January
A WAVE of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine marked the start of 2024, killing and injuring hundreds. The strikes were condemned by Ukrainian religious leaders.
The Revd Paula Vennells, the Anglican priest who was chief executive of the Post Office during the Horizon IT scandal, said that she would hand back her CBE “with immediate effect”.
Storms in England resulted in flooding around many churches. Such weather events were becoming more frequent, clerics said, prompting calls to combat climate change.
NEIL TURNER/IARCCUMPope Francis and Archbishop Welby at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome, at an ecumenical vespers, in January, duringthe IARCCUM meeting
More than 50 Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops came together in Rome for an ecumenical meeting, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARRCUM). The Pope joined the Archbishop of Canterbury for a joint commissioning of the bishops before they travelled to Canterbury.
As the Israel-Gaza conflict reached its 100th day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague began to hear South Africa’s case against Israel, which referred to “acts and omissions by Israel . . . [which] are genocidal in character”. An interim judgment did not order the end of the war, or an immediate ceasefire. Instead, Israel was required to limit harm to Palestinians in Gaza.
The UK Government’s decision to suspend funding for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees was criticised by aid agencies. The UK’s decision followed allegations that staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were involved in the 7 October attacks against Israel.
Bishops contributed to a debate on the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, during its Second Reading. The Archbishop of Canterbury said that the Government’s attempt to clear a legal path for deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda was “damaging” — not only to those seeking protection in the UK, but to the country’s reputation and the rule of law.
February
BUCKINGHAM PALACE announced that the King would be postponing public-facing duties while he underwent treatment for cancer, which was discovered as “a separate issue of concern” during a hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement. The Archbishop of York said that the King’s Christian faith would sustain him.
The Archbishop of Canterbury made a pastoral visit to Ukraine, and spent three hours in an air-raid shelter as Russian missiles fell on Kyiv. During the five-day visit, the Archbishop met Ukrainian Anglicans as well as leaders of the country’s Orthodox Churches. On 24 February, two years of the war were marked.
FRANCIS MARTIN/CHURCH TIMES The Archbishop of Canterbury and members of his party in an air-raid shelter beneath their hotel in Kyiv, in February
The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, stood down as a co-chair of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, just two months after being appointed, in protest at the appointment of a theological adviser to the House of Bishops.
Professor Alexis Jay recommended a total overhaul of the C of E’s safeguarding structures, to shift responsibility away from individual dioceses to two new charities, which would be completely independent of church authorities. The recommendation was made in a report commissioned by the Archbishops. Her report received a mixed reception at the General Synod meeting that month.
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a remote prison camp. The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said that news of the death of Mr Navalny, at the age of 47, had caused “astonishment and sadness”.
March
PROGRESS towards racial justice in the C of E was “glacial”, the fourth biannual report of the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice said. Out of 42 dioceses, two (five per cent) had done “little or no work on racial justice”, and 12 (29 per cent) only “have plans in place to work on racial justice”, it said.
The Church Commissioners expressed hopes that others would join their efforts to “repair the breach” of the transatlantic slave trade, and build their impact investment fund to £1 billion. The Commissioners had previously pledged £100 million to create an investment fund.
BBC STUDIOSThe Princess of Wales in a video, published in March, in which she announced that she was receiving cancer treatment
The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem condemned as a “wanton attack against innocent civilians” an incident in which more than 100 Palestinians died during an aid delivery.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee, said that the Church had no evidence that there was a “conveyer belt” of asylum-seekers cynically converting to Christianity to expedite their applications, as had been claimed.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow welcomed President Putin’s victory in Russian presidential elections, although the vote was condemned as a farce by Churches and religious communities in Ukraine.
The Princess of Wales’s “spirit of optimism” was praised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, after she announced that she was receiving cancer treatment. Bishops invited people to join them in praying for the Princess’s speedy recovery.
April
THE Archbishops of Canterbury and York, together with other UK church leaders, expressed “deep misgivings” about the passing of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill. They wrote that the Bill set a “precedent at home and for other countries in how we respond to the most vulnerable. This includes victims of modern slavery and children wrongly assessed as adults, whom we have a duty to protect.”
“Disturbing” reports of mass graves in Gaza, in which Palestinian victims were said to have been found naked with their hands tied, had renewed the possibility of war crimes amid ongoing Israeli air strikes, the UN Human Rights Office said.
A High Court ruling upheld a decision by Michaela School, in Wembley, north-west London, to ban Muslim prayer rituals. The C of E’s chief education officer, the Revd Nigel Genders, said that the ruling did not challenge the principle of freedom of religion or belief.
AlamyA rally in Kolkata in protest against attacks on minorities, in April
A review of the appointment of the Rt Revd Philip North as Bishop of Blackburn concluded that his nomination followed the proper processes. Campaigners had raised concerns about Bishop North’s views on the ordination of women.
Religious education in English schools often failed to prepare students to “live in a complex world”, a report from Ofsted said. The report, Deep and Meaningful? The religious education subject report, asserted that it was “simply not the case” that unbiased teaching “equates to teaching a non-religious worldview”.
The Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, said that the Government supported a Private Member’s Bill that would make it a legal requirement for the Prime Minister to appoint a Special Envoy for International Freedom of Religion or Belief.
May
The Primates’ Meeting, in Rome, ended with an hour-long meeting in the Vatican, where the Pope “shared words of encouragement and affirmation”, the Anglican Communion Office said.
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced that the country would go to the polls on 4 July. The Archbishops implored people to pray and to take part.
The Revd Paula Vennells, the chief executive of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019, said that she was “very, very sorry” for the sufferings of those affected by the Post Office Horizon IT scandal as she appeared before the independent inquiry. A Bill quashing the convictions of former sub-postmasters was fast-tracked into law.
POST OFFICE HORIZON INQUIRY The Revd Paula Vennells, a former chief executive of the Post Office, gives evidence to the Horizon inquiry, in May
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow accused Ukraine of religious persecution, as Ukraine moved to ban religious communities linked with Russia.
Some, but not all, Anglican Primates met in Rome. According to a communiqué, 32 Provinces were represented, but nine stayed away.
The Archbishop of Canterbury urged the Government and the Leader of the Opposition to remove the “cruel” two child-limit on benefit payments to families. The limit, he said, “denies the truth that all children are of equal and immeasurable worth, and will have an effect on their long-term health, well-being and educational outcomes”.
June
AS THE General Election campaign heated up, ten bishops signed an open letter, “Faith in Fairer Taxes”, calling on the party leaders to help to shift the narrative on tax and work towards reforming the system to give everyone a fair share. The Archbishop of York joined in a drive to remind people to register to vote.
The Archbishop of Canterbury concluded a tour of Central America, which had included worshipping with indigenous Anglican communities in Guatemala, and visiting the house of St Óscar Romero in San Salvador.
The Bishop of Winchester commissioned an independent review of Winchester Cathedral, after weeks of allegations about the conduct of the cathedral’s music department, and the resignation of the senior non-executive member of Winchester Cathedral Chapter, Mark Byford, a former BBC executive.
NEIL TURNER/LAMBETH PALACE Archbishop Welby plants a tree in El Salvador, in June
The immense suffering of the population of Sudan, where a civil war was intensifying, was being ignored by the rest of the world, Archbishop Welby said. He called on countries supplying arms to the warring sides to stop, and support peace.
The “immensely destructive” use of social media was among the factors identified in a new review of trust and trustworthiness in the Church of England. Another concern raised was that “ordination training and the different perspectives of theological education institutions bake in . . . tribal division.”
A warning of a “de facto ‘parallel Province’” in the Church of England was given in a letter to the Archbishops from the Alliance, an umbrella group comprising the leaders of groups, Catholic and Evangelical, concerned about the effect of the Living in Love and Faith outcome on C of E teaching on marriage. The Bishop of Oxford, Dr Steven Croft, said that such a move would amount to a “deep and disproportionate schism”.
July
THE Archbishops of Canterbury and York congratulated Sir Keir Starmer on the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the General Election. Sir Keir pledged to lead “a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by a determination to serve your interests” and “to restore service and respect to politics”. Debating a King’s Speech that had been focused on the economy, bishops in the House of Lords pleaded that the new Government tackle the “deep roots” of the housing crisis.
AlamySir Keir and Lady Starmer outside 10 Downing Street, after Labour won the General Election, in July
The General Synod, meeting in York, agreed to remove impediments to the use of the Prayers in Love and Faith in stand-alone services, and to provide delegated episcopal ministry for opponents of the changes. A decision whether priests were permitted to be in same-sex civil marriages was deferred until February.
The Synod also requested that the Archbishops’ Council amend the terms of service regulations so that clergy would be entitled to 36 hours of rest in every seven-day period, including an uninterrupted rest period of 24 hours.
The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) considering the nomination of the next Bishop of Ely was not able reach a consensus. The last CNC meeting in Ely had taken place three days after the Synod vote on the use of same-sex blessings in stand-alone services.
Bishops paid tribute to the outgoing England football manager Gareth Southgate, after he announced his resignation two days after his team lost in the final of Euro 2024. The Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Revd Martin Gorick, described Mr Southgate as “the finest England manager I have known. A remarkable record and a remarkable leader and role model”.
There was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, who was shot at during an election rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said afterwards that he had been saved “by luck or by God”.
AlamyDonald Trump, with bandaged right ear, greets his presidential running mate, J. D. Vance, in July
President Biden announced that he was pulling out of the presidential election, after weeks of speculation and pressure to step down over concerns about his health and capabilities. The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, described the decision as “dignified”.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were in violation of international law. The opinion, which was non-binding, represented the first time that the Court had delivered an assessment of the occupation.
A service was held at St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, in the City of London, at which seven men were “commissioned” for leadership positions in the Church of England. The Rector, the Revd William Taylor, said that it was a response to the “tragic failure” of the House of Bishops to uphold doctrine.
Thousands of mourners gathered at a vigil in Southport, Merseyside, after a fatal knife attack on a children’s dance class the previous morning. The Vicar of Holy Trinity, Southport, the Revd Dr Thomas Carpenter, said that members of the community were “horrified and unable to understand how this could have happened. Southport is a quiet, kind place.”
August
Violence towards migrants, triggered by far-Right groups, broke out in towns and cities across the country, after false rumours spread online that the 17-year-old man charged with the Southport murders, Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, was an asylum-seeker (he had been born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents). Archbishop Welby said that the rioters’ behaviour was “not British . . . they defile the flag that they wrap themselves in.”
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, the lead bishop for prisons, questioned whether incarceration was the best punishment for rioters. In the light of prison overcrowding, she called for a “more creative” approach.
AlamyA health worker treats Lucie Habimana, aged 13, an mpox patient, at a health centre in Munigi, in eastern Congo, in August
Dioceses had jettisoned the use of the word “church” in describing the “new things” being established in their parishes, raising questions about what theology was being applied, an independent report said. New Things: A theological investigation into the work of starting new churches across 11 dioceses in the Church of England reported that, in the past ten years, about 900 “new things” had been started. None of the 11 dioceses used the term “church” as its main description of such developments.
A growing outbreak of a new variant of the disease mpox was been declared a public-health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). Child refugees were particularly vulnerable, the WHO said.
The organisers of Greenbelt thanked festivalgoers for their “patience, kindness, and understanding” after heavy winds disrupted the start of the event, which took place at Boughton House, in Northamptonshire, over the Bank Holiday weekend. A press release confirmed that 10,500 people attended the festival. A new venue, “No Fly Zone”, livestreamed talks and performances to reduce the environmental impact of flying speakers in from around the world.
September
THE charity Christians Against Poverty reported “deep concern” among pensioners who would lose the winter fuel allowance, after Parliament voted to restrict it to pension-credit claimants.
At a meeting of the House of Bishops in Oxford, bishops voted in favour of a motion from the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, suggesting reforms to the Church’s part of the episcopal nomination system. Bishop Mullally’s proposals included the removal of the secret ballot within the CNC, changes to the majority required for a nomination to be made, and the award of a casting vote to the presiding archbishop if three consecutive votes fail to secure the required majority. The Bishops voted to pass the decision on to the General Synod in February. On the following day, the longest-serving central member of the CNC, Christina Baron, criticised the bishops for not consulting CNC members before drawing up proposals.
AlamyPeople stand amid the rubble of a house demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the West Bank village of Idna, in September
The Israeli government must “stop acting as if it is above the law”, a group of bishops said, in a letter in The Observer. They warned that there was now “little distinction between settler violence and state violence”. The letter spoke of a “drastic acceleration and intensification of settlement construction, land confiscation and home demolition in the West Bank, exacerbating longstanding patterns of oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians”.
October
A ground invasion of Lebanon by Israeli troops, on the first day of the month, was followed by a barrage of more than 200 Iranian missiles directed at Israel, in a further expansion of the conflict in the Middle East.
The abuse of power exhibited by Mike Pilavachi was enabled by a “wholesale” failure of organisational culture at Soul Survivor, where staff were afraid of the consequences of raising concerns — and, even when informed, trustees did from “little to nothing” in response, an independent review led by Fiona Scolding KC, concluded. The Bishop of Stepney, Dr Joanne Grenfell, the lead bishop for safeguarding, said that a new working group would aim to ensure that Ms Scolding’s recommendations had an “adequate response”.
ST PETER MANCROFTThe Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, inspects solar panels on the roof of St Peter Mancroft, Norwich, in October. He was mistaken for a “suspicious youth” and the police were called
Chris Packham and other celebrities challenged the Church Commissioners to rewild 30 per cent of their estate by 2030 — to “give British wildlife the salvation that it desperately needs”. At the launch of the campaign outside St Paul’s Cathedral, Mr Packham read from a nine-metre scroll described as the “95 Wild Theses”, which included reasons for the Commissioners to rewild their land.
Disciplinary proceedings against the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, the Rt Revd Anne Dyer, were dropped, even though the Scottish Episcopal Church’s Procurator said that there had been a “realistic prospect of conviction”. Four bishops, including the Primus, then made a statement in which they urged Bishop Dyer to “consider whether she is still the right person to lead the diocese”. Bishop Dyer responded by saying: “There is no prospect that I will allow them to pressure me into quitting a role I cherish.”
All sexual activity should be “within a committed relationship” — whether marriage or a civil partnership — the Archbishop of Canterbury said during an interview on the podcast The Rest is Politics.
The Chancellor’s focus on education and health in her first Budget since the new Government came to power was welcomed; but charities expressed concern about the limits of the Budget’s help for those most in need.
The Knesset’s decision to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Israel, including annexed East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, was condemned by Christian Aid as part of a broader campaign to challenge Palestinian refugees’ right to return.
November
THE Archbishop of Canterbury announced his resignation, saying that doing so was in the “best interests of the Church of England”. He had faced calls to resign in response to Keith Makin’s report on John Smyth, which had been released five days earlier. The report said that Archbishop Welby was “ill-advised about the actions taken in the Ely diocese” where Smyth’s abuse was first reported to a Church safeguarding adviser. “He was told that a referral had been made to the police. This was not correct,” the report said.
“It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024,” Archbishop Welby said in his resignation statement, referring to the length of time between the first disclosures of Smyth’s abuse to Lambeth Palace, and the publication of the Makin report the previous week.
DAVID RIDER/THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH The Most Revd Michael Curry presents the 28th Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd Sean Rowe, with the primatial staff during his investiture, in November
The Makin review said that, from 2013, the Church of England knew “at the highest level” about Smyth’s abuse, but failed to refer it either to the police or to the relevant authorities in South Africa, where Smyth died while under investigation by the police. The review concluded that Smyth was able to abuse boys and young men in Africa “because of inaction of Clergy within the Church of England”.
Three retired senior police officers with extensive safeguarding experience told the Church Times, however, that Smyth’s abuse had been properly referred to the police by the Church of England in 2013.
Donald Trump won the US presidential election, meaning that he would return to the White House as the 47th President of the United States. As in the 2020 and 2016 elections, he kept a steady hold on the support of white Evangelical Christians, taking 81 per cent of their vote. He also extended his lead among Roman Catholic voters to 15 per cent: 56 to 41.
Christian groups welcomed the UK’s new emissions-reduction pledge, made by the Prime Minister at the COP29 climate talks in Baku. He said that the UK would reduce its carbon emissions by 81 per cent by 2035 from 1990 levels. The COP29 talks ended in acrimony, however, with Christian groups and developing countries’ representatives saying that countries in the global North had not committed themselves to providing enough finance for vulnerable nations.
The first steps in introducing assisted dying into English and Welsh law were taken, when MPs voted to progress the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, said that the vote “still leaves the question of how this could be implemented in an overstretched and under-funded NHS, social care, and legal system”.
December
The fallout from the Makin review continued, as calls were made for further resignations and suspensions. A former Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, was among those asked to “step back” from ministry while safeguarding reviews prompted by the Makin review were conducted. The National Safeguarding Team announced a four-stage process to establish whether individuals identified as having failed to report Smyth’s abuse should face disciplinary action.
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, said that an “atmosphere of blame and guilt” which had followed publication of the Makin review was creating a culture of fear which encouraged cover-ups.
AlamyUkrainian service personnel hold candles during a memorial ceremony marking 1000 days of the Russia-Ukraine war, in Kyiv, in November
The Archbishop of Canterbury was criticised by survivors and episcopal colleagues for his valedictory speech in the Lords, in which he said that “a head had to roll” for safeguarding failings, and that his was the only one that “rolls well enough”, before recounting the story of a medieval predecessor who was beheaded. The next day, he apologised for the hurt caused by his speech.
A rebel alliance brought down the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. The alliance pledged tolerance for religious minorities; but recent history left many distrustful.