What the papers said in the week ending 31 December 2022
As we come to the end of 2022, we acknowledge that this has been an awful year for the world and for people of all ages in this country.
But we find headlines and stories giving time and space to Christianity and the Christian message in response for the search for reason and hope for the next year and beyond:
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope pray again for the end of the war between Russia and the Ukraine: Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis call for end to war in Ukraine | Christianity | The Guardian
Rowan Williams calls upon us all to apply Christian principles in the realities of the lives we are leading: No one is safe until everyone is safe – we applied it to the pandemic, but why not our economy? | Rowan Williams | The Guardian
People respond eloquently but measuredly to the challenge from Polly Toynbee to uncouple the joy of Christmas from the celebration of the birth of Jesus: Keeping faith with an under-fire Christianity | Christmas | The Guardian
King Charles spoke thoughtfully and impressively, not shirking the issues of The Faiths, but reflecting most on the inequalities in our community, which cause such hardship and which can be averted: King Charles highlights cost of living crisis in first Christmas broadcast | King Charles III | The Guardian
We are given a preview of a report from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, which will call upon church people to take action in support of people with dementia and their families – recognising them as fellow travellers and not as burdens: Archbishops’ inquiry to call for better dementia support in community | Social care | The Guardian
- This is timely and pertinent as we learn that the care being received by people with dementia who live their final weeks and months ‘in care’ is less good than it was a few years ago: Dementia patients in England facing ‘national crisis’ in care safety | Social care | The Guardian
This is a massive issue. A new Dementia Strategy has been promised but is now delayed. Such official paperwork may have some benefit, but people were working hard and with enlightenment before the current Dementia Strategy was introduced 2009: Living Well With Dementia: A national dementia strategy – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- You might believe that matters have improved in prevention, treatment and support in the intervening years. Reading the most recent CQC reports and listening to the experiences of individuals and families we are shockingly not sure that this is so. Fragmentation of services in a model which has seen reliance on private sector and charitable ‘providers’ may have increased the number of people being processed through a diagnostic pathway – but for many this does not lead to satisfactory and reassuring caring over the years they live with the condition. Examples of good practice can be quoted: Dementia village in Warwick is a pioneer in person-centred care | Dementia | The Guardian
- Summary – Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)
- But we sorely need a return to comprehensive integrated services. Perhaps this is the area where churches and church people can play a big part in bringing compassion and reason to a situation which strikes fear into older people and everyone in their thinking about later life. Health matters: midlife approaches to reduce dementia risk – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
More on war:
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is not the only war causing deaths and great harm: Think the war in Ukraine is the world’s deadliest conflict? Think again | Magdalene Abraha | The Guardian
More on later life:
Space for graves is running out – Solutions are canvassed: Call to allow reuse of graves as burial plots run low in England and Wales | Death and dying | The Guardian
Some people say it is wise to listen to advice: Age-old advice for living a fuller life at 95 | Older people | The Guardian
Finding secure work is not easy: Zero-hours contracts among over-50s hit highest level recorded | Zero-hours contracts | The Guardian
Many people beyond middle age devote their energies to supporting others, some in most spectacular fashion: Marathon man Gary McKee hits £1m goal after 365th run of 2022 – BBC News
More on the economy:
Reliance on charities is worn thin as sources of funding have been eroded: The Guardian view on charities and the cost of living crisis: overwhelming needs | Editorial | The Guardian
Benefits do not get through to those in greatest need: Ministers criticised as 200,000 eligible children in England miss out on free school meals | Schools | The Guardian
- We will (almost) all be less well-off. Stands to reason, given all the circumstances – but there must be a best way of coping with the new challenges: ‘Groundhog year’: UK disposable incomes to fall by 3.8% in 2023 | UK cost of living crisis | The Guardian
But some have risen above the gloom and become very rich. Seven times as many wealthy bankers in the UK than in Germany! Call for wealth tax as UK billionaire numbers up by 20% since pandemic | The super-rich | The Guardian
Covid and its consequences:
Family patterns have been changed: Number of stay-at-home dads in UK up by a third since before pandemic | Parents and parenting | The Guardian
People are desperate, and some are exploited: Long Covid patients using unproven and expensive treatments, experts warn | Long Covid | The Guardian
Health science:
Be careful what you eat: ‘Too much’ nitrite-cured meat brings clear risk of cancer, say scientists | Cancer | The Guardian
Scottish football is taking steps to reduce the harm which follows heading the ball too often: ‘We respect the scientists’ – how new heading rules affect Scottish football | Football | The Guardian
Science is still delivering almost magical cures: Man given a year to live now cancer-free after immunotherapy trial | Cancer research | The Guardian
The climate and nature:
Allowing watercourses to follow their natural routes has benefit: Diversity returns to Lakeland stream after restoration puts its bends back | Rivers | The Guardian
Golf courses are being returned to a wilder state and we will see a greater diversity of plants and animals: Rewilded former golf course in Cheshire to be transformed into public woodland | Access to green space | The Guardian
Nature delivers the year round – even in winter: The winter world may seem gloomy – but look closely, and you’ll see nature casting a spell | Lucy Jones | The Guardian
But extreme changes have had destructive effects: Biggest climate toll in year of ‘devastating’ disasters revealed | Climate crisis | The Guardian
The loss of one 200 year old ash tree has provoked reflection and sadness: Gravestone-encircled ‘Hardy Tree’ falls in London | Thomas Hardy | The Guardian
Losses:
Tom Meade was an important scientist in the world of Public Health: he retained his faith, though transforming from The Church of England to be a Quaker on an issue of doctrine: Tom Meade obituary | Medical research | The Guardian
Jeremy Davies – another doctor, became Chief Exorcist for the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales: Father Jeremy Davies obituary | Catholicism | The Guardian
John Bird was a friend to many through his TV presence: John Bird obituary | Television & radio | The Guardian
Pope Benedict XVI: Pope Benedict XVI obituary | Catholicism | The Guardian
Pele’s influence in life was great beyond the world of football – and his memory will live long: Pelé obituary | Football | The Guardian
David Jolley – Chair of Christians on Ageing, in a personal capacity
