Archbishop of York’s RGS Lecture: If Good Men Do Nothing, Evil Will Prevail;
Official shrine of St Augustine; Christian Aid launches West Africa crisis appeal; Bellringing bonanza is planned for the Jubilee and Olympics
Archbishop of York’s RGS Lecture: If Good Men Do Nothing, Evil Will Prevail…
This week the Archbishop joined a human rights activist Ben Freeth from Zimbabwe and Pastor Paul Negrut from Romania to deliver The Royal Geographical Society Lecture on ‘Fighting Justice Under Dictatorship’. The three men told their inspirational stories, and gave an insight into living under dictatorships.
The text of the Archbishop’s lecture ‘Fighting Injustice Under Dictatorship’ is available at:
http://www.archbishopofyork.org/articles.php/2396/archbishops-royal-geographical-society-lecture-if-good-men-do-nothing-evil-will-prevail…
Official shrine of St Augustine – Apostle of the English – established in England
CNI – In England, Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark has formally established Pugin’s church of St Augustine in Ramsgate, Kent, as a shrine of the ‘the Apostle of the English’.
In an official decree, the Archbishop grants the shrine canonical privileges and designates it as a place of pilgrimage.
The establishment of this new pilgrimage site fills a 500-year gap created when the last shrine of Augustine was destroyed in the 16th century. A shrine to St Augustine existed on the Isle of Thanet, which lies at the most easterly point of Kent, before the Reformation, and so this new place of pilgrimage recovers an ancient tradition.
St Augustine’s is a Catholic church already dedicated to the saint and stands closer than any other to the place of Augustine’s landing, his first preaching and his momentous encounter with King Ethelbert of Kent in 597AD. The official day on which the foundation of the shrine will be remembered is March 1.
http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=9887
Christian Aid launches West Africa crisis appeal
Christian Today – The Sahel region in West Africa is on the brink of a major food crisis. Close to 13 million people are facing acute hunger and malnutrition in the Sahel region of Africa, Christian Aid has warned. The aid agency said the situation had been brought on by a “perfect storm” of failed rains, widespread drought, spiralling cereal prices, migrant unemployment, and mass population displacement due to regional conflict. It has launched an appeal to continue its programme of food distribution across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christian.aid.launches.west.africa.crisis.appeal/29476.htm
Bellringing bonanza is planned for the Jubilee and Olympics
Telegraph – This will be a triumphant year for campanologists. Bells have been rung to mark major celebrations since Roman times, but never can there have been a more spectacular year than this. The two landmark British celebrations of the decade – the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee – are going to have bells on
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9143030/A-bellringing-bonanza-is-planned-for-the-Jubilee-and-Olympics.html
Words Will Never Be Enough – musicians launch new compilation before tour of Welsh cathedrals
ACNS – Charles Timberlake and John Daniels, best known for their gentle, inspirational and contemplative piano and instrumental music, announce the release of their new compilation – Words Will Never Be Enough.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/3/15/Words-Will-Never-Be-Enough–musicians-launch-new-compilation-before-tour-of-Welsh-cathedrals
Church of England initial response to Government “consultation” on same-sex marriage
The Church of England/Archbishops’ Council will study the Government’s consultation on whether to redefine marriage to accommodate those of the same sex and respond in detail in due course. The following summary of the Church of England’s position has been posted on the Church of England website:
“The Church of England is committed to the traditional understanding of the institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman.
“The Church of England supports the way civil partnerships offer same-sex couples equal rights and responsibilities to married heterosexual couples. Opening marriage to same-sex couples would confer few if any new legal rights on the part of those already in a civil partnership, yet would require multiple changes to law, with the definition of marriage having to change for everyone.
“The issue of whether marriage should be redefined to include those of the same-sex is a more complicated picture than has been painted. Arguments that suggest ‘religious marriage’ is separate and different from ‘civil marriage’, and will not be affected by the proposed redefinition, misunderstand the legal nature of marriage in this country. They mistake the form of the ceremony for the institution itself.
“Currently, the legal institution of marriage into which people enter is the same whether they marry using a civil or a religious form of ceremony. Arguments that seek to treat ‘religious marriage’ as being a different institution fail to recognise the enduring place of the established church in providing marriages that have full state recognition. The Church of England will continue to argue against changing the definition of marriage, which has supported society for so long.”
http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2012/03/initial-response-to-government-consultation-on-same-sex-marriage.aspx