Reburial brings RC and C of E Primates together
PRIMATES of both the Roman Catholic Church in England and the
Church of England will play a part in the reinterment of King
Richard III in Leicester, it was announced this week. Cardinal
Vincent Nichols will celebrate a requiem mass at Holy Cross, on 23
March. Three days later, Archbishop Welby will be involved in the
reinterment ceremony in Leicester Cathedral.
Young polled on the effect of religion
MORE than half of 2000 people surveyed by HuffPost UK/Survation
believe that religion does more harm than good, it was reported on
Tuesday. Although 56 per cent described themselves as Christian,
more than 60 per cent said that they were "not religious at all",
while just eight per cent described themselves as "very religious".
Young people were more likely to have a positive view of religion:
30 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 said that religion did more good
than harm, compared with 19 per cent of 55-64-year-olds.
Church trustee imprisoned for fraud
A FORMER churchwarden found guilty of cheating members of his
parish out of £3.2 million has been jailed for six years (News, 10
October). Patrick Coppeard took money from parishioners at St
John the Baptist, Buckhurst Hill, in Essex, saying that he was
investing it for them, from 2008 until last year. Any money
returned to the investors, however, was taken from cash invested by
others. Mr Coppeard eventually confessed to the church's Rector, Dr
Ian Farley, and handed himself in to the police.
Ann Summers wins worst-calendar vote
THE 2014 Ann Summers Advent calendar, featuring chocolate "bums,
boobs and willies", has won a national poll to find the calendar
bearing least connection to the season (News, 31
October). Simon Jenkins, editor of Ship of Fools, which ran the
"Badvent" competition, said that the Ann Summers effort had won
more than 50 per cent of votes: "Trust Ms Summers to remind us that
reproductive organs were part of the Bethlehem
story."
Facing Christmas alone
ALMOST half-a-million elderly people are set to spend Christmas
alone, the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) warned this week. Its
research suggests causes include distant family, a lack of contact
with children, and a reluctance to put busy families under
pressure. "Families are fragmented now and under a lot of pressure,
with older people easily forgotten," it said. RVS, in partnership
with Community Christmas, has created an online portal for
Christmas Day events: http://communitychristmas.org.uk
Correction: We referred last week to the
planting of 11,000 bulbs in Darlington. The church in question was
St Cuthbert's, not St Clement's.