The suffering of the victims and survivors of Northern Ireland’s conflict was very much compounded by the passing last year of the NI Legacy (Troubles and Reconciliation) Act, which was forced through parliament despite the united opposition of all the political parties in Northern Ireland, the vast majority of Troubles victims throughout the UK, most UK…
The first report of the Synod on Synodality was published last month and makes for very interesting reading. It was the first of two sessions. Of the 364 voting delegates who attended, 50 were women and they, with the lay men and others who attended, were able to vote on this report and on the…
When the Covid-19 pandemic emerged we were repeatedly told that we must “trust the science”. There was no scope for argument. Those who questioned the construction of the new mRNA vaccines and their universal administration were ridiculed and called anti-vaxxers. Yet those vaccines did not have full approval when they were administered to millions of…
Questions are asked openly about the future of the Church. It is said that it is in terminal decline.They have said this for centuries. Yet still it continues to grow. It was most unlikely, given the might of the Roman empire and the power relationships existing in the Holy Land at the time of Christ,…
Humanity has always been flawed. We do not need to read the account of creation to know the extent of those flaws. Since time began it seems, the world has been at war. A world which is capable of providing for all its people, if we all but lived as we are called to live,…
As International Women’s Day approaches there is much focus on the current status and situation of women across the world. There will be much celebration about what has been achieved in so many countries. I spent last Saturday in Paris at an International Women’s Day event organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran. It was…
Many people will have seen the recent TV programme about the Post Office scandal involving the wrongful prosecution of and conviction of sub-postmasters and the wrongful demands by the Post Office for tens of thousands of pounds allegedly missing from post office accounts, all the result of a faulty computer programme, Horizon, and, seemingly, the…
The View Christmas is becoming two separate feasts: for Christians it is the feast of the Nativity, the time when we remember and celebrate the birth of the Christchild in Bethlehem, with all that followed right up to the moment of the crucifixion and the resurrection; for others it is an unidentified festival – a…
The first report of the Synod on Synodality makes for very interesting reading. The second session of the synod will be in 2024. Of the 364 voting delegates who attended 50 were women. While one woman for every seven men was a very distinct under-representation, it was a very significant improvement on previous practice and…
What are we doing to stop a third world war? What can we do? I never thought I would write these words, but increasingly the possibility of renewed global conflict is being raised by many distinguished individuals. Is this what it was like in the 1930s, as the world watched the rise of Hitler and…