Our country is just a bird, learning to fly, and now the army broke our wings

Protester against the Myanmar coup, interviewed by BBC News, 2 February

There is concern that with a reduction in stipendiary posts, it will be more difficult for curates successfully completing their curacies to move into a first incumbency

Money, People and Buildings discussion paper, circulated 18 January but disclosed this week

There is no evidence that church buildings being closed for worship has led to a general feeling that they are not needed

Ibid.

Covid-19 has hit us hard. It has also revealed other shortcomings and challenges that were often unheeded. We are moving into new, uncharted territory. Therefore, there isn’t a map. We are finding our way. Many challenges await us. A deep renewal of our life in Christ, and a determination to shape our life around the things we see in Christ, will be the only way we find what sort of church God wants us to be. He is our compass.

Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York, covering letter to bishops and diocesan secretaries to Money, People and Buildings, 18 January

I am very sorry that Bishop Christopher and his wife Susan have had to endure such an ordeal over the last 20 months. I have expressed my regret to Christopher and am very grateful to him for the gracious way he has responded. . . We have both agreed that there are many lessons we and the Church need to learn from this very difficult season, as we also continue to learn lessons from the scrutiny of IICSA which highlighted our poor response to survivors

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, about the return to duty of Christopher Lowson, Bishop of Lincoln, 1 February

Recent safeguarding complaints about both the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have been closed quickly with judicious speed and finality. I have no reason to doubt that they were dealt with properly but those of us who have suffered the stutteringly slow, brutal and impersonal face of the Church of England’s core group process have reason to complain about the disparity. This is not the Church of England that I have known — generous, open and kind. . . The current culture of fear in which survivors and clerics alike receive no kind of justice must be confronted

George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, on the return of his Permission to Officiate eight months after it was removed, Daily Telegraph, 29 January

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