Increased in-person attendance, which had been severely impacted in 2020, reflected the vaccine rollout, and the easing of Covid-19 restrictions throughout the year, though it also showed that many people chose to stay away from public indoor spaces especially during those periods when restrictions remained in place, and during the late autumn that saw the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, the data showed a weekly total of 15,800 people were reported at cathedral services in 2021. This is a 22 per cent more than the equivalent figure from 2020, although still 58 per cent below the 2019 figure.

Meanwhile, the number of cathedrals offering online worship in addition to, or augmenting in-person services remained high, with 94 per cent of cathedrals continuing to offer this.

Weddings showed the closest return to pre-pandemic numbers with 230 marriages conducted in cathedrals during 2021, 93 per cent of the figure from 2019, and an increase of 250 per cent from the 2020 total.

During 2021, there were a total of 320 baptisms conducted in all Church of England cathedrals. This was 43 per cent of the equivalent figure in 2019, but a 242 per cent increase on the total number of baptisms that took place in cathedrals in 2020.

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"The data from 2021 demonstrates the resilience of the cathedrals and their importance to local communities in the face of adversity."

– Dean of Canterbury, @davidrmmonteith reflects on the latest data from Church of England cathedrals.

Read more at https://t.co/UOHpwt09sM.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) March 24, 2023

The College of Bishops met on Thursday to continue considering next steps for the Church of England following the recent debate at General Synod on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.

Last month’s Synod considered proposals from the bishops which would enable same-sex couples who have marked a significant stage of their relationship such as a civil marriage or civil partnership to come to church to give thanks, offer prayers of dedication to God and to receive God’s blessing. Synod members also met in small groups to consider and comment on a set of draft texts for these prayers known as Prayers of Love and Faith, and to offer their views on proposed pastoral guidance.

At Thursday’s meeting, in London, bishops began reviewing those comments and considered how to approach the task of refining the Prayers of Love and Faith and preparing the new pastoral guidance.

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The WSJ-NORC poll surveyed 1,019 adults from March 1 to 13, largely before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and subsequent turmoil in the financial industry. Roughly 4 in 10 cited healthcare and housing costs as big worries, and nearly two-thirds said inflation is a major concern.

“No matter how much they increase your pay, everything else is going up,” said Kristy Morrow, a coordinator for a hospital who lives in Big Spring, Texas. “I do fear that for the kids.”

Ms. Morrow, 37, said she’s concerned her children will be worse off because deep divisions in America have left people unable to fix the country’s problems. The single mother of two young boys and an adult daughter, who earns about $45,000 a year, said she traded her Chevrolet Tahoe for a GMC Terrain to lower her gas costs and is teaching her boys the importance of spending money on needs, not wants.

The findings showed fresh anxiety about the strength of the job market, which was a rare point of economic optimism as recently as last year. More than half of respondents said it wouldn’t be easy to find another job with comparable pay and benefits. That was the highest level since 2010, according to NORC’s General Social Survey.

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“An overwhelming share of Americans aren’t confident their children’s lives will be better than their own, according to a new WSJ-NORC Poll that shows growing skepticism about the value of a college degree and record-low levels of overall happiness.” https://t.co/eaPXHI4vcJ

— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) March 24, 2023

South Carolina’s top accountant Richard Eckstrom says he will resign effective April 30 after disclosing to state lawmakers that he inflated the state’s cash balances for a decade, eventually reaching about $3.5 billion.

In a Thursday resignation letter to Gov. Henry McMaster, the comptroller general reiterated his advocacy that the Legislature move forward on legislation for a constitutional change to make his position appointed by the governor, rather than elected every four years by the voters. “Over the course of my time in public office I have taken great pride in the responsibility trusted to me,” Eckstrom, 74, wrote in his letter to McMaster, obtained by The State Media Co.

“I have been humble in my approach to the job an attribute I hope our constituents have recognized and will remember.” Eckstrom’s early resignation means the General Assembly will nominate and elect the next comptroller general during a joint assembly to be scheduled at a later date. Eckstrom’s leave also means he’ll avoid a trial in the Senate, a hearing legislators were soon going to announce would start April 11.

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South Carolina’s Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom has told Gov. Henry McMaster he plans to resign effective April 30 after he disclosed a $3.5 billion accounting error that stretched for a decade. https://t.co/0THLb5Uhxl

— The State Newspaper (@thestate) March 23, 2023

And so his question to all those who have the freedom to speak in the Church and for the Church is ‘who do you really speak for?’ But if we take seriously the underlying theme of his words and witness, that question is also, ‘who do you really feel with?’ Are you immersed in the real life of the Body, or is your life in Christ seen only as having the same sentiments as the powerful? Sentir con la Iglesia in the sense in which the mature Romero learned those words is what will teach you how to speak on behalf of the Body. And we must make no mistake about what this can entail: Romero knew that this kind of ‘feeling with the Church’ could only mean taking risks with and for the Body of Christ – so that, as he later put it, in words that are still shocking and sobering, it would be ‘sad’ if priests in such a context were not being killed alongside their flock. As of course they were in El Salvador, again and again in those nightmare years.

But he never suggests that speaking on behalf of the Body is the responsibility of a spiritual elite. He never dramatised the role of the priest so as to play down the responsibility of the people. If every priest and bishop were silenced, he said, ‘each of you will have to be God’s microphone. Each of you will have to be a messenger, a prophet. The Church will always exist as long as even one baptized person is alive.’ Each part of the Body, because it shares the sufferings of the whole – and the hope and radiance of the whole – has authority to speak out of that common life in the crucified and risen Jesus.

So Romero’s question and challenge is addressed to all of us, not only those who have the privilege of some sort of public megaphone for their voices. The Church is maintained in truth; and the whole Church has to be a community where truth is told about the abuses of power and the cries of the vulnerable. Once again, if we are serious about sentir con la Iglesia, we ask not only who we are speaking for but whose voice still needs to be heard, in the Church and in society at large. The questions here are as grave as they were thirty years ago. In Salvador itself, the methods of repression familiar in Romero’s day were still common until very recently. We can at least celebrate the fact that the present head of state there has not only apologized for government collusion in Romero’s murder but has also spoken boldly on behalf of those whose environment and livelihood are threatened by the rapacity of the mining companies, who are set on a new round of exploitation in Salvador and whose critics have been abducted and butchered just as so many were three decades back. The skies are not clear: our own Anglican bishop in Salvador was attacked ten days ago by unknown enemies; but the signs of hope are there, and the will to defend the poor and heal the wounds.

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Almighty God, who didst call thy servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to thy Word who abideth, thy Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.

St Oscar Romero was assassinated #OTD 24 March 1980 while saying Mass in San Salvador Cathedral. He had been a champion of human rights and social justice, and an outspoken critic of the military regime. His memorial in Southwark Catholic Cathedral, London. pic.twitter.com/XVt9VBnWdO

— Simon Knott (@last_of_england) March 24, 2023

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst feed the multitude by the lakeside, using the humble gifts of a boy’s generous impulse, and a disciple’s faith in thy power: Help us in thy Church to call forth such generosity in others, and strengthen our faith that the hungry millions can be fed; for thy name’s sake.

Wishing you a fabulous Friday from North Yorkshire 😊 pic.twitter.com/u7VCZSrjtM

— Nicky (@Nicky13Johnson) March 24, 2023

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the Lord.

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when men shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

–Jeremiah 23:1-8

Happy Friday to everyone #friends #chasseurdebeauté pic.twitter.com/nMYKs0uF9B

— Catherine Benoist (@benoistart) March 24, 2023