Category Archives: Justin Welby

Archbishops of Canterbury and York warn against new extremism definition

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Clerics say Michael Gove’s anti-extremism strategy risks targeting Muslims and may threaten freedom of speech and peaceful protest

The archbishops of Canterbury and York have joined the growing list of critics of the government’s new extremism definition, which they have warned risks “disproportionately targeting Muslim communities” and “driving us apart”.

Michael Gove will present his new counter-extremism strategy on Thursday, which he says will target organisations that undermine British democracy.

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Lords pass five amendments to Rwanda bill in heavy defeat for Rishi Sunak

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Peers, including senior Tories, vote by margins of about 100 votes for changes to legislation, which will have to go back to Commons

Rishi Sunak has suffered his heaviest defeat in the House of Lords after the archbishop of Canterbury and former Conservative ministers joined forces with the opposition to force through five amendments to the Rwandan deportation bill.

The string of government setbacks, most passed by unusually large margins of about 100 votes, means the legislation, which aims to clear the way to send asylum seekers on a one-way flight to Kigali, will have to go back to the Commons.

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Pastor says Welby would not meet him if he spoke at Palestine rally with Corbyn

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Archbishop said he could not meet Bethlehem Lutheran Munther Isaac if he shared platform with former Labour leader, Isaac says

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, cancelled plans to meet the Bethlehem-based Lutheran pastor Munther Isaac, saying he could not meet him if he shared a platform with the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at a pro-Palestinian rally, the pastor has said.

Isaac, the pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran church in Bethlehem, who has been highly critical of Israel in Gaza, saw his Christmas sermon go viral when he said if Jesus Christ was born today it would have been under the rubble.

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Archbishop of Canterbury makes ‘moral cry’ for Israel-Hamas ceasefire

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Justin Welby’s call came as British Palestinians with relatives in Gaza demanded a meeting with the prime minister

The archbishop of Canterbury has called for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, saying the scale of civilian deaths and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza could not be “morally justified”.

“The killing must stop,” Justin Welby said, adding that the call for a ceasefire was a “moral cry”.

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Justin Welby accused of ‘relegating’ plight of Palestinian Christians

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Anglicans in West Bank say they are ‘utterly perplexed’ by archbishop of Canterbury’s statements on Israel-Hamas war

Palestinian Christians have accused Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, of “relegating” their plight behind “British domestic political and ecumenical considerations” in his comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

An open letter from Anglican parishioners in the West Bank says they are “utterly perplexed” by Welby’s public statements.

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Justin Welby says it was ‘a privilege to be her son’, after mother dies at 93

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Archbishop of Canterbury says he had a messy childhood due to alcoholism in the family but he loved Jane Williams deeply

The archbishop of Canterbury has paid tribute to his mother, Jane Williams, who has died at 93, saying she had “lived a full human life, with all its ups and downs”.

Justin Welby said it had been “a privilege to be her son. I am the person I am in part because of her love, example and encouragement.”

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Justin Welby criticises Ugandan church’s backing for anti-gay law

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Archbishop of Canterbury expresses dismay over church’s support for Ugandan law enacted last month

The archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican church in Uganda to reconsider its vociferous support for the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ law, which imposes the death penalty for certain homosexual acts.

Justin Welby said there was no justification for supporting the legislation, in a move that highlights deep divisions within the global Anglican church on LGBTQ+ issues.

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Justin Welby proposes amendments to ‘morally unacceptable’ illegal migration bill

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Archbishop of Canterbury calls on ministers to implement strategies on human trafficking and the refugee crisis

The archbishop of Canterbury has proposed two amendments to the government’s flagship illegal migration bill that he had earlier deemed “morally unacceptable”.

With the controversial plans to enter the committee stage in the House of Lords on Wednesday, Justin Welby called on ministers to implement 10-year strategies for tackling human trafficking and for an international collaboration to solving the refugee crises.

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Archbishop of Canterbury’s attack on illegal migration bill ‘wrong on both counts’, says minister – as it happened

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Justin Welby says bill is ‘morally unacceptable’ and rules on protection of refugees are not ‘inconvenient obstructions’. This live blog is closed

In the House of Lords peers are just starting to debate the second reading of the illegal migration bill.

Simon Murray, aka Lord Murray of Blidworth, is opening the debate. He is a lawyer who was made a Home Office minister, and a peer, when Liz Truss was PM.

We now face a perfect storm of factors driving more people into homelessness while giving us fewer good options to help them when they do. These factors include soaring private rents (above the benefit cap), private landlords leaving the sector, a national shortage of affordable housing, and a backlog of court cases after Covid-relating housing support was removed. At the same time, we have a cost-of-living crisis which is reducing real-term incomes and putting further strain on relationships.

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Archbishop of Canterbury to criticise small boats bill in House of Lords

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Justin Welby to join peers condemning measures that seek to criminalise people seeking refuge in UK

The archbishop of Canterbury will make a rare intervention in the House of Lords to join dozens of peers condemning the government’s flagship asylum bill.

Justin Welby will argue against measures championed by Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman that seek to criminalise people seeking refuge in the UK if they arrive on small boats.

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Pope urges churches in South Sudan to raise voices against injustice

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Pontiff says on peace mission that religious leaders ‘cannot remain neutral’ amid abuses of power

Pope Francis has said churches in South Sudan “cannot remain neutral” but must raise their voices against injustice and abuse of power, as he and two other Christian leaders conducted a peace mission to the world’s newest country.

On his first full day in South Sudan, Francis addressed Catholic bishops, priests and nuns in St Theresa Cathedral in the capital, Juba, as the archbishop of Canterbury and the head of the Church of Scotland held services elsewhere.

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Help world’s poor as well as Ukraine, say faith charities as pope visits South Sudan

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An open letter, backed by opinion poll, urges the UK to restore aid budget on eve of a three-day ‘pilgrimage for peace’ in the east African country

The British government’s financial support for Ukraine must not be at the cost of aid to other areas of the world in crisis, three faith-based charities have warned, on the eve of an unprecedented joint pilgrimage to South Sudan led by Pope Francis.

The organisations are calling on the government to restore the 59% cut in the UK’s aid budget to South Sudan, and invest in peacebuilding, conflict management and reconciliation.

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Welby told me gay marriage progress will be ‘glacial’, says Sandi Toksvig

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Comedian says C of E’s position is ‘untenable’ after meeting archbishop of Canterbury

Sandi Toksvig has said the Church of England’s position on same-sex marriage is “untenable” after a meeting with the archbishop of Canterbury.

The comedian met Justin Welby after she expressed her dismay last year that he had reaffirmed the church’s 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin.

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C of E leaders call for tax rises to fund NHS-style social care system

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Archbishops of Canterbury and York say ‘national care covenant’ needed with stronger role for state

England’s most senior church leaders want tax rises to fund a new NHS-style universal social care system that could cost an extra £15bn a year.

In a challenge to the government to overhaul support for 1 million elderly and disabled people, the archbishops of Canterbury and York have called for a “national care covenant” with a stronger role for the state and citizens delivering more care.

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Sandi Toksvig to meet Archbishop of Canterbury over same-sex marriage

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Move follows bishops’ refusal to back gay marriage while blessings to be on voluntary basis for clergy

Sandi Toksvig has said she will be meeting the archbishop of Canterbury for coffee, after bishops this week refused to back gay marriage but said civil partnerships could be blessed in church.

“Quick update – I will be meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury for a long promised coffee next week,” the broadcaster and author, who is gay, tweeted on Saturday.

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C of E’s historic slavery fund – worth £100m but how far will it stretch across communities?

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Clerical leaders hope for ‘lasting legacy’ to serve places affected by past slavery trade, but fund may spread thinly across all of west Africa and Caribbean

The Church of England’s decision to set up a £100m fund for communities adversely affected by historic slavery is the latest – and biggest – step it has taken over the past few years to “address past wrongs” relating to its links to the slave trade.

The report on the origins of the C of E’s healthy £9bn-plus endowment fund correctly describes the 17th century slave trade as “abhorrent” and a source of misery and injustice.

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Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis call for end to war in Ukraine

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Pontiff says world suffering from ‘famine of peace’ as Justin Welby praises example of late monarch

The archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis have used their Christmas addresses to call for an end to the war in Ukraine.

During his sermon, Justin Welby also spoke of those suffering “immense anxiety and hardship” during the cost of living crisis and made reference to the “desperate struggles of hospital wards”.

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Arctic air to boost demand for warm spaces as archbishop urges people not to despair

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Justin Welby says too many people face ‘real hardship and pain’ as temperatures fall and bills rise

A surge of Arctic air causing sub-zero temperatures across the UK is poised to send demand for warm spaces surging, and the archbishop of Canterbury has urged people not to despair in the face of “real hardship and pain”.

The weather system moving quickly south from Norway, nicknamed the Troll of Trondheim, will result in colder weather for at least a week, the Met Office has forecast, as a network of “warm hubs” said it had seen 80,000 people use its facilities in the last week.

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Welby voices concern over potential move of British embassy to Jerusalem

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Archbishop of Canterbury joins others worried about impact Tel Aviv switch could have on Palestinian peace talks

The archbishop of Canterbury has expressed concern about the potential for the British embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The UK prime minister, Liz Truss, told her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid at the United Nations summit in New York last month that she was considering the relocation.

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Queen’s funeral: Elizabeth II laid to rest alongside husband, royal family announces – latest updates

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The official website of the royal family said a private burial took place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel

Food confiscated from people waiting in the queue for the Queen’s lying in state is being donated to charity, reports PA Media:

People are not allowed to take food or drink inside the Palace of Westminster and any such items will be confiscated.

Charity the Felix Project said it expects to collect over 2 tonnes of food, mostly snacks including crisps, chocolate and biscuits, and is also accepting unwanted blankets.

With people waiting up to 24 hours to complete the five-mile walk from Southwark Park to Westminster Hall to pay their respects to the Queen, they are coming with plenty of food to keep them going.

When they get to Victoria Tower Gardens the food is confiscated before entry to the parliamentary estate is allowed and instead of being thrown away, all non-perishable and unopened packages are saved.

The Felix Project will distribute the items to the thousands of community groups it works with across the capital.

Charity chief executive Charlotte Hill said: “We are honoured to be here to play a small part in this hugely poignant event and to know that an extra layer of good is being done here.

It’s hard to say exactly how many additional people [will travel], but we’re preparing for potentially a million people just within the footprint of the royal palaces and Hyde Park …

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