Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
On Wednesday, 19 November, St George’s Catholic Cathedral, Southwark, was dramatically bathed in red light as a symbol of solidarity with Catholics and other Christians around the world who suffer persecution and oppression for their faith.
This year, a sung Mass was celebrated at St George’s by Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Bishop-elect of Plymouth and featured music from the cathedral choir. The Mass was followed by the presentation of ACN UK’s Courage to be Christian award.
Each year, the Catholic Church promotes Racial Justice Sunday, which in 2025 was held on 16 February and celebrated its 30th anniversary. The theme was Pilgrims of Hope: Our Journey Together Towards Racial Justice. Catholics across England and Wales were invited to reflect during this Jubilee year on the collective journey towards racial justice in schools, parishes and wider society.
As part of these reflections, on 22 October, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales hosted a webinar titled, Pilgrims of Hope: Promoting Racial Justice in our Parishes, chaired by Bishop Paul McAleenan, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Lead Bishop for Racial Justice.
Gaza remains under Israeli bombardment, even just hours ago. It is crucial to move toward phase two of the United States’ plan, leading to a political process aimed at achieving a two-state solution.
After the Security Council’s adoption of the resolution, the United Nations has committed itself to pressing forward and “translating diplomatic momentum into concrete and urgent measures on the ground.” These concrete actions must take the form of steps that, many hope, can become a turning point for Palestinians exhausted by war and devastation.
Speaking to Vatican News, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, urges the international community to take the necessary steps to implement solutions that might bring relief to a people who are reeling from two years of bombings and now suffering the harsh winter conditions.
In a video interview filmed a few weeks before his Installation on Saturday 29 November, Bishop Nicholas Hudson speaks to us about his new appointment as Bishop of Plymouth.
“I want to be a listening bishop, and I want to make a real priority of listening from the outset. I want to listen in a special way to the clergy, of course. But I also want to be able to listen to people from across the generations.”
There’s a slightly different feel to November’s At the Foot of the Cross podcast. As well as being a month of remembrance and prayer for those who have died, both on the November lists in our parishes and in the World Wars and other conflicts, it’s also a time when the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales gather at Hinsley Hall in the Diocese of Leeds for their autumn plenary meeting. This podcast consists of four episcopal audio interventions giving a flavour of the Bishops’ meeting. We also catch up with Fleur Dorrell, our Biblical Apostolate Manager, to look at what Scripture says about death and dying.
‘Dying to Live’ was a panel discussion that took place in the Grimshaw Room of St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham, on Sunday 26 October. It examined how faith traditions approach dying, death, and bereavement and the religious and cultural practices observed in end-of-life settings.
Moderated by Associate Professor Maggie Doherty, Lead at the Centre for the Art of Living and Dying Well, the session presented findings from the Centre’s new community-based participatory research.
Members of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, will be asked to decide whether Wales should give its consent to Westminster’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — a law that would legalise assisted suicide. This would be a profound change for Wales and would mean that, for the first time, doctors could be asked to assist a patient in ending their life intentionally.
If enacted, this bill would put the most vulnerable in our society at risk of coercion. The conscientious objection clause for doctors is inadequate. Furthermore, parliament has explicitly rejected an amendment whereby care homes and hospices could opt out of facilitating assisted suicide on their premises and yet many care homes and hospices will want no involvement. Even with stricter rules, experience from other countries shows that once assisted suicide is introduced, the safeguards soon loosen and those who are elderly, disabled, or feel they are a burden begin to feel subtle pressure to choose death.
Write to a Member of the Senedd
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has passed through the House of Commons and is now with the House of Lords. Our clear principled objection to the Bill remains. The House of Lords has a responsibility to scrutinise the Bill in depth and reject it if necessary.
Unlike MPs, Members of the House of Lords do not have constituents, meaning there is not a Peer whose job it is to represent you based on the area of the country in which you live. For this reason you should take some time to think about which Peer you will write to and why, such as whether you have a personal or professional connection with them, or you have professional expertise in medicine or healthcare.
Please visit this link for full guidance to help you write to a Peer.
Stop the 'Up to Birth Clause (191)' in the Crime and Policing Bill that seeks to fundamentally change our laws on abortion. Please take action and make your voice heard. In June 2025, pro-abortion MPs, led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, hijacked the Crime and Policing Bill to rush through the abortion up to birth clause (191) after just 46 minutes of backbench debate – there was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
The Antoniazzi clause would make it more likely that healthy babies are aborted at home for any reason, up to birth. The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth.
If this amendment becomes law, it would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women.
Wednesday 3 December – Friday 5 December
St Mary’s University, in association with Caritas Social Action Network, is holding a special conference dedicated to exploring the ongoing relevance of Gaudium et Spes.
On 7 December 1965, Vatican II promulgated the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World. It was the last and longest document to come from the Second Vatican Council. It remains central to the Church’s Magisterium and has guided so many aspects of the Church’s life.
Catholic Christians must be committed to social justice and to the common good of humanity and our common home. This conference will consider the ongoing relevance of Gaudium et Spes, with specific reference to the Church’s commitment to Catholic education and social justice.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, through its Biblical Apostolate, and Birmingham Newman University are conducting research into neurodiversity and our faith. If you're an adult neurodivergent Catholic or a caregiver of a neurodivergent Catholic, we want to hear from you. Your experiences will help us to become more aware of and responsive to your needs. Please complete our short surveys.
Would you like to join our team responsible for communicating the work and mission of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales? You will help plan, create, and deliver high-quality media and communications content across multiple digital platforms. The role requires someone who has a gift for compelling storytelling to advance the mission and work of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
St George's Roman Catholic Church