“Life begins at forty,” Christopher Trott, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the Holy See, told Vatican News on the eve of celebrations marking forty years of full diplomatic relations between the UK and the Vatican. On 29 March 1982 the apostolic delegate in London, Archbishop Bruno Heim, became the first Apostolic Nuncio to the Court of St James’s, while Sir Mark Heath was appointed as the first full ambassador to the Holy See, replacing the existing British legation. Thus ended a 450-year hiatus in diplomatic history, centuries populated by informal representatives and outright hostilities, with recusant aristocrats often playing go-between. That it took the imminent visit of St John Paul II to alter this anomalous relationship is remarkable given the weight of the Vatican in international relations. Rather than the centre of a conspiracy theorist’s web of influence and informers, it is a unique diplomatic voice: amid outrages in Ukraine, it has walked the high-wire between its moral authority and its role as a mediator. Bleak reports from the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine – extending to macabre (and depressingly plausible) allegations of poisoning – exemplify the need for a diplomatic presence not beholden to raison d’etat. Last week, President Zelenskiy directly asked Pope Francis to mediate, as the only moral voice acknowledged by both countries. In such a context, Christopher Trott is right to vaunt the maturity of our relations with the Holy See. Speaking after a celebratory Mass this morning in the Papal Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, where Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was chief celebrant, the ambassador praised the collaboration and closeness between the Vatican and the UK. Our man in the basilica looks forward to demonstrating this physically when the embassy moves across Rome to a new site, “just a cricket ball’s throw from St Peter’s Square”. Teaching the pontiff to play cricket: that would be a diplomatic coup.
US bishops joined Pope Francis in consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Masses held last Friday, the Solemnity of the Annunciation. The most striking act of consecration was in Toksook Bay, Alaska, where Bishop Chad Zielinski offered the prayer on the shore of the Bering Strait. Michael Sean Winters reports. The Marian shrine of Knock in the west of Ireland, and the Grotto of Lourdes, also joined in with the consecration. President Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis to mediate with Russia to end the human suffering of the war in Ukraine in a telephone call last week. The president also invited the Pope to visit Ukraine, telling him that “His Holiness is a most awaited guest”. By Patrick Hudson.
Caritas Ukraine and humanitarian agencies have warned of the danger of human trafficking to people, especially women and children, fleeing Ukraine. Instances of sexual violence have already been reported, and the International Organisation for Migration estimates that 1.5 million children are refugees. St Mary’s University, Twickenham, will offer five postgraduate bursaries to Ukrainian students. Patrick Hudson reports. A leading British theologian, Professor Anna Rowlands, told The Tablet that the government’s response to Ukrainian refugees was “completely inadequate” after giving the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice annual lecture in Dublin. Sarah Mac Donald reports.
Cecilia Moshi Hannah who was killed in 2002, is proceeding smoothly, said Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release was celebrated by Church leaders and groups, including their Church of England parish of Emmanuel Church in West Hampstead, which had lit a candle for her for each day of her six-year detention in Iran. Report by Ellen Teague. The sacking by P&O Ferries of 800 staff without notice has been denounced by Christian seafaring charities, including Stella Maris, the Catholic Seafarers’ chaplaincy. The Liverpool Seafarers Centre Chief Executive, John Wilson, told The Tablet: “A loophole has been ruthlessly exploited and seafarers are the ones who suffer most.” Report by Patrick Hudson.
The chair of the Church’s safeguarding agency has asked survivors of abuse to contact him directly. Nazir Afzal is a former CPS prosecutor who was chief prosecutor in the Rochdale abuse scandal. He was appointed chair of the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) in May 2021. The Church’s new safeguarding structures have been criticised by Danny Sullivan, the former Chair of the CSSA’s predecessor. He told The Tablet there seemed to be no urgency about supporting current victims of abuse, who are still not treated with care and sensitivity. Mr Afzal said he was deeply disappointed by these comments and that his door was open if Mr Sullivan wished to talk face-to-face about the work of the CSSA. Report by Madoc Cairns.
A “culture of silence”, including the clerical sexual abuse crisis, must be ended, said the cardinal leading the worldwide synod. At a Mass to open a three-day meeting of Church leaders at the Catholic Chaplaincy at the University of Oxford, Cardinal Mario Grech said the abuse crisis was not the only instance of an issue about which the Church remained silent. There were “deep divisions” in the Church such as disagreements over liturgy, the role of women and LGBT Catholics. Christopher Lamb reports from “The Road to a Synodal Church”, organised by Austen Ivereigh.
Listening sessions are underway across Ireland as the Irish Church’s synodal pathway gains momentum, writes Sarah Mac Donald. The Irish bishops said Lent was an ideal time to focus on the Synodal Pathway; after Easter each diocese will prepare a synthesis of the sessions and a national synodal event will be held on 18 June. Sixteen Irish dioceses said they planned to publish their summaries, none said they would not. Lay reform group We Are Church Ireland said there was no reply yet from the Irish bishops’ conference on whether the bishops’ summaries would be made public.
The gospel reading for the fourth Sunday of Lent was the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.1–3,11– 32). In his sermon, Alban McCoy OFM asks who is the more prodigal, the younger son with his profligacy, or the father with his generous forgiveness? Forgiveness is one element in the story. The resentment of the older son exemplifies the failing of those whose self-righteous obsession with their own virtue hadn’t brought them nearer God. Which of the two brothers in the parable of the prodigal son are we like? That’s the sting in the tail.
By Patrick Hudson, compiled with the help of Stephanie Bennett, editorial and marketing administrator at The Tablet and the Pastoral Review.