This week in the world press:

Churches could be sued for refusing civil partnerships

A late-night Lords vote to lift the ban on civil partnerships in religious venues could lead to church prosecutions, a bishop has warned. The Bishop of Winchester, Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt, said ‘I regret enormously the vote’. Lord Alli, sponsor of the amendment, said the move would permit but not compel premises to host the ceremonies. But Bishop Scott-Joynt feared it would open ‘individual clergy to charges of discrimination if they solemnise marriages but refuse to host civil partnership signings’. Don Horrocks of the Evangelical Alliance said, ‘religious groups must not be forced to betray their consciences’ because other liberal religious groups have the freedom to follow theirs.

Source: The Times (4/3)

• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Scottish Church unimpressed by Labour’s ‘shrink-wrapped’ faith

The head of the Scottish Episcopal Church has described Labour attempts to woo Scotland’s Christian vote as a ‘grave disservice’ to religion. Rt Revd David Chillingworth was responding to promises made by Scottish Secretary, Jim Murphy, that religious voters’ concerns would be reflected in Labour policies. Mr Murphy illustrated this by mentioning voter concerns over benefit claimants, immigration levels and ‘the importance of patriotism’. Mr Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, labelled these attitudes the ‘regressive’, ‘outdated’ ‘politics of the supermarket checkout’. The bishop lamented Mr Murphy’s lack of ‘bigger visions’ and said he did a disservice to faith by ‘suggesting it can be shrink-wrapped to fit the manifesto’ of a political party.

Source: Daily Telegraph (28/2)

• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Gay laws may force last Catholic adoption agency to close

Catholic Care began a High Court battle this week seeking exemption from Sexual Orientation Regulations. The Yorkshire region charity is the last Catholic adoption agency still operating after six Catholic charities were given a 21-month transition period to comply with the regulations. Christopher McCall QC, representing the charity, says it recognises that its refusal to consider gay couples as adoptive parents ‘involves discrimination’. But it believes this is ‘a justifiable means to a legitimate end … of securing homes for children who could not otherwise be expected to find homes at all.’ The agency says it has found loving homes for 1,388 of the most vulnerable children in the Yorkshire region since 1963.  

Sources: The Independent (3/3); The Times (3/3);

• http://www.independent.co.uk/
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

This week in the Church press:

Bishops’ electoral challenge to politicians

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have issued a wide-ranging statement urging Parliament to reverse the breakdown of trust in society. The Catholic Herald sees the paper Choosing the Common Good as ‘a major intervention ahead of the general election’. The 10-page statement admits that the Catholic Church has itself had to learn harsh lessons in safeguarding trust. But it also focuses on the parliamentary expenses scandal and the mistrust of highly-rewarded bankers responsible for taking the economy to the brink. The bishops stress the restoration of trust and service as prerequisites if society is to change for the better. Observers also saw the bishops’ call for politicians to ‘recognise and support marriage’ as offering some support for Conservative plans to give tax breaks to married couples.

Sources: The Universe (7/3); Catholic Herald (5/3); The Times (27/2)

• http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Algerian Christians on fault line of Muslim–Christian tensions

Algerian Christians speaking in London last week revealed their increased vulnerability under 2008 government restrictions. Although at least 80,000 Algerian citizens are believed to be Christians, the new laws have led to regular harassment, the banning of many churches, impounding of Bibles and reduction in safety. Algeria has found itself at the centre of Saudi Arabian and Egyptian pressure to quash Christianity because of fears that the church growth there could spread to other Arab countries. Algerian leaders spoke of ‘amazing growth’ especially among the Kabyle people. The Kabyle are non-Arabs who embrace the freedom given by Christianity to worship in their mother tongue and feel disenfranchised by Islamic authoritarianism, the Church of England Newspaper reports.

Source: Church of England Newspaper (5/3)

Church welcomes Zuma’s ‘soul-searching’

South African churches gave a cautious welcome (23/2) to President Zuma’s call for a national dialogue on morality. The National Church Leaders’ Consultation said President Zuma’s proposal to examine the soul of South Africa was ‘timely’. The ‘common values and principles’ that formed the country under the leadership of President Mandela had been ‘substantially squandered’, the leaders said. The president’s recent fathering of an illegitimate child provoked strong criticism and was seen as a sign of the country’s declining moral standards. President Zuma told South Africa’s Sunday Times there was a need to agree the ‘values that define a common South African identity’. South Africa’s church leaders are keen to clarify this and establish the ‘sacred’ and ‘inviolable’ value of all human life, regardless of ‘race, class, nationality, religion and political persuasion’.

Source: Church of England Newspaper (5/3)

Culture watch:

From eyesore to biggest Passion

A painting of the crucifixion dwarfed by Didcot power station – voted Britain’s ‘third worst eyesore’ by Country Life readers – has become the biggest painting acquired by Oxford’s Ashmolean museum. Menorah by Christian artist, Roger Wagner, is on display from 12 to 24 March. Described as ‘haunting’ by Archbishop Rowan Williams, the work is described as ‘a fusion of Jewish and Christian symbols, the cooling towers and chimney of Didcot become the seven branches of the ceremonial Jewish candlestick, the menorah’. Menorah will be accompanied by 22 other paintings from the artist’s series on the Book of Psalms.

Sources: Baptist Times (5/3); Ashmolean Museum

• http://www.baptisttimes.co.uk/
• http://www.ashmolean.org/