Export bar on Botticelli’s Virgin painting
THE Government has placed a temporary export bar on The Virgin and Child Enthroned by the 15th-century Italian painter Sandro Botticelli. A government press release last Friday said that this would allow time for a UK gallery or institution to “acquire the painting for the nation”. The work, dated 1470s, has been valued at £10.2 million. “If saved by a cultural institution, the painting would represent a significant addition to the body of work by Botticelli in UK collections,” the release said. Very few early Botticelli’s works remain in the UK.
Diversity not uniformity, Church of Ireland Synod hears
DIVERSITY, not uniformity, is essential for a healthy Church, the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne & Ross, Dr Paul Colton, suggested in a sermon delivered in Our Lady and St David, Naas, at the opening of the Church of Ireland’s General Synod, meeting in Naas, Co. Kildare, last Friday and Saturday. “Has there ever been a time when dispute has not been a dynamic of discipleship and pilgrimage?” he asked. “I’ve never known a Synod where there was not some hot topic, sometimes very heated and politicised. “It seems that our calling as Christian disciples and our ministry and mission as church — set out amply and clearly in the Five Marks of Mission of the Anglican Communion — are inescapably tied up with dynamics of disagreement, argument, and controversy.” The VE Day anniversary celebrations, he suggested, had been a reminder of “the hell the world went through recently — a world of warped ideologies, genocide, inhumanity, indescribable suffering, that have left indelible scars on humanity that still shape us and our geopolitics”. He concluded: “Anniversaries like these beg the question ‘What lessons have been learned?’ And here still, today, is a time of conflict, ideological turmoil, suffering, uncertainty, broken-heartedness, and we are at the mercy, it seems, of what one commentator has called ‘whiplash policymaking’.”
Bradford faith leaders caution against division
FAITH leaders in Bradford, including the Bishop, Dr Toby Howarth, have released a joint statement, urging communities to “reject division and to avoid provocation” in light of the increased tension between India and Pakistan. Before the weekend, a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people. India blamed a Pakistan-based group. Islamabad has strongly denied backing the group in question. The US-brokered ceasefire agreed between the neighbouring countries at the weekend was holding when the Church Times went to press. “We are deeply saddened and troubled by the loss of lives, property and livelihoods. Our hearts go out to all those who have been injured, those who are grieving and those who are living in fear of further attacks,” the statement said. “We will not let these tensions disrupt the peace we cherish in our neighbourhoods and communities.”
First Church Hong Kong enabler appointed
THE Church of England’s first National Church Hong Kong Communities Enabler is to be Katie Woo, it was announced last week. Ms Woo was born in Hong Kong and moved to the UK, aged 17. A long-term church volunteer and qualified accountant, she has previously worked in project finance for the Church’s Education and Growing Faith project. The new position is based in Berkshire and will serve both the diocese of Oxford and the wider Church. “In the first 100 days I will be looking to make connections and networking to understand the challenges Berkshire Hong Kongers face,” she said. The Vicar of St John’s, Woodley, the Revd Mark Nam, founded the Teahouse, which supports Chinese-heritage clergy and laity. He posted on X that he had first suggested the enabler role in an op-ed for the Church Times (Comment, 27 August 2021), and that, in 2023, the case was presented to the Archbishops’ Racial Justice Commission.
Methodist offices reopen after sustainable refurb
THE offices of the Methodist Church in Britain, in Tavistock Place, Bloomsbury, in central London, have been reopened after a two-year sustainable refurbishment which has elevated the late-1920s building from an energy rating of E to an A, the highest category. Led by the architects Manalo and White, the refit included new windows with better insulation and less heat loss. A heat pump and 30 solar panels have been installed. The Connexional Secretary of the Methodist Church in Britain, Doug Godfrey-Swanney, said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to do so much to contribute to our net zero commitment.”
Oasis adds online platform to mark its 40 years
TO MARK its 40th anniversary, the charity Oasis, founded by the Revd Steve Chalke, has launched an online learning platform, the Academy for Hope. It is designed to equip individuals, organisations, and policymakers with practical tools to transform communities through inclusivity and equality — “principles that have shaped Oasis’ work in education, housing, and youth services over the last four decades”, a press release on Tuesday said. Modules, which take two to three hours to complete, are being led by, among others, Sir Paul Grant, Lord Rees of Easton, Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, and Carrie and David Grant. Dr Chalke said: “When we invest in children, they go on to become lifelong contributors to society. When we fail to invest, they become a lifetime cost, as do their children and often their children’s children.” academyforhope.org
Clarification: Winchester Cathedral was the subject of a Bishop’s Review, commissioned by the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, not a Visitation, as suggested in our news story on Bangor Cathedal, last week.