Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”   The early Church Father Tertullian wrote that in the second century, but he could have been writing about Vietnam from 1745 onwards.  For, during the first 200 years of Christianity in Vietnam/Indo-China, a staggering 100,000 Christians are believed to have been martyred for their...

No one likes to talk about death. Especially during a pandemic that’s impacting everyone on the planet. And yet for some people, death is their life’s work. It’s their vocation. In fact, helping bereaved families and friends say a personal goodbye to their loved ones is what motivates them, day after day. They are the...

It was 60 years ago, on 2nd November 1960, that a British jury cleared Penguin Books of obscenity for publishing D H Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover.  This is often considered the beginning of the permissive society in Britain. The book had been published before, though not in this country. But the law had changed...

Here’s an unexpected outcome of Covid-19: it has inspired more of us to get engaged. Engagement rings sales have risen this year, in some firms by up to 73 per cent, a survey of various jewellery firms has discovered. When, at the beginning of lockdown, Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, suggested that...

This year we’ve been remembering the Battle of Britain, described by Winston Churchill in August 1940 as ‘one of the decisive battles of the war… never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’ It was a dramatic turning point in the history of the Second World...

Did you know that the Netherlands first learned Christianity from a Yorkshireman?  Willibrord (658 – 739) was born to devout parents, and joined the Benedictines.  In 678 he went Ireland to study at the Abbey of Rathmelsigi (a centre of European learning in the 7th century).  12 years later, in 690, Willibrord felt God had...

The Archbishops’ Council, at a recent meeting, voted unanimously for safeguarding proposals to offer both immediate practical support to survivors of abuse and also to strengthen independence in the Church’s safeguarding work. The Council approved a proposed plan for an interim pilot support scheme for survivors and agreed to draw down reserves for an initial...

A quarter of mammals in the UK are at risk of extinction, and this decline will continue unless their habitats are restored and some species are reintroduced. So warns the chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper, referring to a recent list of endangered animals issued by the Mammal Society, and approved by the United Nations....

Has your boss ever tried to get you to do something that is against your Christian faith?  If so, here are some saints for you.   They chose to make a Christian ‘stand’ at work, even though it really irritated their boss. Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronian and Castorius were simple stonemasons in early 4th century Rome.  They...

This year we’ve been remembering the Battle of Britain, described by Winston Churchill in August 1940 as ‘one of the decisive battles of the war… never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’ It was a dramatic turning point in the history of the Second World...

A new service providing vital support for survivors of church-related abuse has recently become operational. Safe Spaces, commissioned by the Anglican and Catholic Churches in England and Wales, is to be run by Victim Support, a national charity with a track record of providing survivor support. Safe Spaces is a free and independent support service,...

It seems that most of us have bought just four from our supermarket in the last year, which is a drop of 95 per cent since the 5p charge was introduced five years ago. The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs reports that prior to 2015, most shoppers were buying 140 single-use bags a...