-
'In the Media' is available in your inbox as part of our our daily media briefing. Subscribe today.
Mon, 02 Mar 2020
State-funded Catholic faith school plans given go-ahead despite opposition
Some parents who oppose the plans say the school should be about local children and not what faith they follow.
Sky News
Prevent: Muslim support for anti-extremism scheme
The principles behind the anti-extremism scheme Prevent may not be as controversial among British Muslims as thought, a survey suggests.
BBC News
Most Anglicans believe gay couples have right to marry, poll suggests
The number of Anglicans who believe that gay couples have a right to marry "are now clearly in the majority", according to a new YouGov poll.
The Telegraph
Yeshivah closures could lead to more home-schooling
Proposals to regulate unregistered yeshivot for young teenagers could leave some of them no better off, the government has acknowledged.
The JC
NHS urges staff to shave beards - but gives 'religious exemptions'
NHS staff have been asked to shave their beards to allow masks to fit more securely in a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus. However, the advice suggest those who "do not have a strong cultural or religious reason for a beard" are exempt.
ITV
Controversial plan for Muslim cemetery on farmland set to return
The plans to build a burial ground on the outskirts of Solihull where ceremonies could be conducted under Sharia law - a religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition - were first thrown out back in 2015.
Coventry Telegraph
'Bibi case proves blasphemy law reform is overdue'
"Reading her story this week made me think about Scotland's own chequered history on questions of religious freedom, and the unfinished work of freeing this country from the kind of restrictive laws which dragged Asia Bibi before the courts and exposed her life to legal jeopardy."
The National
'Resolving the conflict between medicine and religious beliefs'
Dr Miriam Stoppard explores the tensions between various religious beliefs and medical science and touches on the issue of withdrawing life-support.
The Mirror
Argentina set to become first major Latin American country to legalise abortion
Its president, Alberto Fernández, said on Sunday that he intends to send a legal abortion bill to congress in the next 10 days.
The Guardian
'Inside Delhi: beaten, lynched and burnt alive'
Violence in India's capital has left more than 40 dead and hundreds injured after a Hindu nationalist rampage, stoked by the rhetoric of Narendra Modi's populist government.
The Guardian
Fri, 28 Feb 2020
CofE refuses to endorse report that highlights ‘damning inequality’ of healthcare chaplaincy
The Church of England has criticised a new report suggesting that the pastoral and spiritual needs of patients who identify as having no religion are not being met because almost all health-care chaplains in the UK are Christian.
Church Times
Ireland: Education Authority will not support plan for Catholic school to become integrated
St Mary's High in Brollagh Co Fermanagh wants to `transform' this year, but education officials disagree with the plan.
Irish News
Orthodox Jewish charity is put into liquidation
An HM Revenue and Customs investigation into Ezer V'Hatzalah is at "an early stage". According to its 2018 accounts, the trustees became aware of "weaknesses in their accounting and internal control procedures and the potential for the misallocation of funds".
The JC
Lincoln diocese ‘living beyond its means’
The diocese of Lincoln — the wealthiest in the Church of England, with the lowest level of giving — has warned that it cannot continue to sell its assets to balance the books.
Church Times
Ex-religious teacher to stand trial for alleged sexual assault of children
A former religious teacher is set to stand trial later this year accused of sexually assaulting two boys, aged eight and 11.
Lancashire Telegraph
'The strange ancient law that could see you paying £100,000 to fix your local church'
Called chancel repair liability, it's an ancient law that means homeowners living within the parishes of churches built before 1536 can be held liable for costs - and although claims are rare they can be devastating.
MyLondon
'LGBT people must be visible in the curriculum'
Creating LGBT-inclusive environments in the classroom can help students feel included and accepted.
TES
'School admissions: Don't just rearrange the deckchairs'
''But this engagement is frustrated when popular schools are oversubscribed and it is schools that choose pupils – often by proximity, sometimes by faith criteria – rather than the other way around.'
TES
'How did British Indians become so prominent in the Conservative party?'
'Supported by the Indian government and its far-right ruling party, the BJP, the Conservatives have exploited a sharp rise in Hindu nationalism within the British Indian community to play Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Muslim communities off against one another.'
The Guardian
Legion of Christ vows better abuse response amid new scandal
The Legion of Christ religious order is promising accountability and transparency following damaging new revelations of sex abuse and cover-up that have undermined its credibility, a decade after revelations of its pedophile founder disgraced the order.
Mail Online
Thu, 27 Feb 2020
School trust's sex education policy "explicitly homophobic"
A sex education policy which appeared on an academy trust's website has been criticised as "explicitly homophobic".
BBC News
Nonreligious people 'less likely' to be satisfied with their health - NSS quoted
The Office for National Statistics has published data linking religion and health in a bid "to understand the circumstances of people of different religious identities". The NSS has cautioned against oversimplifying "a much more complex and nuanced picture".
The Telegraph (£)
State school segregation ‘rife’ as middle classes play system
A report from the Sutton Trust has considered 'simplifying' faith school admissions in order to tackle socio-economic segregation.
The Times (£)
DUP calls for 'extra protection' for Christians who do not want to be involved in gay weddings
The DUP has declared current plans for protecting people from being coerced into participating in gay weddings "do not go far enough".
News Letter
Priest who compared LGBT-inclusive education to Nazism invited to speak in UK parliament
An anti-abortion Anglican priest who said LGBT-inclusive education is "state-sponsored abuse" and comparable to Nazism has been invited to speak in UK parliament.
Pink News
Nine countries seek to ban gay 'conversion therapy'
From electric shocks to 'praying away the gay', global momentum is growing to ban so-called "conversion therapy", with bills drawn up in nine countries, a rights group said on Wednesday.
Reuters
Delhi riots: City tense after Hindu-Muslim clashes leave 27 dead
Delhi remains on edge after three nights of rioting, with reports of Muslim homes and shops being targeted by violent mobs.
BBC News
Survey finds a fifth of Europeans think secret Jewish cabal runs the world
Fifth of the 16,000 respondents to poll revealed by Action and Protection League think 'Jews exploit Holocaust victim-hood for their own needs'
Jewish News
'Blasphemy still a potent tool for Pakistan's hushed hardliners'
The communities most at threat from abuses of the blasphemy law are religious minorities, including the Ahmadi sect whose belief in a prophet after Mohammed is viewed as heresy by most mainstream Muslims in Pakistan.
Mail Online
Wed, 26 Feb 2020
Delhi protests: death toll climbs amid worst religious violence for decades
The death toll from the worst religious violence in Delhi in decades has risen to 20, as Muslims fled from their homes and several mosques in the capital smouldered after being attacked by Hindu mobs.
The Guardian
Norfolk woman becomes a chaplain to the queen
The Rev Canon Susanna Gunner, a diocesan adviser in spirituality and discipleship, has been announced as one of the monarch's chaplains.
Eastern Daily Press
Most Muslims in Scotland say they’ve endured race hate, official study finds
Four out of five Muslims in Scotland have faced race hate incidents, according to a nationwide probe led by MSP Anas Sarwar.
Daily Record
Local diocese responds to NSS’s criticism of change to entry policy for Catholic schools in Renfrewshire
The NSS has said plans to change the admissions policy for Catholic schools in Renfrewshire could lead to discrimination. The local Catholic diocese and the council have now responded.
The Gazette
‘If the public supports assisted dying, so should doctors’
Aneez Esmail says the Royal College of GPs' blatant ignoring of its members and the public is both arrogant and regressive.
The Independent
Asia Bibi, Pakistani accused of blasphemy, yearns to return home
Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian who spent eight years on death row on blasphemy charges, has described trying to make a new life in Canada and her dreams of returning home.
The Guardian
‘Religious 'freedom' bill will divide Australians, not unite them’
Michael Kirby says Australia can do without the rise of the religious right.
Sydney Morning Herald
Belgian MP to submit legislation to prevent restrictions on circumcision
Belgian MP Michael Freilich intends to submit legislation to parliament that would protect religious circumcision in the country, following concerns that efforts to enact certain restrictions may be advanced.
The Jerusalem Post
Tue, 25 Feb 2020
Government: unregistered yeshivas illegal, unsafe and will be closed
The government has responded to news that yeshivas in Hackney sought a "quid pro quo" on the curriculum in return for safeguarding Jewish boys by calling the yeshivas "illegal and unsafe".
Jewish News
‘End the British Medical Association’s opposition to assisted dying’
Campaigners and medical campaigners urge BMA members to vote in support of reform this Thursday.
The Guardian
Tories must talk about anti-Muslim hate or risk boosting Islamists, says interfaith pioneer
Boris Johnson's Conservative government must be seen to be tackling all forms of hatred equally - including that against Jews and Muslims - or risk giving a boost to Islamists, the director of the leading inter-faith organisation Faith Matters has warned.
The Jewish Chronicle
Ryanair boss criticised for Muslim profiling comments
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has been criticised for saying Muslim men should be profiled at airports.
BBC
Top Catholic cardinal admits church destroyed documents on clergy sexual abuse
German cardinal Reinhard Marx said on Saturday that documents that could have contained proof of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church were destroyed or never drawn up.
CNN
Four New York babies get herpes from Jewish circumcision rite in past 6 months
At least four infants have contracted herpes in New York City in the past six months after undergoing a circumcision rite in which the ritual circumciser cleans the circumcision wound by oral suction.
Times of Israel
‘Iran’s ongoing war against its religious minorities’
Iran celebrates the 41st anniversary of the Islamic revolution by continuing its ongoing war against religious minorities.
openDemocracy
Canada opens door to expanding assisted dying
The Canadian government has put forward a bill to make medically-assisted death available to people who are not terminally ill.
BBC
‘Why the UK has the only parliament with reserved places for clerics - aside from Iran’
The House of Lords seats 26 Church of England bishops - and politicians from the all-party parliamentary humanist group are calling for reform.
iNews
Mon, 24 Feb 2020
Report: C of E's right to 26 seats in Lords should be repealed
The Church of England's automatic right to appoint 26 bishops to the House of Lords should be repealed, a report by a group representing more than 100 parliamentarians will recommend this week.
The Guardian
Church ‘should lose authority over weddings’
A key figure in the Church of England has said that it should lose the power to hold legally binding weddings as long as it refuses to conduct gay weddings. Couples who married in church would have to undergo a separate civil ceremony in a register office for their marriage to be legally recognised.
The Times (£)
GP membership body rejects change in stance on assisted dying
The Royal College of General Practitioners is set to remain opposed to a change in the law on assisted dying despite a significant rise in support among members for a new stance.
GP Online
Vicar who beat naked men is still holding religious ceremonies
A leading evangelical minister banned from preaching after administering naked beatings and ice baths to vulnerable men is continuing to hold religious ceremonies.
The Telegraph (£)
Disclaimer: Links are provided to external websites for information and in the interests of free exchange. We do not accept any responsibility for the content of those sites, nor does a link indicate approval or imply endorsement of those sites.
