Safety first at Peterborough tomb
CATHERINE of Aragon’s tomb, in Peterborough Cathedral, has been roped off from visitors due to falling plasterwork attributable to excessive temperatures through the recent heatwave. A cathedral spokesperson told Peterborough Today that the works shouldn’t be “too costly”. The Chapter hope to reopen the realm “soon”.
CCLA to turn into a part of Jupiter
THE investment firm CCLA is to be bought by Jupiter Fund Management, it was announced on Monday. The CCLA manages funds on behalf of the Church of England, charities, and native authorities. Andy Brookes, who chairs the Central Board of Finance Funds Trustee Ltd, said: “We are confident that joining Jupiter will enable CCLA to supply an excellent higher service to Church Charities to support them of their mission.” The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.
New leader for the Church Mission Society
THE recent chief executive of the Church Mission Society (CMS) is to be Andy Roberts, the society’s director of mission since 2021 and a former CMS mission partner. He founded the kids’s charity ReVive International, in Brazil, where he lived for many of his life. He said: “My passion is to see mission shaped by deep listening, courageous innovation, and native leadership.” He will take up post on 1 August, and succeeds Alastair Bateman, who held the position from May 2019.
Snow praises congregations for support of families
THE Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, has issued a press release after the publication of presidency statistics on families affected by the two-child profit limit. “Behind these figures are hundreds upon hundreds of stories — stories of hardship and anxiety, but additionally of resilience. I’m proud that so many churches are part of those stories,” he wrote last week.
Cleric pleads guilty to sexual assault
THE Revd Robert Price Weldon, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Folkestone, since 2016, has pleaded guilty to at least one count of sexual assault on a lady aged over 16 on 30 October 2024. He appeared at Folkestone Magistrates Court on 8 July, and shall be sentenced on 2 September. In a press release, the diocese of Canterbury said that “he was suspended following an arrest in December 2024”, and that “pastoral care has been offered to all those concerned, and the Diocese has kept in close contact with Kent Police throughout.”
Interim Dean of Carlisle announced
THE Revd Michael Everitt, Canon Pastor of Durham Cathedral since 2019, is to be the Interim Dean of Carlisle from 4 August, after the Very Revd Jonathan Brewster’s resignation (News, 11 July). Canon Everitt was ordained priest in 1993, and served his title in Blackburn diocese. He held posts in South Africa, before returning to Blackburn diocese in 1998, where he served in parish ministry as Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands, and as Archdeacon of Lancaster from 2011 to 2019. He said: “Since being ordained 33 years ago, I even have worn the Carlisle Cross around my neck and that very same yr I used to be married at Carlisle Cathedral. It is a spot and a community very dear to my heart and to be a part of it’s each humbling and exciting.”
Excavation begins for mass infant-burial site
A TEAM including forensic archaeologists has begun excavating an unmarked burial site within the hope of identifying 796 babies and young children who died on the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. The process, which began on Monday, comes after research by a neighborhood historian, Catherine Corless, indicated that babies and young children were buried in a sewage system between 1925 and 1961. The process is predicted to take two years.
Government to amend Gift Aid rules
THE Government has confirmed that it can amend Gift Aid laws due to implications of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) 2024, it was announced last week. In response to a written query from the Conservative MP for Daventry, Stuart Andrew, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, said: “The Government will amend existing Gift Aid laws before the DMCCA comes into force in order that charities can proceed to assert Gift Aid while complying with recent consumer protections.”
