FROM BRITAIN AND IRELAND NEWS
Bishops worried that cuts will hit poorest
Sam Adams
CATHOLIC BISHOPSin the north of England and Wales are concerned that Britain’s poorest citizens will be hit hardest by the Government’s programme of spending cuts. As the bishops prepare to discuss the aus-
terity measures next week, they told The Tablet about their fears for those who are most vul- nerable and the need for special provisions to shield them from the cuts. Among their biggest concerns are the
Government’s plans to cut public-sector jobs and reduce housing and personal benefits. One bishop – Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough – criticised a scheme that will oblige the long-term unemployed to undertake unpaid work placements or lose benefit. “If the Government is genuine in its desire
to get people back into work, then resources will have to be made available to create jobs and then to support and retrain future work- ers. It would be very foolish to think that in the immediate future the climate will be other than difficult and demanding for all of us, but especially for the people of Teesside and Humberside,” said Bishop Drainey. His concerns echo those expressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who this week said the work-for- benefits plan could send unemployed people into “a downward spiral of uncertainty, even
Nuncio announces resignation
ILL HEALTH is forcing the resignation of the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, writes Christopher Lamb. Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz is to step down at the end of the year after being unwell for a number of months following a mild stroke earlier this year. The archbishop, 73, is due to give a
keynote address to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales at their biannual meeting in Leeds next week. It will be one of his last official acts as nuncio. It is understood that the Holy See’s Secretariat of State has accepted the resignation but a new appointment has yet to be made. In May, the archbishop was admitted to hospital after collapsing at the Nunciature, in Wimbledon, south-west London.
36 | THE TABLET | 13 November 2010
despair”. The Bishop of Hallam, John Rawsthorne, whose diocese covers Sheffield where large numbers of public-sector jobs are at risk, said the poorest in society will be worst affected by the spending and benefits cuts, adding: “I think there have got to be ways of softening the blow.” And Bishop Edwin Regan of Wrexham said:
“There are already ominous signs in this dio- cese. Our diocesan St Vincent de Paul Society has received extra requests for debt counselling from people.” The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, Seamus Cunningham, said there was a danger that the cuts would increase the North–South divide. He said the people of his diocese were “resilient”, but that it would be more difficult for the Church to step in to help those affected if its own income from collections and invest- ments also falls. Next week, at their biannual meeting, the bishops will discuss the cuts, as well as gov- ernment plans to encourage local enterprise and volunteering to create a “Big Society”. The bishops will discuss how this fits with Catholic Social Teaching. Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton explained that the tax system, which he believes is weighted against the poorest in society, makes it difficult for these families to get involved in their local communities as the Big Society project envisages.
Terence Drainey, the Bishop of Middles- brough. Photo:
catholicrelics
.co.uk
“If the Government wants poorer families
to take a more active role in their local com- munities, then these families need to feel financially secure,” said Bishop Conry. “They won’t have the confidence to become involved without that financial security. The Government needs to do more to ensure there are financial buffers in place for these families.” However, the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has supported the idea for the Big Society and in a recent speech to dioce- san clergy encouraged them to look again at how they can develop local parish initiatives “in service of the common good or in response to local challenges”. He added that he was looking to see how diocesan resources could be invested in such schemes. Last week Dr Williams, Archbishop Nichols and the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, met the Prime Minister in Downing Street, where they dis- cussed the Big Society and the contribution faith groups can make to the project. It is believed that Lambeth Palace is keen to engage with the Big Society but at the same time wishes to hold the Government to account.
Funding of ordinariate to be discussed
FUNDING FORa British ordinariate for dis- affected members of the Church of England who convert to Rome will be the major topic for discussion when Catholic bishops meet next week for their biannual conference, writes Sam Adams. As many as 50 Church of England priests
may join the ordinariate when it is created next year and there is concern within the Catholic Church about how they will be funded. The priests will follow five Anglo- Catholic bishops – Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet, John Broadhurst of Fulham, Keith Newton of Richborough and two retired bishops, Edwin Barnes and David Silk – who have officially announced they would be join- ing the Catholic Church via the ordinariate. Bishop Alan Hopes, who is coordinating
preparations for the new body on behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England
and Wales, said: “At our plenary meeting next week, [we] will be exploring the establishment of the ordinariate and the warm welcome we will be extending to those who seek to be part of it.” Up to 500 lay Anglicans, in 24 groups, are also thought to be among the first wave to join the new body, expected to be officially put in place at Pentecost. It will allow them to become Catholics while retaining some Anglican traditions. Concerns over how clergy are to be financed are thought to be inhibiting some – especially younger married priests with children – from joining at the start. The timetable for setting up the body will
be discussed by Catholic bishops when they gather in Leeds on Monday for their four- day meeting. This is expected to be published before Christmas. The bishops will also discuss the question of church buildings for the ordinariate.
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