Legislation is passing through parliament seeking to legalise assisted suicide. The Bill's Third Reading and vote is likely to take place at the end of April or start of May. It is vitally important you contact your MP to oppose it. There is still time.
The charity Right to Life UK has a simple online mechanism to contact your MP. It takes little more than a few minutes to input your postcode, make sure the suggested text suits your viewpoint and submit your message to ask your MP to stop assisted suicide being rushed into law.
Following a meeting at the Ukrainian Embassy in London, on Thursday, 27 March, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, the Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, updated us on the current situation facing Ukrainians in the UK and back in their homeland.
Bishop Nowakowski met with the Ukrainian Ambassador, His Excellency General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Mariana Betsa, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the leaders of Ukrainian community organisations.
Having recently returned from a visit to Cambodia, Father Anthony Chantry, the National Director of Missio in England and Wales, has revealed the many challenges the Catholic Church faces in the country.
Speaking on the latest Catholic News podcast, Father Chantry said the Church literally had to “start from scratch” and focus its efforts on healing after dictator Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime:
“I would say the Church is actually only 35 years old. I say that because in 1990, the new Cambodian government allowed one public Mass in Phnom Penh, at Easter. The Church was utterly destroyed, completely – not just the schools, not just the churches, convents, presbyteries, but the people themselves. They were either killed or exiled. So the Church really had to start from scratch.”
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of Pope Saint John Paul II’s Encyclical Letter Evangelium vitae, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life has published a Pastoral Framework titled: Life is always a good. Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life.
It has the express aim of defending, safeguarding, and promoting human life in different geographical areas and cultural contexts, in a time marked by extremely serious violations of human dignity.
Pope Francis continues to show signs of gradual improvement in his health as he recovers from bilateral pneumonia at his Vatican residence, according to the Holy See Press Office.
Pope Francis was discharged from hospital on Sunday, 23 March. He returned to Casa Santa Marta after the Angelus, during which he greeted and blessed the faithful from a window of the Gemelli Hospital.
Monday 31 March - 12pm (midday)
Friends of the Holy Land, the ecumenical charity that raises awareness and funding to help the region’s Christians, is organising an event in central London that will see Bishop William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, speaking on how war and conflict impacts on the daily lives of Christians in the Holy Land, particularly in his pastoral area, Jerusalem and Palestine. The free talk takes place on Monday, 31 March from 12pm (midday) at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8EP.
4 March - 27 April 2025
Cloud of Witnesses is an exhibition taking place during March and April in central London, showcasing a unique set of artists who have come together to explore faith and divinity. This thought-provoking exhibition encourages visitors to think differently about how faith and divinity have been traditionally portrayed.
Working ecumenically and across different faiths, St John’s Waterloo and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, advised by Art+Christianity, have come together to raise awareness, understanding and mutual respect of our collective witness in the UK through a diverse display of artworks. The aim is to create a richer dialogue about how we see and understand faith, divinity and the value of creativity, drawing inspiration from different faiths, cultures and experiences.
5 March - 17 April 2025
Lent is a 40-day fast — a reference to the time Jesus spent being tempted in the desert. It’s a time when we can prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Christ’s death. Our observance of Lent culminates in the solemn celebrations of Holy Week when on Palm Sunday we follow Christ from his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem to the foot of the Cross as sorrowful bystanders to His Passion, before rolling back the stone of the empty tomb and the joy of the Resurrection.
The six-week period is dedicated to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for this great celebration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery in the Easter Triduum.
The Holy Father has proclaimed 2025 as a Jubilee Year, a sacred time of renewal, reflection, and grace celebrated every 25 years. With the theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” this Jubilee invites all Catholics to embark on a journey of faith and transformation.
St George's Roman Catholic Church