The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC an international emergency in July after it surfaced in August 2018.

There have been 2,169 deaths so far, including 2,053 people who died from confirmed cases of Ebola. The other deaths are considered probable cases. Just over a thousand people sickened with the virus have recovered, according to Congolese health officials.

Flying with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), the world’s largest humanitarian airline, Most Rev Justin Welby took the co-pilot seat in a Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft to reach an Ebola-effected cities in east Democratic Republic of Congo on 23 October.

Archbishop Justin took an aerial view of two Ebola-effected hot zones before landing in Beni and Butembo where the virus is being contained by an army of health workers and humanitarian NGOs.

Following strict WHO anti-contamination procedures, Archbishop Justin toured hospitals which have been transformed into Ebola treatment facilities. The sites are a hub of medical activity with quarantine units, screening centres, and blood-testing tents set up to combat the disease.

The archbishop sensing some nerves before take-off from fellow passengers, said: “You have nothing to worry about. MAF fly in the most difficult places in the world, landing at the most difficult runways…

Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory, has been invited to the UK by interdenominational body Grasping the Nettle (GTN), which promotes dialogue on how faith and science can work together.

He will give a number of academic talks and will also attend school conferences during his four-day visit to Scotland this week.

The American research astronomer will also attend the GTN National Conference in Edinburgh on November 2.

Brother Consolmagno, a Jesuit religious brother, said: “I am thrilled to be coming to Scotland to participate in the Grasping the Nettle programme.

“It’s so important to dialogue with students and the general public, of all faiths and sciences, how faith enhances our science and science our faith. Both seek truth, and find it in joy.”

He added: “The claim that somehow a scientist must be atheist is a holdover from the Victorian idea of materialism.

“But consider the 19th-century physicist James Clerk Maxwell, whose famous equations led to the overthrow of that misconception and opened the door to modern physics. He was a man of deep faith; and, of course, a Scotsman. I am honoured to visit the land of his birth.”

GTN challenges the idea that increasing scientific knowledge implies that science and religion are in conflict.

Very Rev John Chalmers, former Church of Scotland moderator and ambassador-at-large for GTN, said: “Those of…

Bishop William Nolan of Galloway, President of the Catholic Church’s Justice and Peace Commission, has called on the UK Government to make “safe and legal routes” available for refugees attempting to come to the UK.

Bishop William’s plea comes ahead of the three-year anniversary of the refugee camp known as ‘the jungle’ in Calais being demolished.

He said in a statement: “Three years ago, the French and UK governments demolished the refugee camp known as ‘the jungle’.

“Many thousands of people were dispersed across France, and the infrastructure of support and solidarity provided by so many volunteers was destroyed.

“Three years on, the situation in Calais, Dunkirk and other areas is more desperate than ever.

“The policies of attrition – wearing down refugees through harsh treatment, including eviction from places of shelter; confiscation of possessions; assault and use of pepper spray – are forcing already vulnerable people to increasingly desperate measures, pushing them into the arms of people smugglers and human traffickers.”

He said during his visit to Calais in 2017, one year after the jungle’s demolition, he witnessed several young refugees sleeping rough, and after issuing a statement calling on authorities to take action, nothing has been done.

“Now, three years since the jungle…