The “inauguration of the ministry of the one hundred and fifth Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Portal Welby” (as the order of service described it) was a powerful and sometimes moving act of worship.

Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority has faced a hate campaign in recent months. The Friday Forum, a citizens’ group which includes former Anglican Bishop of Colombo Duleep de Chickera, has written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling on him to act. The letter reads as follows:

UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has attacked mediocre hospitals that “cruise along” rather than striving for “world class levels of excellence”. He referred to Mid Staffordshire, where failings led to unnecessary suffering and death.

Small gatherings can have a vital role if Sri Lanka’s wounds are to be healed and justice achieved, according to Duleep de Chickera.

London Metropolitan University has hit the headlines by suspending three staff at its Working Lives Research Institute.

Cardinal Peter Turkson may have badly damaged his prospects of becoming pope by suggesting that child sexual abuse is not a major problem in churches in Africa because homosexuality is looked on negatively. The remark is not only offensive but also reveals a dangerous ignorance that may undermine attempts to protect children.

One hundred and thirty three clergy and members of religious orders in Sri Lanka have written to the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for action.

UK Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has reportedly repeated unfair misrepresentations against a young woman whose court battle exposed the injustice of forcing unemployed people to work for free.

The One Billion Rising mass movement, involving an international day of action on 14 February 2013, has highlighted the need to tackle violence against women. It may require people of faith to look inwards as well as outwards.

“For the European Court of Human Rights to compel a religious body or its adherents to conduct a religious marriage of a same sex couple would require a legal miracle much greater than the parting of the Red Sea for the Children of Israel to cross from Egypt,” stated Lord Pannick QC.