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No. 6373

Ruth Kelly laments new secularism at Westminster

Former Transport Secretary says Christians are seen as ‘odd’

BYMARKGREAVES

RUTHKELLY, who announced her resignation from the Cabinet last week, has hit out at the secular atmosphere of English politics, claiming that it is difficult to be a Christian in Westminster. The former Transport Secretary said there was a gulf between the fashionable secularism of Parliament and the ordinary religious beliefs of wider society. Her comments came just days after news of her resignation was leaked by an unknown source during the Labour Party conference. She said: “It is difficult to be a Christian in politics these days. The public debate has become more secular and believers are portrayed as a bit odd. “That doesn’t reflect the reality in communities, where churchgoing and belief is considered normal.” Miss Kelly has insisted emphatically that she resigned to spend more time with her family, but some speculate that her departure was provoked by clashes with colleagues over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill. She told the London Evening Standardnewspaper that she had resigned in May –at the height of the furore around the Bill –but that Gordon Brown had asked her to wait until the next Cabinet reshuffle. She said last week about the embryology legislation: “I think it is a conscience issue and there should have been a free vote.” Miss

Kelly was one of three Cabinet Ministers –along with Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, and Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary –who came under intense pressure to vote against their conscience by supporting the Government-backed Bill. Mr Brown only granted a free vote on all aspects of the Bill after weeks of lobbying from MPs and Church leaders –and after he was humiliated by David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions. Had he not relented all three Cabinet Ministers would have been forced to resign if they had opposed the legislation. Miss Kelly voted against the Bill repeatedly and backed several amendments –all rejected by MPs –to lower the abortion limit to 12, 16, 20 and 22 weeks. She was also the only Cabinet Minister who was allowed to stay away from the Third Reading of the Bill, scheduled for this autumn’s session in Parliament. Both Mr Murphy and Mr Browne are expected to vote in favour of the legislation at this late stage but Miss Kelly managed to persuade the Prime Minister to let her attend meetings with EU officials in Brussels. Conservative MP Geraldine Smith, a fierce opponent of the HFE Bill, said it “could well have played a part in her decision” to leave the Cabinet. She said: “It’s speculation but Ruth’s got a strong faith. It would have been... Continued on Page 2

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Dr Rowan Williams delivers his homily at the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette in 1858

Archbishop hails the apparitions at Lourdes

BYSIMONCALDWELL

CNS

THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has become the first Primate of the Church of England to accept visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes as historical fact. In a homily at an international Mass in Lourdes on the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham last week, Dr Williams implied that he believed18 visions of Our Lady experienced by St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 were true. “When Mary came to Bernadette, she came at first as an anonymous figure, a beautiful lady, a mysterious ‘thing’, not yet identified as the Lord’s spotless mother,” he said. “And Bernadette, uneducated, uninstructed in doctrine, leapt with joy, recognising that here was life, here was healing. Only bit by bit does Bernadette find the words to let the world know; only bit by bit, we might say, does she discover how to listen to the Lady and echo what she has to tell us.” He also praised the lives of the saints as examples who “matter so much”. Dr Williams was later severely criticised by the Protestant Truth Society, a group of Anglicans and nonconformists committed to upholding the ideals of the Protestant Reformation. The Rev Jeremy Brooks, a spokesman, said: “Lourdes represents everything about Roman Catholicism that the Protestant Reformation rejected, including apparitions, mariolatry and the veneration of saints. “When our country is crying out for clear biblical leadership, it is nothing short of tragic that our supposedly Protestant archbishop is behaving as little more than a papal puppet.” Dr Williams was invited to the shrine by Bishop Jacques of Tarbes and Lourdes. His visit was the first by an Archbishop of Canterbury. He is regarded as the most Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury since Archbishop Michael Ramsey, who held the office from 1961 to 1974 and who, with Pope Paul VI, established formal dialogue between Catholic and Anglican leaders.

Cardinal Kasperʼs homily: Page 4 Editorial comment: Page 11

Liverpool denies compromise on adoption agency regulations

BYSIMONCALDWELL

THE ARCHDIOCESE of Liverpool this week denied that its adoption agency has become the first to comply with new gay rights laws while remaining a Catholic institution. Nugent Care Society, which has Archbishop Patrick Kelly as its chairman, was last week reported to have published a policy statement in which it said that it now offers “an assessment service for gay and lesbian people on referral

from local authorities, or in situations where local authorities agree to the applicants becoming their resource”. But the archdiocese has insisted that it does not operate such a policy. Revised guidance, issued in June, makes no reference to gay couples, speaking only of married and single people as potential adopters. Peter Heneghan, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said: “Nugent Care does not place children either for adoption or fostering. They

assist those bodies to whom the law entrusts the task of providing adequate care where the child’s own family, for whatever reason, is unable to respond to their needs.” The Society has yet to announce how it intends to comply with the Sexual Orientation Regulations which compel Catholic adoption agencies to prepare samesex couples for adoption. Those Catholic adoption agencies that have decided to comply with the law have broken ties with their dioceses

and become independent. Another agency in Salford, has pulled out adoption altogether, while at least three others are hoping to change their constitutions in order to stay Catholic and comply with the regulations. The 11 agencies affected by the law act by finding couples and individuals willing to adopt and preparing them to meet legal and local authority criteria for adoption. They are then matched with children put up for adoption by social workers.

Ten commandments issued for bloggers

Catholics can live with pain, study says

BYANDREWMBROWN

THE EVANGELICAL Alliance has produced a humorous “Ten Commandments of blogging” urging bloggers to “consider the social impact” of their online comments. Fr Ray Blake, a prominent blogger, said the suggestions “made little impact” and were “boring”, but added that some Catholic blogs made

him feel he needed “a wash” because of their tendency to “throw a bishop to the wolf pack every few days”. He added: “It’s important to have a lay voice and there’s a prophetic role to many of the bloggers. It’s always good to have a gadfly. It is OK to criticise bishops – as well as priests –as long as it is done with charity. We are far too sedate in this country.” The “ten cyberspace commandments” include not making an idol of your blog, not using your anonymity to sin, not murdering someone else’s honour, reputation or feelings, and not stealing another person’s content.

BYEDWEST

CATHOLICSfeel less pain than atheists, according to a new study by scientists. The Oxford University team based its conclusion on experiments in which 12 Catholics and 12 atheists were given electric shocks as they studied a painting of the Virgin Mary. The subjects spent 30 minutes inside

an MRI scanner, receiving a series of 20 electric shocks in four sessions. Each time a shock was administered they had to rate how much it hurt on a scale of 0 to 100, while at the same time they studied the works of art. The paintings were chosen because Mary was considered most likely to help create a religious state of mind in the believers involved.

Editorial Comment: Page 11

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