Hardship and poverty are often associated more with urban than with rural areas. Rural hardship in the north Cotswolds, for example, is often hidden, because of inequalities and the relative affluence experienced by the majority, and the high levels of tourism in the area.

This is a problem, because the significant minority who experience hardship are more hidden. This means that rural hardship is often not adequately addressed by local and national policy-makers and community leaders.

This is the focus of the exhibition “Hidden Hardship”, which Coventry Cathedral is hosting until 26 February, and which is part of my new participatory research project at Coventry University. This has sought to understand hardship in the north Cotswolds better.

The exhibition consists of illustrations by the artist Beth Waters, based on the research participants’ interviews and diaries of their experiences of hardship and/or responding to hardship. It focuses on people’s experiences of rural hardship, their coping strategies, and the barriers to their improved well-being.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

Hardship is a rural problem, too

In areas that appear more affluent, poverty is often hidden, writes @SJ_Denninghttps://t.co/8T0KmRxzFZ

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 9, 2024

There is a need for a feminism that sees women as more than “skin and bones” that can be transformed into men with the proper clothing and pronouns; a need for a feminism that works to keep women safe and honor them as daughters of God. Denying women certain fundamental rights leads to half the global population being denied the opportunity to flourish. When women aren’t given proper healthcare, financial opportunities, and protection from violence, they’re shut out from spaces of influence, which will lead to the world’s missing out on the many gifts women can offer.

Catholics, in particular, have recognized the need for this type of feminism. Saint John Paul the Great didn’t call for an end to feminism. He called for a new feminism, writing in Evangelium Vitae:

In transforming culture so that it supports life, women occupy a place, in thought and action, which is unique and decisive. It depends on them to promote a “new feminism” which rejects the temptation of imitating models of “male domination,” in order to acknowledge and affirm the true genius of women in every aspect of the life of society, and overcome all discrimination, violence and exploitation.

When Catholics surrender the term feminism to modern thinkers who rely on outdated stereotypes and a perverted sense of womanhood, we’re not answering Saint John Paul the Great’s invitation. We’re allowing our own bitterness and often justified disagreement to prevent us from recognizing the ways women are suffering. We let our culture twist words as it pleases. If Catholic women feel that they’re thriving, that is clearly a good thing. But many women aren’t, and those of us who are uniquely privileged are obligated to increase our aid.

Feminism, as it was originally intended, identified and honored the differences between men and women. It didn’t emphasize the stereotypical differences that both modern gender ideologues and Instagram #tradwives tend to emphasize—what a person wears, for instance, or what hobbies she enjoys. Feminism originally illuminated the fact that because women are life-bearers, and because of their innate capacity for care and serving, they were uniquely positioned to suffer discrimination.

Read it all.

Feminism has never been a phrase without its detractors—many men in the 1800s very much did see women as “skin and bones.” But today, Catholics seem to be split over the virtues and vices of the word “feminist” more than ever before.@claireswinarski https://t.co/wyqHeJOSqN

— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) February 9, 2024

In a cavernous production hall in Düsseldorf last fall, the somber tones of a horn player accompanied the final act of a century-old factory.

Amid the flickering of flares and torches, many of the 1,600 people losing their jobs stood stone-faced as the glowing metal of the plant’s last product — a steel pipe — was smoothed to a perfect cylinder on a rolling mill. The ceremony ended a 124-year run that began in the heyday of German industrialization and weathered two world wars, but couldn’t survive the aftermath of the energy crisis.

There have been numerous iterations of such finales over the past year, underscoring the painful reality facing Germany: its days as an industrial superpower may be coming to an end. Manufacturing output in Europe’s biggest economy has been trending downward since 2017, and the decline is accelerating as competitiveness erodes.

“There’s not a lot of hope, if I’m honest,” said Stefan Klebert, chief executive officer of GEA Group AG — a supplier of manufacturing machinery that traces its roots to the late 1800s. “I am really uncertain that we can halt this trend. Many things would have to change very quickly.”

Read it all.

🇩🇪 #Germany’s Days as an Industrial Superpower Are Coming to an End – Bloomberghttps://t.co/F0E4eUlAXA pic.twitter.com/DCJWqTqSPI

— Christophe Barraud🛢🐳 (@C_Barraud) February 10, 2024

Nextgov/FCW: Talk about how you prepared for the water-systems security hearing today and any major takeaways from it. 

Clancy: We met with the majority and minority staff ahead of the hearing to get a sense of their objectives. Of course, MITRE has a diverse set of sponsors in these areas, so we engaged with them to make sure we were representing a whole-of-government view across the sectors.

My big message is what I said in my opening statement. A lot of these policy fixes on the fringes are not going to deal with the scale of the threat that we face. So if you want to continue to fight against harassment campaigns from nation states…the sorts of solutions people were talking about are probably okay, but I think the big point I want to get across that didn’t get enough air time is that the threat has really changed.

We’ve got maybe three years to figure this out before China does an all-out attack against our critical infrastructure. We’re going to have to train and prepare to disconnect our operational technology systems from our information technology systems ahead of a major attack from China.

Read it all.

Expect China to attack US infrastructure within 3 years, MITRE CTO says https://t.co/zWHBOAn8uH

— Defense One (@DefenseOne) February 11, 2024

Gracious God, who didst call Charles Freer Andrews to show forth thy salvation to the poor: By thy Holy Spirit inspire in us a tender concern, a passionate justice, and an active love for all people, that there may be one Body and one Spirit in Jesus Christ, our Savior; who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Charles Freer Andrews, Priest & “Friend of the Poor” in India, 1940

A Christian Socialist/Anglican priest from Newcastle, he was a missionary in India & close friend of Gandhi who dubbed him Christ's Faithful Apostle (his initials=C.F.A.) pic.twitter.com/4xHeZgotW5

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 12, 2024

Almighty God, whose sovereign purpose none can make void: Give us faith to stand calm and undismayed amid the tumults of the world, knowing that thy kingdom shall come and thy will be done; to the eternal glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

"… on Cranberry River"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #wintertime #snow #Weather #SnowHour #StormHour #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/ZfydWQuW3g

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) February 12, 2024

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

–Philippians 2:1-11

Sunrise over Glastonbury Tor this morning.@BBCBristol @ITVCharlieP @TravelSomerset
#ThePhotoHour #landscapephotography #Somerset #sunrise @VisitSomerset #Glastonburytor pic.twitter.com/4rLkVl1Azg

— John Wickes (@john_wickes9) February 12, 2024