Catholic Union Head of Public Affairs, James Somerville-Meikle, writes: MPs and peers will be heading back to Westminster on Monday as Parliament returns from summer… Read More »Editorial: Families should be the focus of welfare spending
Catholic Union Head of Public Affairs, James Somerville-Meikle, writes: At the time of writing, the last plane carrying British nationals and Afghans to the UK… Read More »Editorial: While politicians talk, faith groups act
Head of Public Affairs, James Somerville-Meikle, writes: While the past few days have rightly been dominated by the situation in Afghanistan, the week began with confirmation that… Read More »Editorial: Mass disappointment in Scotland
With Parliament on Summer recess, the Catholic Union has taken the opportunity to update our supporters in both Houses of Parliament on our recent work.… Read More »Catholic Union updates MPs and peers on recent work
The Catholic Union has called on the Government to rule out the use of Covid passports for churches and other places of worship.
The Government has said it intends to make certification mandatory for access to certain “crowded” places later this year, but details of the proposals are yet to be confirmed.
Faiths Minister, Lord Greenhalgh, said on Twitter that the Government does not intend to make double vaccination a condition of entry to places of worship.
Read More »Catholic Union calls on Government to rule out Covid passports for churches
In May 2021, the Government introduced the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill to Parliament. The purpose of the Bill is to make provision in… Read More »Catholic Union Briefing: Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill
In July 2021, the Government introduced the Nationality and Borders Bill to Parliament. The Bill seeks to put the proposals contained within the New Plan… Read More »Catholic Union Briefing: New Plan for Immigration
The Catholic Union has called on the Government to unlock the potential of faith groups in helping to tackle local problems.
In a letter to the Faiths Minister, Lord Greenhalgh, the Catholic Union has called for better guidance from the Government to encourage local authorities to work with faith groups at the ground level. The Catholic Union believes that “some small changes to existing guidance” could make a big difference in supporting the work of faith groups.
The Catholic Union has called for civil society to be at the heart of plans for recovery from the pandemic, and expressed concern that there was no mention of faith or family in the Queen’s Speech on 11 May, which set out the Government’s plans for the year ahead.
Read More »Catholic Union encourages Government to partner with faith groups
The Catholic Union has responded to the Queen’s Speech on 11 May 2021.
Catholic Union Director, Nigel Parker, comments: “National recovery is rightly the Government’s focus for the year ahead but rebuilding from the pandemic is a task that needs to involve everyone in society.
The Catholic Union has welcomed the decision by the Scottish Government to remove the cap on the number of people allowed to attend religious services in Scotland.
Churches in Scotland were able to reopen for public worship on 26 March, having been closed since the beginning of the year, but a maximum of 50 people could attend religious services.
The Catholic Union, along with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, argued that this cap was arbitrary and was preventing some people being able to return to Mass.
Read More »Catholic Union welcomes lifting of “arbitrary” cap on Mass attendance in Scotland
