Hurricane a tragedy for Bahamas, the Bishop says
THE impact of Hurricane Dorian on the Bahamas is “a national tragedy which grieves and devastates all of us”, the Bishop of the Bahamas & the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Rt Revd Laish Boyd, has said in a pastoral letter this week. “The damage has been catastrophic. The human impact has been heart-breaking. The relationship between people and the sea in the Bahamas is intimate. Many people make their living from fishing. This hurricane has seen a friend become an enemy.” There are still thought to be 1300 people missing, and more than 50 are confirmed dead. The Bishop said that the islands would “not be the same for a long time”.
Where are these men’s graves, asks Irish Primate
THE Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Revd Eamon Martin, is appealing for information about the graves of three men who were “disappeared” by the IRA and the INLA, after a fresh search failed to find the grave of Columba McVeigh, murdered and buried secretly in 1975. The Archbishop said that this was “heartrending” for the family. He also appealed for the whereabouts of the remains of Joe Lynskey or Robert Nairac, so that their families could give them Christian burial. In a BBC NI documentary, Spotlight on the Troubles: A secret history, televised this week, a former RC priest, Patrick Ryan, has spoken of his complicity in the 1984 Brighton bombing and dozens of other IRA attacks.
US Bishop will attend for Lambeth 2020 without wife
THE Bishop Assistant of New York, the Rt Revd Mary Glasspool, will attend next year’s Lambeth Conference, although her wife was not invited to the spouses’ programme. Same-sex spouses are not invited, although married gay bishops will be present in Canterbury (News, 22 February). At a meeting of the US Episcopal Church’s bishops in New York, Bishop Glasspool said: “The diocese of New York needs to be represented. We need to be at the table. . . Let’s prepare ourselves as best we can, whether we’re making our witness at home or in England.” She urged the Bishops not to let this issue dominate the agenda, ENS reports.
Campaign for forgiveness emoji launched
FACEBOOKOne of the candidates for an “I forgive you” emoji for which an online vote has been organisedFORGIVEMOJI, a campaign proposed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, is inviting people to vote online for one of six suggested emojis to represent the message “I forgive you” on social media. Emojis are small pictures and range from a smiling face to a steam train. They already include hands praying, a church, and the cross. The result will be submitted Unicode, the body that manages emojis. forgivemoji.com