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Joint Ecumenical statement on widening conflict in Middle East

The World Council of Churches, Middle East Council of Churches, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Methodist Council, Mennonite World Conference, Christian Conference of Asia, and ACT Alliance join in expressing their deep concern regarding the humanitarian and social impacts of the widening conflict in the Middle East, and the threat it poses to the peace and s... Read More


Good Shepherd Sisters statement on crisis in Iran and Middle East

Families are arriving at shelters with absolutely nothing. Image:  Good Shepherd Sisters

A sudden escalation of conflict in Lebanon has displaced over 500,000 people in just over one week. The Good Shepherd community is actively responding to the crisis. They are ensuring the safety of our evacuated staff and sisters in Beirut while delivering urgent medical and psychosocial support to thousands of displaced individuals through the Saint-Antoine Dispensary and Good Shepherd mission. T... Read More


Gospel in Art: All in the synagogue were filled with wrath

The face of a bearded man expressing Anger (la Colère), Print of a drawing after Charles le Brun, Original drawing circa 1670 © Wellcome Collection, London

Gospel of 9 March 2026 Luke 4:24-30 When Jesus came to Nazareth, he said to the people in the synagogue: 'Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his home town. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to... Read More


Columban Schools Competition on Refugees: Winners announced

'Between Borders' the winning artwork

Winners have been announced in a media competition for young people in Britain and Ireland on the subject, "Becoming a refugee is never a choice, but how we respond is." It is a quote from the United Nations Secretary General-Secretary, António Guterres, who is a Catholic. The annual competition of the Columban Missionaries attracted a record 349 entries across Britain and Ireland, the highest nu... Read More

Palestinian Christians denounce US evangelical support for war on Iran

Pastor Munther Isaac

Pastor Munther Isaac, from Bethlehem said that every human life is precious and urged peace and an end to suffering in an on-line briefing about the US-Israeli war with Iran and across the Middle East on Friday 6 March. Rev Isaac who leads the Lutheran churches in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, is well known for his 'Christ in the rubble' denunciation of the genocide in Gaza during Christmas 2023. Two... Read More


Eyewitness message from Lebanon

Bombings in Beirut - Screenshot

Pat Gaffney, Vice President of Pax Christi, shares a message from a close friend in Lebanon. "Was it only two years ago that I began receiving messages from a dear friend who lives in Lebanon - trapped in her home in Saida - among others who had become victims of Israel's war on Gaza? As news unfolded this week my fears were confirmed. Lebanon is under attack again. My friend and her family, P... Read More


Finding Beauty Behind Bars - a climate activist's enforced retreat

Climate activist Tim Hewes, a retired dentist and Anglican priest in his seventies, was accused of conspiring to bring the M25 motorway to a standstill in a protest against climate change. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, his home in rural Oxfordshire was raided by eight officers from the Metropolitan Police. Tim was handcuffed and taken to court, then imprisoned on remand for six weeks. Finding Beaut... Read More


Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago: "A Call to Conscience"

Cardinal Blase Cupich

As more than 1,000 Iranian men, women and children lay dead after days of bombardment from U.S. and Israeli missiles, the official White House X account on Thursday evening posted a video of scenes from popular action movies spliced with actual strike footage from their war on Iran. The clip was captioned: "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY." A real war with real death and real suffering being treated like... Read More


Gospel in Art: A woman from Samaria came to draw water

Christ and the Woman of Samaria at the Well,  by Il Guercino, 1640 - 1641  © Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid

Gospel of 8 March 2026 John 4:5-42 At that time: Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the... Read More


Pope: Peace is a constant journey of reconciliation

Image: Vatican Media

In a letter sent to a gathering in his home town of Chicago, Pope Leo said: "when people of different religious traditions come together in prayer, it has the power to change the course of history." Writing to participants in the International Encounter for Peace and Reconciliation at Loyola University, Pope Leo began by saying he was pleased they were continuing with the 'Building Bridges Init... Read More


Iraq: 'If Christians are forced to leave again they will not return'

Patriarch Louis Rafael Sako

As the war in the Middle East continues to escalate, with the spectre of a broader regional conflict looming, the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, has voiced his alarm. "As Patriarch, I am deeply concerned. No one knows where this war will lead," he told Vatican News today. Like much of the Middle East, Iraq has come under rocket and drone attacks from Iran over the pas... Read More


Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls

Leela Ramdeen

The Theme for International Women's Day tomorrow, 8 March is: 'Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls'. António Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, has stated that achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is "the unfinished business of our time, and the greatest human rights challenge in our world." Christianity teaches that all people possess inherent, inviolable dig... Read More


Battersea parish hosts panel discussion on papacy of Pope Leo

l-r: Rev Erin Clark, Fr David O'Malley and Christopher Lamb during the discussion

Christopher Lamb, Vatican correspondent for CNN and Rev Erin Clark, Vicar of St Mary's Anglican church in Battersea were guest speakers at a packed meeting in the Sacred Heart church, Battersea on Thursday, to reflect on the hope and unity that Pope Leo's election might bring to our church. Fr Peter Pagac SDB, Parish Priest hosted the event. The conversation was chaired by Fr David O'Malley SDB f... Read More


Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 8th March 2026

Christ and the woman drawing water  Catacomb of Callistus, Rome. 2C AD

Third Sunday of Lent The true Place of the Woman at the Well Let us begin our reflection by letting the woman of Sychar unsettle us for a good cause, challenging our own preconceptions about the company Jesus kept, to help us place this Samaritan woman not only as a key figure but a primary witness in John's Gospel. This is a form of recovery, rebalancing ourselves if you like, by letting the fact... Read More

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