Most Rev Justin Welby told the TUC’s Congress Guide ahead of his speech at the group’s conference on Wednesday that the Church will form new partnerships with various unions and ensure that “oppressed” people are protected from “cruel employers”.

 “Holding businesses to account and making sure the needs of people are put at the centre is vital,” he said. “Christian faith starts with knowing that each of us is loved by God and are of infinite value to God.“Therefore, the value of every human being is the same. Jesus was very practical about applying these values.”“The TUC grew out of the need to come together to defend vulnerable and oppressed workers against overmighty and cruel employers. It is one expression amongst many of what it means to value human beings and care for human dignity.”Archbishop Justin’s comments were met with some resistance. According to The Express, MP Phillip Davies said the archbishop should quit his role and join the Labour Party if he wants to comment on government affairs. Mr Davies said: “Justin Welby ought to consider removing his dog collar and replacing it with a Labour Party rosette.“No wonder church attendances are so poor – another member of the metropolitan Elite establishment out of touch with the silent majority.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective.

UCL’s Institute of Education used a sample of 10,000 people born in the same week in 1970 and assessed whether faith schools made an impact on their results at O-level, A-Level and University.

They found that there were only short-term academic advantages of Catholic schools and Church of England schools, up to O-Level, providing an equivalent of an extra third of an O-Level.

Professor Alice Sullivan, the study’s lead author, explained how background was a bigger influence than school: “Pupils who were raised in religious homes were more likely to succeed academically than those from non-religious backgrounds, whether they went to faith schools or not.”

The authors say this would explain why religious schools may sometimes do better, as their students are overwhelmingly from religious home lives.

For example, in the C of E schools attended by children in the study, half of the pupils had an Anglican upbringing, 20 per cent were ‘other Christian’, 9 per cent were Catholic, 3 per cent were of other faiths, leaving 19 per cent having no religious background.

Professor Sullivan added that this should change the perception held by some that faith schools automatically lead to a better education.

She said: “Past studies have claimed an advantage for faith schools, without accounting for the religious background of the pupils. This study suggests that that is a…

They made the decision during the annual residential meeting of the College of Bishops, which is taking place in Oxford.
 
Their joint statement endorsing the IHRA definition on behalf of the Church includes all of its examples of antisemitism.

The bishops also called for everyone to reject using language that could cause “prejudice, stigma or hatred towards people on the grounds of their religion, culture, origins, identity or beliefs”.
 
Rt Rev David Walker, Bishop of Manchester said: “The Jewish community, among whom I live in Salford, carry with them the vivid memory and scars of the Holocaust; they know all too well that antisemitism is never far below the surface of our society.
 
“Today’s statement from the Church of England bishops assures them that we will continue to reject such prejudice and bigotry firmly, in line with our practice over 75 years.
 
“At the same time we will continue to speak out critically when governments here and elsewhere act in ways that our faith calls us to challenge.”
 
The Church of England’s interfaith team and national advisers already use the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism as the benchmark in their work and ministry.
 
However, the bishops noted the “necessity of making explicit” the Church’s adoption of, and adherence to, the definition.
 
Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Rev Justin Welby, also spoke of…

Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, an aide to both retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, told a book presentation that he by no means was comparing the scandal to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the US on September 11 2001.

But he said the years-long sex scandal, and recent revelations in a Pennsylvania grand jury report, showed “how many souls have been wounded irrevocably and mortally by priests from the Catholic Church”.

“Today, even the Catholic Church looks full of confusion at its own 9/11, at its own September 11, even though this catastrophe isn’t associated with a single date but rather at so many days and years, and innumerable victims,” he said.

While no one has attacked churches with planes full of passengers, Mr Gaenswein said, recent news from the US “sends a message that is even more terrible than the sudden collapse of all the churches of Pennsylvania together with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington”.

Mr Gaenswein, who serves as secretary to Benedict and prefect of Francis’s papal household, was speaking at a presentation of a book by conservative American author Rod Dreher, who has been at the forefront in reporting on the recent scandal in the US over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Francis removed McCarrick as a cardinal in July following a credible accusation that he groped a teenage altar boy in…

London Fire Brigade (LFB) said 10 engines and 70 firefighters were called to the site in Dorris Hill Lane, Neasden, at around 4am  

Half of the first floor, second floor and roof of the hall were said to be alight.

The fire was under control around 7:15 am.

Crews were sent from Willesden, West Hampstead, Wembley, North Kensington, Hendon and surrounding stations, LFB said.

The cause of the fire remains unclear.

The Metropolitan Police said in a tweet: “We are on scene at Neasden Circle junction with Tanfield Avenue for a fire at a Church. Tanfield Avenue and part of Neasden Circle remain closed.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.