Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
23 March will forever be associated with the day that life was turned on its head for many of us with the start of national lockdown in 2020.
To mark the anniversary, I attended an event in Parliament on Thursday this week hosted by the Board of Deputies of British Jews to highlight the work of Chevra Kadisha, Jewish burial societies, during the pandemic.
Honouring Jewish burial custom became extremely difficult under Covid restrictions – a reminder that Catholics were far from the only community who found our freedom to worship suspended during the darkest days of the pandemic.
While Thursday’s event was a chance to share our experiences of lockdown, it also provided the opportunity to look to the future and areas of shared interest.
Whether it’s promoting religious freedom at work or making our tax system fairer for families – it’s clear there are many areas where Catholics and Jews can work together for the benefit of the common good.
If the pandemic has done one thing, it has strengthened the bonds of friendship and understanding between people of different faiths. In an increasingly secular world, these bonds are becoming all the more important.