back back to News previous previous story  |  next story next

News In Brief

Bishop of Oxford sees ‘dark underbelly’
THE Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, has received hate mail after saying he supported the principle that the Oxford mosque should be allowed to broadcast its call to prayer from loudspeakers. “I received extraordinary mail. One said ‘Resign’ six times in a large fount. One called for me to be beheaded. . . The dark underbelly of British society is coming out,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Vicar loses appeal against removal from his post
THE Revd David King, the Vicar of Middle Esk Moor, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, on Monday lost his appeal to the Chancery Court of York against the penalty imposed on him by a disciplinary tribunal after it found he had “pursued an improper, intimate, and physical relationship” with a married woman. The court’s decision meant that the penalty, deprivation, and prohibition from working as a priest for four years, took immediate effect.

‘Friend of homeless’ retires after BBC film
THE Revd Alan Sharpe, Vicar of St Patrick’s, Hove, East Sussex, aged 69, who set up a night shelter in 1985, retired last Friday after he was shown on the BBC South programme Inside Out giving money to a 24-year-old homeless drug addict who had been living in his house. The programme said that the man was using the money, up to £100 a day, to buy drugs. The Vicar said that the money was his own, and he had done everything openly and as a Christian. He had wanted it to be spent on food and clothing, not drugs. The Archdeacon of Chichester, the Ven. Douglas McKittrick, said that Mr Sharpe’s ministry had been to some of the most marginalised and needy in Brighton and Hove, and he wished him a happy retirement.

New Bishops of Bolton and Middleton
APPOINTMENTS to two suffragan sees in Manchester diocese were announced on Monday. The next Bishop of Bolton is to be the Revd Chris Edmondson, aged 57, Warden of Lee Abbey, North Devon. He trained at St John’s College and Cranmer Hall, Durham, and is married to Susan. The new Bishop of Middleton is to be the Ven. Mark Davies, currently Archdeacon of Rochdale, who is aged 45. He trained at Mirfield.

Blasphemy law to be repealed
THE offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel are to be abolished in England and Wales. The House of Lords voted by 148 votes to 87 to support a government amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill (News, 7 March). In the debate, the Archbishop of York said that the new offence of incitement to religious hatred had not yet been tested in the courts. He did not vote in the division on the amendment. The Bishops of Durham and Portsmouth both voted with the Government. The Bishops of Chester, Rochester, and Southwell & Nottingham all voted against.


back back to News up back to top previous previous story  |  next story next


© Church Times 2006 - All rights reserved

Website by Baigent