Over the coming weeks in schools, churches, high streets, and venues across this country, the Christmas story that began with Mary and Joseph's journey for a census will be enjoyed and celebrated by millions of people.

But of what story are we a part?

What story do we want to tell about ourselves?

The UK census gives us a particular and important snapshot of the identity of our nation, decade by decade.

Interpreting the story of trends, values, perceptions, and identities that underlies these snapshots is complicated, however.

Some commentators have responded to the census data about religious affiliation released last week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by predicting the terminal decline of Christianity in our nation or declaring this as a statistical watershed moment.

I am interested in the overall story that this census snapshot informs. Christians should approach this data with humility, attentiveness, and self-reflection.

Though the most common response to the voluntary question of religious affiliation remains "Christian," there was a 13.1 percentage decrease from 2011 to 2021.

The ONS clarifies that these figures are about "the religion with which [respondents] connect or identify, rather than their beliefs or active religious practice."

I do not find the trend in the responses to this particular question surprising: we have left behind the time when many people almost automatically identified as Christian.

Yet the story of the relationship between the identity expressed on our census forms and our engagement with faith is far from straightforward.

There are fewer people in the pews on a typical Sunday morning than a few decades ago, but at the same time, some of our churches - of all traditions and styles - are growing significantly, and we are also seeing people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, to whom the idea of joining a weekly service would not necessarily occur.

These apparently contrasting statistical snapshots inform a more complicated, though the incomplete story, which is not one of terminal decline for religious faith nor Christianity, but more about how individuals in our ever-changing nation and culture choose to express their identity.

This is a story on which other Christians and I must reflect carefully and humbly.

For Christians, however, the story that defines our identity has never been one of overwhelming numerical growth nor fear of extinction. Amid the complexities of identity, values and nation, Christians strive to live by the story of the Good News of Jesus Christ - a story notable for the absence of success by the world's usual standards.

A watershed moment in that story happened when "Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world." The events that then unfolded will be shared by millions of people in the UK this Christmas.

They will hear the baby Jesus described as a light that shines in the darkness. His story is not a tale of linear success but about how that light shines through the difficult realities of our lives and finally overcomes all darkness. Continue reading

Their joint letter asks Drakeford to stop the proposed legislation on RE, which they say "specifically targets the Catholic ethos of their schools" and strikes at Catholic schools "very identity" and places additional and unreasonable legal requirements on them".

The Welsh Government has moved to enact its plans to expand RE's traditional scope to a compulsory subject, 'Religion Values and Ethics'.

In their letter, the Catholic school principals say the proposed changes fail to recognise the heritage and deep connection RE has within church schools, including Catholic schools, which dedicate 10% of curriculum time to the subject.

The change in emphasis removes RE education's academic rigour and "reduces it to an over-simplistic comparison exercise which fails to understand the fundamentals of faith and religion".

Almost 28,000 pupils attend the 84 Catholic schools in Wales, all of which are Voluntary Aided (ie state funded) and employ over 1,500 teachers.

The principals' letter also says the Welsh Government's desire to create a so-called 'neutral values' curriculum risks moving towards a homogeneous education system which would no longer recognise children's legal right to pursue a deep knowledge and spiritual understanding of their own faith as well as those of others.

Most respondents to the Government's consultation on the changes said they were against the name change of RE. They also said they supported the continuation of parents' rights to withdraw their children from RE.

"On both of these, the Welsh Government have ignored popular opinion", the school principals' letter says.

Paul Barber, Director of the Welsh Catholic Education Service, says he hopes the letter "makes the Welsh Government realise the overwhelming strength of feeling against these proposals to the Catholic community.

"They strike at the very identity of Catholic schools and at the heart of the principle that parents, and not the State, are the primary and principal educators of their children."

Serious concerns were also raised by parents and teachers about the removal of the parental right of withdrawal from RE as it infringed on the core Catholic belief that parents are the primary educators and the legal right of children to receive an upbringing in their faith.

The Welsh Government intends to introduce a Curriculum and Assessment Bill to implement these changes.

Concerns have also been raised over the lack of due process and transparency as the Government may publish the Bill before it considers responses to the RVE consultation.

According to the Welsh Government's analysis of the Ensuring Access to the Full Curriculum consultation, opposition to its proposals came from across the whole sector https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/consultations/2020-01/full-report-ensuring-access-to-the-full-curriculum.pdf.

Source

• Independ4ent Catholic News
• Wales Online
• Image:Chuffed.org

Emeritus Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood told The Tablet he thought it could be argued the Church in England and Wales was in a unique position to prompt Rome on the issue.

"We are well viewed as a conference at the Vatican and we are not seen as extreme," said Bishop McMahon.

"I think we would have a very sympathetic hearing and we can draw on a very unique experience in this country.

"We have fewer priests, and we used to have many; and many of our Ordinariate clergy are married. We also have married deacons," he said.

Bishop McMahon added that the feedback from ordinary Catholics has been very positive on both married Ordinariate priests and married deacons.

Bishop McMahon is one of several England and Wales bishops to have added their voices to what some see as a groundswell for change to allow wider ordination of married priests.

The need is becoming more urgent, they have said, because of a shortage of priests.

The Bishop of Menevia in Wales, Bishop Thomas Burns, SM, said priestly celibacy should be made optional.

He said it is wrong to claim that celibacy should be abandoned because it was linked to child abuse.

He added that there wasn't evidence that it should be abandoned to improve vocations.

If celibacy was made optional, he said, "[it would leave] the way clear for the status of married clergy to be recognised in its own right as a true gift of the Spirit to the Church."

In summary, said Bishop Burns, the obligation for priests not to be married was neither Church doctrine nor dogma, but "a disciplinary measure dating from the twelfth century and potentially can be re-stated as a gift of the Spirit to the Church".

However, when asked about the possibility of ordaining married men to the priesthood, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said that he did not see it as a "pressing issue".

Sources

• The Tablet
• Image: Carmelite Friars

The bishops have welcomed Pope Francis's initiatives for the Jubilee Year of Mercy which starts on December 8.

Among these is installing a holy door at each cathedral and shrine.

Holy doors, or porta santa, are normally sealed shut from the inside.

They are only opened during Jubilee years, during which pilgrims pass through the doors to gain a plenary indulgence.

The England and Wales bishops said that the Jubilee Year should also find expression by encouraging Confession as "the Sacrament of the New Evangelisation" over the weekend of May 4 to 5 in 2016.

Continue reading

With the exception of the Auckland Cathedral, where the priests report an increase in young people attending the sacrament, a ring-around survey, yesterday, of several New Zealand parishes showed most recorded no significant increase in the number of people going to confession.

From the informal survey, no New Zealand parish has made special arrangements to regularly accommodate extra demand for confession.

The New Zealand situation is different from that in England and Wales where reports are emerging that there is a significant increase in numbers receiving the sacrament.

While the evidence is anecdotal, the Telegraph reports that two thirds of priests had noticed the upturn.

Some dioceses in England and Wales are attributing the increasing number going to confesion to what they are calling "papal bounce"; a effect of the election of Pope Francis and the positive visit of Pope Benedict to Britain three years ago.

One priest said, "Some people are coming in saying I don't know what to say or do because they haven't been since they were at school or for 30 years, and are asking for help with the words to say."

The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Kieran Conry said a more informal approach to confession than in the past had also helped attract younger people.

There's even a App to help them, he said.

Additional sources

• The Telegraph
• Image: St Mark the Evangelist Church

The rise in men and women entering religious orders is across a wide variety of different orders, some of which have not had novices for many years.

Last year also saw the highest number of ordinations to the diocesan priesthood in nearly 10 years, with 31 priests ordained for the dioceses of England and Wales.

Continue reading

The survey conducted in Britain also shows more than half of the adults questioned believe Religious Education lessons in schools are worthwhile with many favour making Religious Education (RE) compulsory.

The poll comes as increasing numbers of teenagers are being forced to drop Religious Education because of the introduction of new-style league tables that prioritise other subjects.

The YouGov poll commissioned by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales found 53% of 1,800 adults questioned in England and Wales thought RE should be compulsory in all state schools, while 58% of adults said they thought RE was beneficial.

Only 9% said they thought it was harmful.

In releasing the poll results, the Religious Education Council of England and Wales said they feared that an expansion of independent academies, state schools run free of local authority, is leading to rising numbers of schools dropping locally-agreed syllabuses in the subject, reports the Telegraph.

The survey results come at a time when British MP's and peers prepare to attend the first meeting of the newly-formed all-party parliamentary group for RE, established to raise awareness of the importance of RE in schools.

John Keast, chairman of the RE Council, said the group was necessary to counter concerns that the subject was becoming increasingly marginalised by Coalition reforms to education, reports the Telegraph.

This includes a Government decision to exclude RE from the English Baccalaureate - a new school leaving certificate that rewards pupils gaining good GCSE grades in the five core academic disciplines of maths, English, science, foreign languages and either history or geography.

It is feared that this is leading to a decline in the number of schools offering the subject at GCSE level.

Mr Keast said: "There have been a number of unintended consequences for RE as a result of changes made by the Government."

According to last summer's GCSE results, a total of 221,974 youngsters entered for the subject compared to 188,704 the year before.

At the same time, history and geography saw a decline in entries.

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Telegraph
• Huffington Post
• Image: The Telegraph

In 2011 there were 17 new women recruits to orders across the country, up from six in 2009.

Asked if this marked the beginning of a revival for women religious in Britain Fr Richard Nesbitt, Westminster vocations director, said "something is definitely happening". Continue reading

They included 1,397 catechumens, who had prepared to be baptised, and 1,843 candidates, who had already baptised in another Christian tradition.

The largest numbers were in the dioceses of Westminster (734), Southwark (481), Brentwood (333), Birmingham (255) and Portsmouth (206). The total of 3,695 also included those who had joined the ordinariate. Easter is the traditional time for reception of new members of the Church through the Rite of the Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), the liturgical and catechetical process for adults joining the Church. Read more

"Crossing the Threshold" is the name given to the the first stage of a national programme to help parishioners and priests reconnect friends and family.

Around a million people regularly attend mass on Sundays, but church leaders say there are many more who are baptised but do not go to church.

Bishop Kieran Conry, bishop of Arundel and Brighton, said no-shows were more likely to do with laziness and children's extra-curricular commitments than controversies surrounding the pope or clerical sexual abuse scandals.

Conry said: "We have something we're trying to market and we're just reminding people there's something that can bring you happiness, satisfaction and friendship."

"There are probably people out there who would like to come back but don't know how to go about it. There is a fear of standing out, of doing the wrong thing."

Conry said it was important for those taking part to offer a personal invitation to Catholics to reconnect.

One of the first events held in York attracted around 140 people.

Topics for discussion included how to reach out to someone and how to make "small, effective gestures in parishes."

73-year-old attendee Shelagh Preston, said "It's important to discover why people don't go to church, to listen. Most of they time they can't be bothered, they're doing other things. It's not about hating God.

"Some people do come back and they have to be welcomed back. We're not as good as we should be at that."

Evangelisation was not about standing on the corner with a Bible or knocking on peoples' doors, she added.

Sources

• The Guardian
• Image: Huffington Post

They ranked the 20 countries competing in the international rugby competition based on various social indicators, pointing to social equality or inequality.They then compiled all the rankings for each indicator to arrive at an overall ranking for each team.

They say they are not knocking international sporting competitions. But they want to see the positive values on the sporting field - fairness, an equal chance of success, unbiased refereeing - reflected in the social world. So that everyone has a chance, on a level playing field, to fulfil their potential.

Lakan is a Year 8 student at Thorndon School in Wellington and a rugby fan. He attends Mass at Te Kainga Catholic Marae. Here is his blog.

For all of you who are still moaning at Wales vs France. Wales may seem to be a fairer team on the field but when we look at the stats of equality, Wales gets knocked out like Kevin Mealamu and Tana Umaga clearing Brain O'Driscoll out of the ruck.

France is ranked no.5 on equality, while Wales is ranked 9th. In most countries rugby union is only played by the richer classes and soccer is more working class. Even though rugby is the national sport in Wales, it still has an effect. What does that mean? It means the gap between the rugby players and the football players is much smaller. No wonder Wales kicked like the pass of a Japanese hooker.

France also ranked No. 2 on gender inequality and No. 3 on happy planet which means they had a whole penny to enjoy, not a Halfpenny. Neither team is very innocent when it comes to military spending, but yet again France salutes its hands and smashes the ball right out of the line-out and into their hands. Wales only managed to break the line and get some points on the board is because Wales is a more peaceful country, has a less corrupt government and something that deserves a try, they are great at working with aid.

Wales lost. Get over it. If Wales were the great team we've been raving about then they would have been able to play without Sam Warburton. Yes it damaged their scrum and line-out, but wasn't it Mike Phillips who was the magic man?

Wales had at least 3 scoring opportunities in the game to take the lead but they Sonny Billed them like they were Quade Cooper. So if you look at the facts again you'll see a much different score. Instead of France skimming up a close encounter with a 14 man squad, they get away with a comfortable victory and a well deserved spot in the final.

France won and I cheered.

Go All Blacks!

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Image: Fox Sport

Since 1985 it has been possible for Catholics in England and Wales to substitute some other form of penance instead of giving up meat, however the English and Welsh Bishops' decided to restore meatless Fridays because they believe Catholics forget their obligation to do Friday penance.

The bishops' say abstaining from meat is easy to remember and simple to witness to, for example at work, school and even in the home.

"The law of the Church requires Catholics to abstain from meat on Fridays, or some other form of food, or to observe some other form of penance laid down by the Bishops' Conference," the bishops' said in a statement.

Keen to remind Catholics of their obligation, "the Bishops have decided to re-establish the practice that this should be fulfilled by abstaining from meat."

Vegans and Vegetarians are also obliged to do penance, and are required to abstain from some other form of food.

Quoting Canon Law, the Bishops Q&A says the obligation to do penance on Fridays binds those who are aged between 14- 60.

The obligation to do penance, Meatless Fridays, should not place a real or substantial burden on the lives of Catholics the bishops' say.

"Those under fourteen years of age, the sick, the elderly and frail, pregnant women, seafarers, manual workers according to need, guests at a meal who cannot excuse themselves without giving great offense to their hosts or causing friction, and those in other situations of moral or physical impossibility are not required to observe abstention from meat; in other words, we should act prudently," the bishops' explain in their Q&A.

September 16 coincides with the first anniversary of Pope Benedict's trip to the United Kingdom.

Sources

• Catholic Church of England and Wales Media Centre
• Friday Penance Q&A (pdf download)
• Image: Anglicans Ablaze (blog)