A Church of England bishop given the Anglican equivalent of a saint’s feast day was a paedophile, the church has acknowledged. Bishop George Bell of Chichester, who died in 1958, sexually assaulted a child in the 1940s and 1950s. The Church of England has issued a formal apology to the victim, who wishes to remain Read more
The Archbishop of Canterbury has offered to host one or two refugee families in a cottage in the grounds of his Lambeth Palace residence. A spokesman for Archbishop Justin Welby noted that Jesus was a refugee. The spokesman said a four-bedroom cottage at Lambeth Palace in London could house a “family or two”, adding that Read more
A summit of Anglican primates will take place in Canterbury, England, in January to try to prevent a permanent split over homosexuality. The invitation to the primates from the Archbishop of Canterbury will bring together a number of church heads who have not spoken directly to each other for more than a decade. As one Read more
Leaders of the United Kingdom’s major faith groups have called on their MPs to reject a bill that would allow legal assisted suicide. On Friday, the House of Commons will debate the Assisted Dying (No 2) Bill, put forward by Labour’s Rob Marris. The bill would allow patients judged as having no more than six Read more
Young people are turning to Jihad because mainstream religion is not “exciting” enough, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Archbishop Justin Welby told faith leaders earlier this month that Britain’s religious communities must do more to provide an alternative to extremism which gives young people a “purpose in life”. He also warned against being too Read more
The Archbishop of Canterbury says some sermons he has heard amounted to “moral claptrap” about being nicer to each other. Preaching at an evensong service in New York in January, Archbishop Welby said Jesus’ life “challenges every assumption” about society. “He does not permit us to accept a society in which the weak are excluded Read more