The Scottish Parliament passed the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act on 19 February 2014.

It required state guardians, known as ‘named persons’, to record and share confidential information concerning the well being of children and their parents.

It was supposed to go into effect in August 2016, but The Christian Institute led a lengthy legal action against the introduction of the legislation, arguing that it breached human rights.

In July 2016, in the case of The Christian Institute and The Lord Advocate (Scotland), five UK Supreme Court judges unanimously struck down the central provisions of the scheme.

The Court stated that the data sharing provisions in the Act breached the right to a private and family life under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It also ruled that it had to be made clear that any advice offered by a named person is entirely optional.

CARE (Christian Action Research & Education), who was also part of the legal action has called the scheme “creepy”.

CARE for Scotland Director, Dr Stuart Weir said: “The writing’s been on the wall for the flawed Named Person scheme for some time and today’s decision did feel inevitable, although it has been long overdue.

“We wholeheartedly support measures to protect vulnerable young people, but from the start we have been concerned about the potential for the Named Person scheme to…

The Venerable Cherry Vann got the necessary two-thirds majority from members of the Church in Wales Electoral College on Thursday.

Archbishop of Wales, Most Rev John Davies, said the bishop elect has a huge amount to contribute to the Church in Wales.

“One area I know is very close to her heart is the church’s ministry in post-industrial areas where community life, and church life in particular perhaps, has suffered enormously,” he said.

“The diocese, a little while ago, appointed a new archdeacon with responsibility for those areas, but having a bishop with great experience of them will be a huge morale boost for them.”

Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, with the Bishop Elect, Cherry Vann.

Originally from Leicestershire, Bishop Elect Vann has served as Archdeacon of Rochdale in the Diocese of Manchester for the past eleven years.

She said the challenges facing churches in south east Wales were the same as those in the north west of England.

“We’ve done some statistics and a very, very small percentage of the population are going to our churches,” she explained.

“This is something that we have been working hard to address in the Manchester area and I look forward to bringing some of the wisdom and knowledge I’ve gained from there to Newport and the Diocese of Monmouth.

“It struck me when I read the…

Cardinal Nichols thanked the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission on Friday for giving “a clear picture of the work done in Safeguarding in the Catholic Church today”.

He said: “A glance at those reports tells a story of progress made, difficulties encountered, effort expended and challenges that lie ahead.”

While acknowledging the progress that has already been made, Cardinal Nichols stressed the importance of heeding the steps that the report has highlighted.

“At the same time the report is totally without any sense of complacency. The challenge of our response to the presence of sexual abuse within the Church continues to be urgent and of vital importance: heeding the voice and experience of survivors and responding to them; responding promptly to the surfacing of allegations; cooperating fully with public authorities; strengthening programmes of education and awareness raising.”

The president of the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales also thanked all those involved in safe guarding provision across the Church saying: “The clarity and detail contained in the report is testimony to the hard work of many, many people, across our parishes and dioceses, mostly dedicated and trained volunteers.

“This is a story that needs to be heard.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive…

Faithful in America has got more than 11,000 signatures so far in efforts to open a criminal investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr, president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. 

The group said in a statement: “Christians are appalled by recent reports about the mismanagement of Liberty University.

“We call on Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig to hold the school accountable. Open criminal investigations into accusations of self-dealing and other misconduct by Liberty’s president, Jerry Falwell, Jr., at once!”

The petition comes after an article by Politico Magazine featured several current and former top staff at the school anonymously detailing unethical behaviours from Jerry Falwell Jr.

He was accused of creating a culture of fear and directing business decisions to favour his family and friends.

Falwell, who’s one of US President Donald Trump’s advisors, has denied any wrong doing and called for the FBI to investigate a “criminal conspiracy” against him.

Faithful in America said: “Nothing about this Trump-like behaviour can be called Christian.”

The group hopes to reach 15,000 signatures by the weekend.

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.

The rare object, made in Limoges, France, in the 13th century, was found in 1826 in the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey in York.

It disappeared for nearly 100 years before it became part of the private collection of a German art collector in the 1920s.

The gilded and enamelled ornament will now be displayed at the Yorkshire Museum, on the site of the former abbey, after it was bought by the York Museums Trust.

The 16cm figure is believed to have been acquired from Limoges to furnish St Mary’s Abbey, which was newly built in the 13th century and was the richest abbey in the north of England.

It would have been mounted on an enamelled cross and decorated a religious object, such as a manuscript cover or a casket.

The figure is one of few objects to have survived Henry VIII’s brutal dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s and, although its hands and feet are missing, it is unusual in its completeness, as most examples of Limoges enamelwork are highly fragmentary.

The statue has the remains of enamel decoration, is embellished with stone settings on the crown, eyes and loincloth, and has delicate cast decorations on the crowned head, expressive face, finely streaked hair and beard, torso and elaborately embellished loincloth.

Curator of archeology at York Museums Trust Lucy Creighton with a rare 800-year-old figure of…