Anglican churches not holding weekly Sunday services
Over a quarter of Anglican churches do not now hold a weekly Sunday service, according to the National Churches Trust. They also found that many churches struggle to raise funds for repairs and maintenance. Covid has had a significant impact on church attendance, which has fallen by over 20% from before the outbreak. It is not that no one wants to come to services; churches that stayed online and have not reduced their service numbers have regained 2019 attendance levels. Exhausted leaders spread across multiple congregations, tired volunteers and financial struggles were given as some of the issues facing churches post-pandemic. This relates only to the Church of England, and some of the findings are not present in the wider evangelical church. A common denominator in churches who are experiencing reduced numbers of attendees is that they are the churches who have abandoned orthodox Christian teaching.
Police accused of online child abuse failings
A report into how police forces in England and Wales tackle online child sex abuse has found responses to allegations are slow, leaving vulnerable children in danger while allowing offenders to escape justice. In some cases, it takes up to a year and a half before an arrest is made. Many officers do not follow lines of inquiry into who the suspect is and whether they are approaching children. In most forces, cases reported directly to police are dealt with by non-specialists with inadequate training. These people are unaware of guidance they should follow and what specialist services they should refer children to. The lack of a consistent, effective national approach to tackling online abuse is a concern to the UK's only independent Christian safeguarding charity, Thirtyone:eight. They urge chief constables, policing bodies and the Government to implement the report’s seventeen recommendations speedily with a coordinated, sustained response across the country.
Ukraine / Russia / France / China: path to peace talks
French president Emmanuel Macron arrived on 6 April for a three-day state visit to China. President Xi Jinping greeted Macron on a huge red carpet lined by Chinese and French flags as the countries’ national anthems played. President Macron said, ‘The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability. I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.’ Macron also said that Beijing can play a ‘major role’ in finding a path to peace in the conflict and welcomed China’s willingness to ‘commit to a resolution’. Macron, who was accompanied on his visit by the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said he wants to ‘be a voice that unites Europe’ over Ukraine; coming to China with her served to ‘underline the consistency of this approach’.
Greece: Iranian terror attack averted
Greek police have prevented an ‘imminent attack’ against Israelis and Jews after arresting two Pakistani nationals who are part of an Iranian terror network. The two arrests came after the police, aided by Israel’s Mossad spy agency, uncovered plans for mass-casualty terrorist attacks, one of the targets being a Jewish restaurant in Athens. It is a kosher restaurant which also hosts other religious services. The two suspects had chosen targets of ‘high symbolism’. A third man, who is not in Greece, is wanted for questioning and has been charged in absentia. A police statement said, ‘Their aim was to cause the loss of life of innocent citizens and also to undermine the sense of security in Greece, while hurting public institutions and threatening our international relations’.
