It feels more important than ever today to emphatically restate that no human life is ever a burden. We seem to have made a virtue of not being a burden, when actually, to unburden ourselves upon others, being a recipient of care and mercy, is a central tenet of love

Jayne Manfredi, deacon and writer, X, 29 November

Someone very clever observed to me that the [assisted-dying] debate divided, on the Right, conservatives from libertarians; on the Left, socialists from progressives. Conservatives and socialists listen to constituencies most worried about legalised suicide — religious voters, the poor and the disabled. But they also share a vision of the human being as rooted in community, whose welfare is all our responsibility

Tim Stanley, The Daily Telegraph, 30 November

I preach every week, argue the Christian case, take part in debates with non-believers who bring to bear every cliché and insult. It warms my heart. Because the greatest danger to faith is indifference, people not opposing but simply ignoring. We drown in a sea of irrelevance

Michael Coren, priest and writer, The Times, 29 November

I am wedded to the Establishment, personally and professionally, but unless Anglicans can demonstrate how we love our neighbour with the same fascination we appear to reserve for ourselves, then I fear we don’t deserve the nation

Andrew Rumsey, Bishop of Ramsbury, blog, 29 November

The Church of England’s stated pursuit of “simpler” and “humbler” has acquired a new and painfully public imperative. Whether or not the confusing archipelago of its polity can be scrutinised from without while maintaining responsibility from within remains a moot point — but to begin again, we must return to the local church. Not to laud it like some faithful retainer, before turning attention and resources elsewhere, but to let ourselves be chastened and transformed by it, and regrow Anglican polity from the ground up. Nothing is real (repentance included) unless it is local, for only here can the Body of Christ be discerned, along with the divine value of each incarnate soul

ibid.

This really is Black Friday. #AssistedDyingBill

Graham Tomlin, former Bishop of Kensington, X, 29 November

The Church of England repairs backlog alone is more than a billion pounds. So it would be national self-harm to make it 20 per cent harder for people to keep all those roofs, towers and crumbling corners safe.

Libby Purves, The Times, 2 December

I note that the Cornish do not take kindly to being called English

Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Winchester, House of Lords, 27 November

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