QUOTES FROM THE MEDIA
CHURCH SAYS SENDING MIGRANTS TO RWANDA BRINGS SHAME ON BRITAIN The entire senior leadership of the Church of England has denounced the Rwanda migrant flights as an ‘immoral policy that shames Britain’. An excoriating letter to The Times, signed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and all of the other 23 bishops sitting as Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords, states: ‘Whether or not the first deportation flight [left Britain] for Rwanda, this policy should shame us as a nation.’ It adds that ‘the shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness and justice, as we have for centuries’… The church letter, signed by the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, as archbishops of Canterbury and York, and also by the bishops of London, Durham, Exeter, Birmingham and Manchester, warns that those being deported have not had a chance to appeal … and said no attempt had been made to ‘understand their predicament’. ‘They are the vulnerable that the Old Testament calls us to value,’ the letter adds, explaining that ‘evil trafficking’ must be fought by providing safe routes to the UK to ‘reduce dangerous journeys’. ‘But deportations, and the potential forced return of asylum seekers to their home countries, are not the way,’ it adds. The Times
CHRISTIAN CHARITY ENCOURAGING UK CHURCH TO PRAY FOR OLDER PEOPLE AMIDST THE CRISIS WITH THE SOCIAL CARE SECTOR Pilgrims’ Friend Society is holding a series of events looking at friendship, dementia and loneliness in older age. With warnings of a fundamental crisis within the social care sector – alongside an increasing ageing population over the next decade – the charity is responding by bringing together Christian charities and experts to practically equip Christians and churches to be part of the solution. Pilgrims’ Friend Society CEO Stephen Hammersley told Premier… ‘We’ve got a crisis of resourcing and that’s behind nearly all of the difficulties we find in adult social care… ‘So maybe we could each think of people in our streets … [and] reach out with the good news of friendship, and the good news of the gospel.’
Religious leaders including the imam Mufti Yusif Akudi, Rabbi Nicky Liss, and Cardinal Vincent Nichols met at Lord’s on the first day of England’s Test match against New Zealand … to unveil a ‘unity statement’ with the England and Wales Cricket Board. The statement … referred to the laws of cricket, which affirm that the game ‘encourages leadership, friendship and teamwork [and] brings together people from different nationalities, cultures and religions, especially when played within the spirit of cricket’. Signatories expressed their ‘willingness to work together with the ECB and the wider game of cricket to achieve change and to demonstrate cricket’s ability to unite people and communities from different backgrounds’.
Premier
The Tablet
MPS DEBATE VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA FOLLOWING CHURCH MASSACRE ON PENTECOST SUNDAY The House of Commons held a debate on the growing violence in Nigeria following the attack [on] a Catholic church on Pentecost Sunday. Unknown assailants attacked the congregation with guns and explosives during mass on 5 June – it left 22 people dead and 50 recovering from injuries. Christian MP Fiona Bruce tabled an urgent question in the House of Commons to ask the government about their role in helping religious groups in Nigeria… Vicky Ford [Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean)] condemned the ‘heinous’ attack and stressed ‘the importance of those responsible being brought to justice’… Ford continued… ‘We will continue to encourage the Nigerian government to take urgent action to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of such violence.’ Premier
SALVATIONIST salvationist.org.uk/media/magazine Issue No 1864
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Salvationist 25 June 2022
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