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Quotes of the week

by
31 January 2025

istock

Those who are just trying to get on with the job of being priests are pretty fed up, to be honest, with the fact that the central bodies in our Church seem determined not to get this right. . . It’s not about blame: it’s actually about having someone who can lead us through this process, or indeed a House of Bishops, who can lead us through this process, and retain the confidence not only of the clergy, not only of the people that come through our doors, but of those who have survived abuse, and, indeed, of the general public

Charlie Bell, priest, Channel 4 News, 28 January

 

Eighty years ago today, the gates of hell on earth were finally opened; but true liberation is an ongoing task, a sacred duty: to fight for a world in which every person’s humanity is recognised and every soul cherished. In this spirit, “Never again” will stand a chance of being not just a phrase we resight but a promise we live

Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi, Thought for the Day, Radio 4, 27 January

 

My only visit to Auschwitz will forever be seared into my memory — a place of tangible evil. People say it can’t happen again. It can. Maybe it already is. We must never forget

Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn, X/Twitter, 27 January

 

To my mind this settlement makes the future of our churches more uncertain, not less. It suggests that this government is not committed to supporting ecclesiastical architecture. And it dashes the hopes of those who imagined we might move closer to what happens in France, Italy and Germany, where either the state owns the churches and pays for their upkeep or local taxes fund them. The clear message to religious organisations, and particularly the CofE, which has the vast bulk of listed places of worship, is: “You own them, you pay for them”

Richard Morrison, The Times, 24 January, writing about the extension of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, capped at £23 million, for one year (News, 24 January)

 

Our public life today tends to push us into opposing and binary positions we must not only be certain of but declare if we are to be welcomed in. It causes us to see these groups here as “faithfuls” and those over there as “traitors”. . . But, of course, life is more complicated than that; less black and white, more grey. Perhaps there is beauty in being uncertain, less sure of our own positions, more aware of the limits of our knowledge and experience

Chine McDonald, director of Theos, Thought for the Day, Radio 4, 25 January

 

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