the university does not pay for chaplains. He also said most pastoral work with Catholic students would take place at the Newman House and St. Paul's in Lenton, a parish that includes the university within its boundaries.

Palmer rejects the university's explanation.

They say they have ‘no issue with the expression of faith in robust terms,' but this is precisely what they had an issue with, he says. It appears "diversity only goes so far, certainly not as far as the Catholic chaplain being able to express ‘robustly' mainstream Catholic beliefs."

"The suggestion that they are grateful for the bishop's ‘solution' almost seems to imply that the bishop somehow agrees with the university ‘policing' the expression of Catholic teaching on pro-life issues."

"His ‘solution' was an attempt to ensure that the university didn't end up barring sacramental ministry to the students entirely. It wasn't tacit approval of their behavior."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: British Council

The Catholic Diocese of Westminster's Caritas Bakhita House enabled the traffickers' 20-year old victim to report their crimes to the police.

The traffickers were sentenced to prison terms of 15 and 16 years.

Their victim's nightmare began when she arrived in the U.K. from Romania in April 2019 to take up a factory job.

However, the traffickers forced her to work on the streets of London as a prostitute instead, even after she became pregnant.

She then acquired a mobile phone, which she used to phone her family. They alerted the Romanian police, who contacted their U.K. counterparts.

The Metropolitan Police, which is responsible for law enforcement in the Greater London area, rescued the young woman and took her to the Caritas Bakhita House.

She was seven months pregnant.

According to the Westminster diocese's website, Caritas Bakhita House has helped the woman access medical support, registered her with a midwife, helped he get new prescription glasses and provided her with clothing and toiletries.

Other assistance given to the woman includes English classes and budgeting lessons.

Working with the police and U.S.-based NGO the International Justice Mission,Caritas Bakhita House helped the woman to fulfill her wish to give birth to her baby back home in Romania.

The International Justice Mission collected her from the airport in Romania, reunited her with her family, and is continuing to offer her care and support.

After the two traffickers were sentenced, Detective Inspector Grant Anderson, from the Metropolitan Police's Modern Slavery and Child Sexual Exploitation Unit, said:

"This was an awful crime which subjected a vulnerable young woman to a hideous way of life. We know she will never forget her time in captivity but I can report she gave birth to a healthy baby boy."

"I hope she now has some closure after knowing these men will be behind bars for a long time."

"We are committed to bringing these offenders to justice and will continue to work with local and overseas partners to do this."

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates 24.9 million people worldwide are trapped in forced labour, with 4.8 million suffering sexual exploitation. Women and girls account for 99 per cent of victims in the commercial sex industry, according to the ILO.

In 2019, the Vatican released an online guide seeking to combat the "ugly business" of human trafficking, which generates an estimated $150 billion a year.

Caritas Bakhita House is a Catholic safe house named after St. Josephine Bakhita, the patron saint of trafficking survivors.

Source

Catholic News Agency

Image: MintPress News

The judge said, "Your acts of assistance were acts of pure compassion and mercy." Read more

Speaking during a press conference last week, the cardinal said: "Diocese by diocese, parish by parish", the rate of people going to Confession had "increased dramatically during the past six months".

Continue reading

Bishop Seamus Cunningham of Hexham and Newcastle proposed the motion at the bishops' plenary meeting last month.

He did this on behalf of the Council of Priests in his diocese.

The proposal was rejected after a "thoughtful discussion", he told his diocesan paper.

"Arguments have been put forward that with the declining number of priests, ordaining married men who are proven in their Christian life, would allow the faithful not to be starved from the sacrament, especially the Eucharist," he said.

Bishop Cunningham said that many bishops noted that the tradition of the Church for more than 1000 years was that the priesthood and celibacy were a sign and symbol of an interior dedication to Christ and his kingdom and were intimately linked.

He added: "Any separation of them as a norm of the Church would change the nature of how we see the priesthood."

Bishop Cunningham went on to say that "acknowledgement was made of those married priests who serve in our parishes at the moment" especially former Anglicans and members of the Ordinariate.

He said: "At the heart of the priesthood is sacrifice; the sacrifice of the Mass where Christ gives himself for the salvation of the world, and the sacrifice of the priest who offers his life for his people.

"In the context of this wide ranging discussion, the bishops maintained the traditional teaching of the Church for a celibate priesthood."

Meanwhile, veteran Vatican correspondent Sandro Magister sees the ordination of married men to the priesthood as a possible theme for the next synod of bishops.

Magister noted the significance of Pope Francis's visit next year to Chiapas in San Cristóbal de Las Casas diocese in Mexico, where there are only a few elderly priests, but hundreds of married "indigenous" deacons.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• L'Espresso
• Image: Crux

But at their November meeting, the bishops did not approve the move, despite some lively discussion.

Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth wrote that the bishops acknowledged that valid conditions required for general absolution "were not generally met in our circumstances".

"What is more important in the Year of Mercy is to reflect on the processes of conversion and the central place in conversion of a one-to-one encounter with Jesus Christ," Bishop Egan wrote.

This encounter, through individual confession in either of two rites, is key to experiencing personally God's love, he added.

Continue reading

A new translation of the Order of Celebrating Matrimony will be used in England and Wales from Easter Sunday, 2016.

A new translation of the Order of Confirmation will also be introduced on that date.

In their the summary of the new translation of the Order of Celebrating Matrimony, the England and Wales bishops have included a section entitled: "Can I have my favourite poem?"

The document answers: "Every wedding liturgy is unique . . . It is also a celebration of the Church which means that the structure, texts and how the liturgy is celebrated are laid down.

"Any reading in the Liturgy of the Word should be taken from Scripture (the Bible) and cannot be replaced by another text.

"In a similar way any music played or sung should normally be taken from the Church's long and living tradition of music.

"Texts should be expressive of the faith of Church."

It concludes: "It is important to remember that the Marriage liturgy is one of a sequence of events that make up the whole of the Wedding Celebration.

"It is not therefore necessary that a favourite poem or song is included within the liturgy; it may be better placed within the wedding reception."

Among the changes introduced for nuptial celebrations, the Catholic Herald reported, is the requirement that at least one of the readings must explicitly mention marriage, such as the account of the Wedding at Cana in John's Gospel.

When marriage is celebrated within Mass, a Gloria will now be said or sung to mark the festivity of the occasion.

Under the new translation of the Order of Celebrating Matrimony is also a blessing for engaged couples and a blessing for married couples on their anniversary.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Image: St Mary's Stillwater

Emeritus Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood told The Tablet he thought it could be argued the Church in England and Wales was in a unique position to prompt Rome on the issue.

"We are well viewed as a conference at the Vatican and we are not seen as extreme," said Bishop McMahon.

"I think we would have a very sympathetic hearing and we can draw on a very unique experience in this country.

"We have fewer priests, and we used to have many; and many of our Ordinariate clergy are married. We also have married deacons," he said.

Bishop McMahon added that the feedback from ordinary Catholics has been very positive on both married Ordinariate priests and married deacons.

Bishop McMahon is one of several England and Wales bishops to have added their voices to what some see as a groundswell for change to allow wider ordination of married priests.

The need is becoming more urgent, they have said, because of a shortage of priests.

The Bishop of Menevia in Wales, Bishop Thomas Burns, SM, said priestly celibacy should be made optional.

He said it is wrong to claim that celibacy should be abandoned because it was linked to child abuse.

He added that there wasn't evidence that it should be abandoned to improve vocations.

If celibacy was made optional, he said, "[it would leave] the way clear for the status of married clergy to be recognised in its own right as a true gift of the Spirit to the Church."

In summary, said Bishop Burns, the obligation for priests not to be married was neither Church doctrine nor dogma, but "a disciplinary measure dating from the twelfth century and potentially can be re-stated as a gift of the Spirit to the Church".

However, when asked about the possibility of ordaining married men to the priesthood, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said that he did not see it as a "pressing issue".

Sources

• The Tablet
• Image: Carmelite Friars

The bishops have welcomed Pope Francis's initiatives for the Jubilee Year of Mercy which starts on December 8.

Among these is installing a holy door at each cathedral and shrine.

Holy doors, or porta santa, are normally sealed shut from the inside.

They are only opened during Jubilee years, during which pilgrims pass through the doors to gain a plenary indulgence.

The England and Wales bishops said that the Jubilee Year should also find expression by encouraging Confession as "the Sacrament of the New Evangelisation" over the weekend of May 4 to 5 in 2016.

Continue reading

Dom Aidan Bellenger, former Abbot of Downside Abbey and a leading historian of the monastic life, made this assertion in an article in The Tablet.

He suggested that communities had made "too much accommodation with consumerist ideals of the modern world, too many credit cards, too many expensive holidays".

"A decline in the number of vocations has combined with the ageing of the communities, and a tendency to middle class stagnation, strangulation by comfort and gerontocracy," Dom Aidan wrote.

He stated that many of the problems were to do with money and finance.

He also argued that the running of schools and parishes have taken religious away from their foundational ideas.

Traditionally communities have run schools, parishes and other institutions and have sought to balance the call to be contemplatives with work in the world.

Last year, Pope Francis proclaimed a Year for Consecrated Life, running from November, 2014, to February, 2016.

In his apostolic letter announcing the year, Pope Francis noted that he did this "on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, which speaks of religious in its sixth chapter, and of the Decree Perfectae Caritatis on the renewal of religious life".

In his apostolic letter, the Pope challenged religious to examine themselves in terms of their openness to the Gospel, and whether it is truly the "manual" for daily living for them.

"The Gospel is demanding: it demands to be lived radically and sincerely," the Pope wrote.

"It is not enough to read it (even though the reading and study of Scripture is essential), nor is it enough to meditate on it (which we do joyfully each day).

"Jesus asks us to practice it, to put his words into effect in our lives."

Sources

• The Tablet
• Vatican papal statements
• Image: The Times

Nothing could be further from the truth. The origins of Halloween are, in fact, very Christian and rather American. Halloween falls on October 31 because of a pope, and its observances are the result of medieval Catholic piety.

It's true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival on October 31-as they did on the last day of most other months of the year. However, Halloween falls on the last day of October because the Solemnity of All Saints, or "All Hallows," falls on November 1. The feast in honour of all the saints in heaven used to be celebrated on May 13, but Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved it to November 1, the dedication day of All Saints Chapel in St. Peter's at Rome. Later, in the 840s, Pope Gregory IV commanded that All Saints be observed everywhere. And so the holy day spread to Ireland.

The day before was the feast's evening vigil, "All Hallows Even," or "Hallowe'en." In those days Halloween didn't have any special significance for Christians or for long-dead Celtic pagans. Continue reading.

Fr Augustine Thompson, O.P., is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

Source: uCatholic / Catholic Parent magazine

Image: Fanpop

With the exception of the Auckland Cathedral, where the priests report an increase in young people attending the sacrament, a ring-around survey, yesterday, of several New Zealand parishes showed most recorded no significant increase in the number of people going to confession.

From the informal survey, no New Zealand parish has made special arrangements to regularly accommodate extra demand for confession.

The New Zealand situation is different from that in England and Wales where reports are emerging that there is a significant increase in numbers receiving the sacrament.

While the evidence is anecdotal, the Telegraph reports that two thirds of priests had noticed the upturn.

Some dioceses in England and Wales are attributing the increasing number going to confesion to what they are calling "papal bounce"; a effect of the election of Pope Francis and the positive visit of Pope Benedict to Britain three years ago.

One priest said, "Some people are coming in saying I don't know what to say or do because they haven't been since they were at school or for 30 years, and are asking for help with the words to say."

The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Kieran Conry said a more informal approach to confession than in the past had also helped attract younger people.

There's even a App to help them, he said.

Additional sources

• The Telegraph
• Image: St Mark the Evangelist Church

"I wish to state clearly that neither I, nor the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, have ever, at any time, said to the British government that Catholics who marry into the royal family would not be expected to raise their children in the Catholic faith," said Monsignor Marcus Stock, general secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

During the House of Lord debate on the Act of Succession, Lord Wallace of Tankerness said he had received assurance from Monsignor Stock that the Catholic bishops take a "pastoral" approach to mixed marriages.

Continue reading

The rise in men and women entering religious orders is across a wide variety of different orders, some of which have not had novices for many years.

Last year also saw the highest number of ordinations to the diocesan priesthood in nearly 10 years, with 31 priests ordained for the dioceses of England and Wales.

Continue reading

The commissioning of 22 lay people is an effort to relieve pressure on priests.

"In some of our parishes in the diocese priests are being asked to celebrate over 120 funerals each year," Archbishop Kelly wrote in The Tablet.

Vocations in Liverpool declined sharply in recent years, and the archdiocese projected that the number of priests will decline from 170 to 100 by 2015.

The move is supported by the archdiocese's Council of Priests.

Archbishop Kelly said that the lay ministers - some of whom are drawn from the roster of Eucharistic ministers, catechists and religious sisters - would receive continuing support and training to ensure that the service they provide is "of the best quality".

The move is not seen by Catholics as "second-class".

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Image: Catholic Herald

"Rowing is the perfect metaphor for life," says Father Vladimir Feltzmann, 73, who was one of the Catholic Church of England and Wales' roaming chaplains for the London Olympics and a former competition rower. "You see the past; you can't see the future. The only person who sees the future is the cox. Christ is the cox. You row backwards into the future so the past is in front of you and the future is behind you. Because you are rowing backwards you need to have great faith."

Feltzmann, who likes to be known as Father Vlad, is one of 13 British Catholic priests to have been assigned a role at the London Games. During the games most of these priests were based out of the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, where the majority of the venues were situated. They also celebrated daily Mass at the Athletes' Village. Several hundred thousand people came into the park each day and the priests were on hand for a variety of reasons, from giving information on Catholic churches in London to administering Last Rites.

An estimated 4.5 million visitors arrived in London during the games, and many of them, especially from overseas, were Roman Catholic. Feltzmann roamed among the Central London transport hubs near to the events. After nearly 50 years a priest, Father Vlad has an eye for a situation that may require his pastoral intervention.

"Near each venue there are people involved in security, accommodation, public relations, food supplies and ticket collection. Then there are all the people who arrive for the event. If only 1 per cent of these people suffer bereavement back home, that could be thousands of people who will need help and support-it might be for confession or people who want to pour their hearts out because they are hurting. It will just be a question of walking up and saying, 'Hello, I'm Fr Vlad. If you have a problem here's my card.' I will show them where the local church is or I can show them where their nearest ethnic chaplaincy is." Continue reading

Image: Stuff

The survey conducted in Britain also shows more than half of the adults questioned believe Religious Education lessons in schools are worthwhile with many favour making Religious Education (RE) compulsory.

The poll comes as increasing numbers of teenagers are being forced to drop Religious Education because of the introduction of new-style league tables that prioritise other subjects.

The YouGov poll commissioned by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales found 53% of 1,800 adults questioned in England and Wales thought RE should be compulsory in all state schools, while 58% of adults said they thought RE was beneficial.

Only 9% said they thought it was harmful.

In releasing the poll results, the Religious Education Council of England and Wales said they feared that an expansion of independent academies, state schools run free of local authority, is leading to rising numbers of schools dropping locally-agreed syllabuses in the subject, reports the Telegraph.

The survey results come at a time when British MP's and peers prepare to attend the first meeting of the newly-formed all-party parliamentary group for RE, established to raise awareness of the importance of RE in schools.

John Keast, chairman of the RE Council, said the group was necessary to counter concerns that the subject was becoming increasingly marginalised by Coalition reforms to education, reports the Telegraph.

This includes a Government decision to exclude RE from the English Baccalaureate - a new school leaving certificate that rewards pupils gaining good GCSE grades in the five core academic disciplines of maths, English, science, foreign languages and either history or geography.

It is feared that this is leading to a decline in the number of schools offering the subject at GCSE level.

Mr Keast said: "There have been a number of unintended consequences for RE as a result of changes made by the Government."

According to last summer's GCSE results, a total of 221,974 youngsters entered for the subject compared to 188,704 the year before.

At the same time, history and geography saw a decline in entries.

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Telegraph
• Huffington Post
• Image: The Telegraph

Responding formally to the Conservative Government's proposals, the Church of England said the move would change the "intrinsic nature of marriage as union of a man and a woman."

"Several major elements of the government's proposals have not been thought through properly and are not legally sound," the Church said.

Government Ministers have been adamant that a new law would be brought in before the next election in 2015 and churches would not be oblige to marry people of the same gender.

However according to Desmond Swayne, Cameron's parliamentary aide, same sex marriages should take place in Churches that want to have them, he said Wednesday.

But Crispin Blunt, the prisons minister, said that the current plans for a blanket ban on religious groups from carrying out gay marriages could prove "problematic legally," adding the promised exemption for religious groups may not survive even the initial Parliamentary process.

Blunt's view of the legal difficulties is also echoed by the Church of England which said it was doubtful that a refusal to let same sex couples marry in their churches would withstand a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey has also joined the debate. Writing in The Telegraph, Carey a supporter of civil partnerships, warned of the unintended consequences of same-sex marriage.

"Same sex marriage proposals could do serious damage to Britian's constitution," he wrote.

Carey pointed out that way the Church of England is so inter-twined with the State means that laws of the Church have not effect if they are contrary to to customs of the realm, and he labelled Cameron's consultation as "fatally undermined by historical and legal ignorance."

Equally as critical are England's Catholic bishops who warn of the instability such a move will bring to British society.

"It is of serious concern to us that this proposal, which has such immense social importance for the stability of our society and which has significant implications for the unique institution of marriage and of family life, should be proposed on this basis and with such limited argument," said Archbishop Peter Smith, vice president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference.

Sources

• Reuters
• The Telegraph - George Carey
• The Telegraph - Ministers signal gay marriage could take place in church
• Catholic Bishops' Response to the Equal Civil Marriage Consultation
• Image: The Telegraph