Reading curate acquitted on 11
charges
THE Revd Peter Jarvis, assistant curate of Loddon Reach,
Reading, who was charged with 12 sexual offences against two
teenage girls and two teenage boys, has been has been found not
guilty of 11 of the charges by a jury at Reading Crown Court (News,
31 May, 28 November). He remains suspended by the
diocese of Oxford while he waits to see if the prosecution will
choose a retrial on the last charge.
Too many churches, Bishop Frith says
THE Bishop of Hereford, the Rt Revd Richard Frith, has said that
his diocese has too many churches, and some should be closed.
Bishop Frith also said, however, that only parishioners, not
diocesan administrators, should choose when to shut the doors on a
church for good. The total bill for repairs to churches across the
diocese could be as much as £5 million, the Bishop said, but many
parishes were struggling to even find the money for their parish
share.
Wareham skull proves to be centuries old
A HUMAN skull that was abandoned on the doorstep of a church in
Dorset is more than 500 years old, Dorset Police have said. The
skull was discovered, wrapped in tissue paper in a bag, by a
churchwarden at Lady St Mary's, in Wareham, in the summer (News, 25
July). Tests by the police have shown that it dates to the 15th
century. It is still not known who left the skull at the church,
but Dorset Police said that they had closed the case.
Campaign on animals is aimed at Christians
THE American animal-rights organisation PETA has launched a new
campaign that seeks to persuade Christians to fight against the
eating of meat, the wearing of animal products, and animal
experimentation. Its "Jesus People for Animals" website and
social-media campaign highlights Bible verses that, it says,
support their message, and also include educational material for
churches to use. PETA's UK director, Mimi Bekhechi, said that, as
the Church had fought against slavery and for women's suffrage, so
it should join the fight to protect animals too.
Children's Society seeks to amend 1930s law
THE Children's Society has called for a legal loophole that
leaves 16 and 17-year-olds more vulnerable to abuse to be closed.
Child-cruelty laws, which date from the 1930s, protect only those
under the age of 16, while the rest of English law treats anyone
aged under 18 as a child. The charity wants MPs debating the
Serious Crime Bill in the New Year to close this loophole and make
it easier for the police to prosecute negligent or abusive parents
or guardians of 16- and 17-year-olds.
New guardian of the Shrine at Walsingham
THE director of a charity dedicated to protecting vulnerable
children and the elderly from harm has been elected as a lay
guardian of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. She is Amanda
McIntyre, director of the Hertfordshire-based Stefanou Foundation.
She said that she had been visiting Walsingham since the 1980s, and
found that it drew people like no other spiritual site. She
worships as St Mark's, Noel Park, in north London, and is a member
of the London diocesan synod.