Short reports and links @ 10.00 am
A Suggestion for Lent from UK Bishops: Make it Meat-Free
Huffington Post – Lent is upon us, the holiest time of the year for Christians — a time for us to ponder the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, his proclamation of “Good News” for the poor and downtrodden, and the degree to which our lives align with Christ’s vision. Many will make some small (or large) sacrifice, something that will remind us that this is Lent, and of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. At least four bishops are to give up meat for Lent in order to draw attention to global problems caused by its over-consumption. The Bishops of Oxford, Monmouth, and Chelmsford, and the former Bishop of Dover are all meat-eaters, but they have been asked to give up meat by the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals (ASWA), which, for the first time, is actively encouraging its members to give up meat for Lent. The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, said that meat was a “spiritual issue”. He would not find it easy to give it up, he said, but his wife has been preparing him gradually by cooking vegetarian dishes.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-friedrich/a-lenten-suggestion-from-_b_1285341.html?ref=religion
And : http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=124210
Archbishop of Canterbury to deliver human rights lecture
Ekklesia – Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will deliver a lecture on ‘Faith, human rights and human dignity’ of the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva at the invitation of the World Council of Churches. The issue is a testing one globally, but also in England, where the established Church of England has negotiated opt-outs from legislation outlawing discrimination, and has questioned the application of aspects of the Equalities Act and the Human Rights Act.
Critics say churches are apt to preach human rights at others, while denying them to their own clergy and members, or to groups in society they disapprove of.
The event will take place on Tuesday 28 February from 18.30-20.00 in the Visser’t Hooft Plenary Hal at the Ecumenical Centre.
Read more: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16303
Oasis Academy’s Steve Chalke on religion and education
Croydon Today – Christian charity Oasis Community Learning will next week announce it is to take over a third Croydon school – Byron Primary in Coulsdon. Rachel Millard speaks to the Reverend Steve Chalke, the outspoken minister behind the organisation, to find out how his beliefs affect his vision for education.
Petition supporting traditional marriage
Christian Today – Petition supporting traditional marriage gathers 15,000 signatures
Read more: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/petition.supporting.traditional.marriage.gathers.15000.signatures/29359.htm
‘Gay slayer’ Colin Ireland who tortured homosexual men to death dies in jail
Daily Mail – A former soldier who was told he would never be released from jail after being convicted of torturing gay men to death almost 20 years ago has died in jail. Colin Ireland, 57, is presumed to have died from natural causes in the healthcare centre of Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire this morning, a Prison Service spokeswoman said. One of Britain’s worst serial killers, Ireland admitted attacking and killing five gay men he met in London pubs in 1993.