Now, as Polycarp was entering into the stadium, there came to him a voice from heaven, saying, “Be strong, and show thyself a man, O Polycarp!” No one saw who it was that spoke to him; but those of our brethren who were present heard the voice. And as he was brought forward, the tumult became great when they heard that Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On his confessing that he was, [the proconsul] sought to persuade him to deny [Christ], saying, “Have respect to thy old age,” and other similar things, according to their custom, [such as], “Swear by the fortune of Cesar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists.” But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them, while with groans he looked up to heaven, said, “Away with the Atheists.” Then, the proconsul urging him, and saying, “Swear, and I will set thee at liberty, reproach Christ;” Polycarp declared, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”

—The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, Chapter IX.

Today's the feast of St Polycarp, 2nd Century Bishop of Smyrna, in glass by Ninian Comper, 1927 at Eye, Suffolk. At his feet kneels John Polycarp Oakey, parish priest who oversaw the Anglo-Catholic transformation here. The glass is in his memory.

Eye: https://t.co/l0kdb1a4zd pic.twitter.com/kL26htJDHV

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) February 23, 2026

O God, the maker of heaven and earth, who didst give to thy venerable servant, the holy and gentle Polycarp, boldness to confess Jesus Christ as King and Saviour, and steadfastness to die for his faith: Give us grace, after his example, to share the cup of Christ and rise to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

#OTD February 23, 155:
(traditional date)
Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, is martyred. A disciple of the Apostle John, at age 86 he was taken to be burned at the stake. "You try to frighten me with fire that burns for an hour and forget the fire of hell that never burns out," he… pic.twitter.com/bRQFmfKy3m

— ☧ Today in Christian History (@HistoricalRook) February 23, 2026

In his first speech on the Senate floor, in November 2015, Sasse essentially gave a lesson on the Constitutional order and on the abject failure of modern-day Congress to assert its authority against the administrative state and the executive branch. It’s a remarkable speech, given only after he’d spent a year in the chamber and spoken with many of his colleagues to understand what was going on. 

No one in this body thinks the Senate is laser-focused on the most pressing issues facing the nation. No one. Some of us lament this fact; some are angered by it; many are resigned to it; some try to dispassionately explain how they think it came to be. But no one disputes it. 

As a result, he also said, “The people despise us all.” 

The point of the Senate’s long terms, Sasse concluded, is to “shield lawmakers from obsession with short-term popularity to enable us to focus on the biggest long-term challenges our people face.” And the character of the chamber matters, he explained, “precisely because it is meant to insulate us from short-termism . . . from opinion fads and the short-term bickering of 24-hour-news-cycles. The Senate was built to focus on the big stuff. The Senate is to be the antidote to sound-bites.”

Read it all.

Former senator Ben Sasse is battling cancer.

Losing him would be one more sign that a certain kind of conservatism—and a certain kind of politics—is disappearing, writes @MikeCosper.https://t.co/5clU0XfODE

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) February 20, 2026

In Uganda, during the eight years in the 1970’s when Idi Amin and his men slaughtered probably half a million Ugandans, “We live today and are gone tomorrow” was the common phrase.

We learned that living in danger, when the Lord Jesus is the focus of your life, can be liberating. For one thing, you are no longer imprisoned by your own security, because there is none. So the important security that people sought was to be anchored in God.

As we testified to the safe place we had in Jesus, many people who had been pagan, or were on the fringes of Christianity, flocked to the church or to individuals, asking earnestly, “How do you prepare yourself for death?” Churches all over the country were packed both with members and seekers. This was no comfort to President Amin, who was making wild promises to Libya and other Arab nations that Uganda would soon be a Muslim country. (It is actually 80 per cent Christian)….
It became clear to us through the Scriptures that our resistance was to be that of overcoming evil with good. This included refusing to cooperate with anything that dehumanizes people, but we reaffirmed that we can never be involved in using force or weapons.

…we knew, of course, that the accusation against our beloved brother, Archbishop Janani Luwum, that he was hiding weapons for an armed rebellion, was untrue, a frame-up to justify his murder.

The archbishop’s arrest, and the news of his death, was a blow from the Enemy calculated to send us reeling. That was on February 16, 1977. The truth of the matter is that it boomeranged on Idi Amin himself. Through it he lost respect in the world and, as we see it now, it was the beginning of the end for him.

For us, the effect can best be expressed in the words of the little lady who came to arrange flowers, as she walked through the cathedral with several despondent bishops who were preparing for Archbishop Luwum’s Memorial Service. She said, “This is going to put us twenty times forward, isn’t it?” And as a matter of fact, it did.

More than four thousand people walked, unintimidated, past Idi Amin’s guards to pack St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kampala on February 20. They repeatedly sang the “Martyr’s Song,” which had been sung by the young Ugandan martyrs in 1885. Those young lads had only recently come to know the Lord, but they loved Him so much that they could refuse the evil thing demanded of them by King Mwanga. They died in the flames singing, “Oh that I had wings such as angels have, I would fly away and be with the Lord.” They were given wings, and the singing of those thousands at the Memorial Service had wings too.

–Festo Kivengere, Revolutionary Love, Chapter Nine

“Archbishop Janani Luwum stood firmly for truth, justice, and the sanctity of human life. At the Uganda Cancer Institute, his courage inspires us to serve our patients with integrity, compassion, and unwavering commitment—no matter the challenges we face.”Dr. Jackson Orem pic.twitter.com/ODfM73Ac1N

— Uganda Cancer Institute (@UgandaCancerIns) February 16, 2026

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today, February 17, 2026, marks 49 years since the godless regime of Idi Amin charged Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum of treason and murdered him. The Archbishop's remains a rare voice in the travesty that is the African nation-state. pic.twitter.com/vqWnfOE3QU

— David *Objection* Ngong (@ProfDNgong) February 16, 2026

O God our Father, who art the source of strength to all thy saints, and who didst bring the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of life eternal: Grant that we, being encouraged by their example, may hold fast the faith that we profess, even unto death; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Martyrdom of 23 Franciscan friars in Nagasaki #otd 5 February 1597, this image probably made for their beatification in 1627. (British Museum) pic.twitter.com/A8JugbyRCb

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) February 5, 2026

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst kindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy faithful martyr Manche Masemola; Grant unto us thy servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in her triumph may profit by her example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

4 Feb 1928, teenager Manche Masemola killed by parents in Transvaal, South Africa. She had refused to abandon Christianity, worshipping in Anglican Church at every opportunity. In 1998, she was one of 10 modern martyrs honoured with statue at @wabbey. Photo © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas pic.twitter.com/86nEXtfOJj

— Revd Nicholas Pye (@RevdPye) February 4, 2026

Holy God, who didst inspire the Dorchester chaplains to be models of steadfast sacrificial love in a tragic and terrifying time: Help us to follow their example, that their courageous ministry may inspire chaplains and all who serve, to recognize thy presence in the midst of peril; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today, the U.S. Army commemorates Four Chaplains Day, in remembrance of the chaplains who gave their life in service to their Soldiers on the torpedoed Dorchester transport ship in 1943. Here's the true story of their heroism and sacrifice. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/lIRN8Pr3Pz

— U.S. Army (@USArmy) February 3, 2026

William Nicholson’s original script will barely be changed in the production at the Aldwych Theatre, which opens next week, apart from updating a story that a character reads from a newspaper. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Mr Nicholson initially had no time for C. S Lewis, sharing his mother’s view that the Narnia author was a “drippy Protty”. But, when his colleage in the BBC’s religious department Norman Stone — filmmaker, Lewis fan, and Christian — suggested creating a television drama about Lewis’s relationship and marriage to an American mother-of-two, Joy Davidman, Mr Nicholson was transfixed by their slow-burn love story.

“I personally connected, as a much younger person — I was 36 at the time — to the whole question of fear of commitment in love, which is maybe more of a male thing, but it was certainly something I was experiencing. I wanted to love and be loved, but was very afraid of committing myself to a full love affair, love relationship, marriage, children.”

Lewis’s loss of his mother at the age of ten probably affected the author’s ability to form close relationships, Mr Nicholson thinks. “When the person who is most central to your life, who gives you your sense of being loved, disappears and leaves you in pain, it’s reasonable to conclude that something closed off at that point, and had to be opened again. I responded to the fear of being made vulnerable by love. I made that one of the central themes, because that related strongly to me. I wasn’t married at the time; so I was able to channel a bit of myself into Lewis, and Lewis into myself.”

Read it all.

"Shadowlands speaks to something deep in all of us about loss, love and loss, and the fear of loss."

The story of C. S. Lewis’s marriage, exploring love, loss, and faith, is back on stage, says @SusanGrayMeets #CSLewis #Shadowlands #grief #theatre https://t.co/ltrjwQftU9

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) January 31, 2026

Drones are responsible for between 70 and 80 percent of those injured or killed on both sides of the war in Ukraine, according to a new report by a key Latvian intelligence service.

“This makes the war more dynamic at the tactical level, but reduces the chance of either side making a strategic breakthrough,” reads the report by Latvia’s Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), published Monday.

As a result, the decisive factors in determining the outcome of the war are Western military and political support, the authors concluded.

Drone warfare played a major role in helping Ukrainian forces repel Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Since late 2024, however, the drone war has shifted in Russia’s favor, as Moscow adapted to the new technology, according to the Atlantic Council. 

Read it all.

Drones are responsible for between 70 and 80 percent of those injured or killed on both sides of the war in Ukraine, according to a new report by a key Latvian intelligence service.https://t.co/d9BvLABQXg

— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) January 26, 2026

Campaigners in favour of medically assisted suicide in England, Scotland and France have apparently suffered setbacks that could ensure the controversial practice never comes into law.

A recent report by The Guardian suggested that the Westminster bill, put forward by Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, will likely never come to a final vote and so will fail by default.

Both sides of the debate have accused the other of using underhand tactics to get their way. Proponents of assisted suicide claim the other side has used procedural delaying tactics in the Lords to ensure the bill never becomes law.

Pro-life campaigners have pointed out that the government, which is officially neutral on the issue, has apparently been favouring the pro-suicide position with its actions. It has also been pointed out that extra scrutiny of a bill that would give state institutions the power of life and death merits additional scrutiny and care.

Labour MP Florence Eshalomi told the Guardian, “Not a single royal college, professional body or cabinet minister will attest to the safety of this bill. Scrutiny should never be conflated with obstruction and it would be reckless for Lords to ignore the concerns of such a wide range of experts.”

Read it all.

(Christian Today) 'Campaigners in favour of medically assisted suicide in #England, #Scotland and #France have apparently suffered setbacks that could ensure the controversial practice never comes into law.

A recent report by The Guardian suggested that the Westminster bill, put…

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 27, 2026

Its advocates cannot be allowed to act as if the Leadbeater Bill is a done deal

“In extreme cases I would be willing to kill a patient to help them escape unbearable suffering, if they had come to that decision after serious consideration,” says a colleague of mine, in the windowless, unventilated cupboard that serves as a doctors’ office, “But there is no way in hell that the NHS can be trusted with such a role.”

Those who deal with life and death each day recognise that giving patients lethal drugs to end their life is active killing, not passive dying. I happen to think that we should not kill ourselves or others. My colleague takes a different view on the principle. But we don’t shy away from what it is we are actually discussing, so our conversation benefits from a lot more clarity than when politicians emotionalised and euphemised to limp Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill through the Commons.

We discuss the systemic chaos that we see affecting patients every day, and imagine what the effects of introducing a new therapeutic option of being killed would be. US-style privatised medicine has a perverse incentive to keep the patient alive with increasingly extreme and expensive (but ultimately futile) interventions — a quarter of all Americans die in intensive care. 

UK-style socialised medicine has an equal and opposite perverse incentive to reduce the number of patients, especially in times of crisis. And the NHS is broken, as everyone from government to general practice states openly.

Facilitating the suicide of privileged elites who are used to having things their way and see their mode of death as a final opportunity for exercising autonomy is one matter, but if that requires suicide to be offered to all of our patients, including the vulnerable, the lonely, and the abused, the real cost appears to outweigh any idealised benefits. How do we tell a homeless patient with a new metastatic cancer diagnosis that they could wait months for a nursing home placement, or they could be scheduled for an assisted suicide in as little as nine days, without it sounding like a tacit recommendation?

Read it all.

Advocates of assisted dying cannot be allowed to act as if the Leadbeater Bill is a done deal, argues @TradSkowronski https://t.co/YPaIjSA0TL

— The Critic (@TheCriticMag) January 21, 2026

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost choose those whom the world deemeth powerless to put the powerful to shame: Grant us so to cherish the memory of thy youthful martyrs Agnes and Cecilia, that we might share their pure and steadfast faith in thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Today's the feast of St Agnes, 3rd Century Roman virgin martyr. Here she is in 15th Century Norwich School glass at Plumstead, Norfolk, with her conventional symbols of a lamb at her feet and a sword or dagger through her chest. She's the patron saint of girls. pic.twitter.com/N0hU6XZgfL

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) January 21, 2026

Late in the afternoon of Jan. 8, angry Iranians took to the streets in large numbers nationwide—from Tehran to Isfahan to the religious city of Mashhad and dozens of smaller cities and towns—chanting and spray-painting slogans that called for the fall of the Islamic Republic and “Death to the dictator.” 

This time, the regime forces were ready to play a more lethal role in quelling the protests. Paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the voluntary Basij militia in plainclothes were deployed in large numbers across the country, often armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. In one instance in west Tehran, security forces were seen with a heavy machine gun mounted on a pickup truck, according to footage verified by Storyful,  which is owned by Journal parent News Corp.

From her campus, Aminian headed out with a group of friends to join a protest. The turning point came around 8:30 p.m. That’s when Iranian authorities shut down the internet across the country and escalated the crackdown, according to witnesses, relatives of victims and human rights groups.

“We are pretty confident that a massacre happened starting late Thursday night throughout the country,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. “It was a complete war zone.”

Read it all.

‘A Massacre Happened’: The 24 Hours That Bloodied Iran https://t.co/apuKUyfYYA

— Souad Mekhennet (@smekhennet) January 15, 2026

The Iranian regime views the protests as a proto-revolution that it must crush completely and immediately. Some Iranians are resisting the regime, in some cases violently, which reinforces the regime’s view that the protests retain the potential to transform into a revolution. The regime will likely succeed in quelling this resistance if it can retain the loyalty of security forces and prevent those who are resisting the regime from acquiring the wherewithal to challenge the regime’s ability and willingness to sustain its crackdown. The regime has abandoned any effort it made in the beginning of this protest movement to distinguish between legitimate economic protests and illegitimate anti-regime protests. Iranian media and officials, including those who expressed sympathy for protesters in the beginning of this protest movement, are categorically describing protesters as “terrorists.”[1] Iranian Justice Minister Amir Hossein Rahimi stated on January 14 that any protester who has participated in protests after January 8—which is when the rate and scope of the protests expanded dramatically—is guilty of taking part in an “internal war.”[2] Rahimi’s statement highlights how the regime has stopped showing any tolerance toward protests, as it did to an extent in the beginning of the protest movement, and views any protest as a serious threat to the regime.

The extent and extremity of the regime’s use of violence to quell the protests further demonstrate that the regime views the protests as a proto-revolution. Reports from eyewitnesses and protesters in Iran describe an unprecedented degree of regime brutality toward protesters. Iranians told BBC Persian on January 11 that the scale of deaths and injuries in the current protest movement is “unprecedented and incomparable” to previous protest waves.[3] Amnesty International reported on January 14 that regime security forces have committed “unlawful killings…on an unprecedented scale.”[4] Western media outlets have reported protester death toll estimates between 2,000 and 20,000.[5] These numbers surpass the approximately 1,500 protesters who were killed in 2019 and approximately 550 protesters who were killed during the 2022-2023 Mahsa Amini movement.[6] A US-based human rights organization also estimated that the regime has arrested over 10,000 individuals in the current wave of protests thus far.[7] The regime previously arrested around 7,000 individuals in the 2019 protests and 20,000 individuals during the Mahsa Amini movement. The regime arrested 20,000 individuals over a roughly three-month period, whereas the regime has arrested 10,000 individuals in the past two and a half weeks.

Read it all.

Latest on Iran: The Iranian regime views the protests as a proto-revolution that it must crush completely and immediately. Some Iranians are resisting the regime, in some cases violently, which reinforces the regime’s view that the protests retain the potential to transform into… pic.twitter.com/gY5Ys6hJbB

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) January 15, 2026

O God, our strength and our salvation, who didst call thy servant Thomas Becket to be a shepherd of thy people and a defender of thy Church: Keep thy household from all evil and raise up among us faithful pastors and leaders who are wise in the ways of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ the shepherd of our souls, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

29th December is the feast of St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in 1170 CE in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights. Here is the earliest known depiction of the murder.

BL Cotton MS Claudius B II; f.341r @BLMedieval pic.twitter.com/HDlUZwwibh

— Ennius (@red_loeb) December 28, 2025

I wonder if the popularity of the Coventry Carol today indicates that it expresses something people don’t find in the usual run of joyful Christmas carols – this song of grief, of innocence cruelly destroyed. The Feast of the Holy Innocents (Childermas, as it was known in the Middle Ages) is not an easy subject for a modern audience to understand, and the images which often accompany it in medieval manuscripts, of children impaled on spears, are truly horrible. But they are meant to be; they are intended to disgust and horrify, and they’re horrible because they’re not fantasy violence but all too close to the reality of the world we live in. Children do die; the innocent and vulnerable do suffer at the hands of the powerful; and as this carol says, every single form of human love, one way or another, will ultimately end in parting and grief. Every child born into the world – every tiny, innocent, adorable little baby – however loved, however cared for, will grow up to face some kind of sorrow, and the inevitability of death. Of course no one wants to think about such things, especially when they look at a newborn baby; but pretending otherwise, not wanting to think otherwise, doesn’t make it any less true.

Medieval writers were honest and clear-eyed about such uncomfortable truths. The idea that thoughts like these are incongruous with the Christmas season (as you often hear people say about the Holy Innocents) is largely a modern scruple, encouraged by the comparatively recent idea that Christmas is primarily a cheery festival for happy children and families.

Read it all.

Today we're marking Holy Innocents' Day, which commemorates the children slaughtered by King Herod in his attempt to destroy the infant Jesus. The massacre is depicted here in the 14th-century Litlyngton Missal. pic.twitter.com/SXlP1qJDxV

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) December 29, 2025

We remember this day, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive, we beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims; and by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish thy rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today we commemorate the 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem

Read the account: https://t.co/IASbC8KhIU

More saints commemorated today: https://t.co/4wHTCz3Ka2

Music downloads: https://t.co/ISgw7RH8QE #saints #feastsandsaints pic.twitter.com/MHJK2WL1GU

— Orthodox Church OCA (@ocaorg) December 29, 2025

Grant, O Lord, that in all our sufferings here upon earth, for the testimony of thy truth, we may steadfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first martyr, Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those that suffer for thee, our only mediator and advocate. Amen.

Today's the feast of St Stephen, 1st Century deacon and protomartyr whose death is described in the Acts of the Apostles. On the 15th Century screen at Ludham, Norfolk he holds stones, the instrument of his martyrdom. pic.twitter.com/9n7fD9906S

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) December 26, 2025

The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Revd Kanishka Raffel, has told a gathering at the Great Synagogue, in Sydney, that Sydney Anglicans “abhor anti-Semitism . . . and will not turn away from anti-Semitism in silence”.

Archbishop Raffel was speaking at an event held on Friday to mark Hanukkah and mourn for the victims of the Bondi massacre on 14 December (News, 19 December).

It was intolerable, he said, “that over the last two and more years you have been terrorised in your homes, communities and synagogues . . . that you have to employ security guards for your places of worship, education, and society, as though this was normal or acceptable. It is intolerable that the streets of Sydney have been filled with voices of threat and violence and no one has silenced them.”

Jews deserved to be safe, respected, and protected, he continued, not just because they were Jewish but because they were Australians.

Read it all.

The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Revd Kanishka Raffel, has told a gathering at the Great Synagogue, in Sydney, that #Sydney #Anglicans “abhor anti-Semitism . . . and will not turn away from anti-Semitism in silence”#Antisemitism #bondibeach… https://t.co/NzkO10Kztx

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) December 22, 2025

What I saw on Bondi was pure evil. The terror, screams and lifeless bodies. It felt like the Nova Music Festival all over again, except this time it was on the beach I’d grown up on—an Australian sanctuary. I’d moved my family here to escape war and was taking up a new job to help combat antisemitism.

Over the past two years, that scourge has surged unabated. The Jewish community has warned time and again that when hatred is allowed to fester, when it is excused, normalized or mainstreamed, it inevitably leads to violence. The Bondi attack is the deadly manifestation of the failures to heed those calls.

The warning signs were impossible to miss. On Oct. 9, 2023, while Jewish bodies were still being identified in Israel, crowds gathered outside the Sydney Opera House chanting: “Where are the Jews?” Synagogues have since been firebombed, schools have required heightened security, and families have been harassed. Each incident has been met with predictable statements of concern, promises of review and assurances of action. None came. If the horrors of last week are not to be repeated, Bondi must become a turning point.

Australia doesn’t need another inquiry, strategy document or press release expressing sorrow. We need urgent, decisive action. Our laws must be enforced. Incitement must have consequences. Intelligence must be acted on and radical Islamic extremism must be confronted, not managed.

Read it all.

Hanukkah teaches us that light isn’t inevitable. We must defend it. If Australia wishes to remain a country where Jewish life can flourish openly and safely, this moment must change us all, writes @Ostrov_Ahttps://t.co/ESem8brzKS

— Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) December 18, 2025

President Trump vowed on Saturday to retaliate against the Islamic State after an attack in central Syria killed two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian U.S. interpreter, the first American casualties in the country since the fall of the dictator Bashar al-Assad last year.

“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There will be very serious retaliation.”

The soldiers were supporting counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State group in Palmyra, a city in central Syria, when they came under fire from a lone gunman, according to American officials. Syrian security forces subsequently killed the gunman, American and Syrian officials said.

Read it all.

3 Americans Killed in ISIS Attack in Syria, Trump Says, Vowing to Retaliatehttps://t.co/HfAjRZka0C

— Hussam Hammoud | حسام (@HussamHamoud) December 14, 2025

More than a thousand people gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14th, the first night of Hannukah, to watch the lighting of a menorah. Children wearing face paint crowded a petting zoo. Families held balloons and bubble wands. Yet as the sun began to dip, two men dressed in black and wielding long-barrelled firearms shot into the crowd from positions just outside the beach-side park where the event was taking place. They murdered at least 15 people and injured dozens more, including two police officers.

Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, confirmed the massacre was a “targeted attack on Jewish Australians”. He labelled the attack “a terrorist incident”; that designation gives authorities additional powers to question and detain suspects. The dead include Eli Schlanger, a prominent local rabbi and the organiser of the event.

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MORE THAN a thousand people gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14th, the first night of Hannukah, to watch the lighting of a menorah. Children wearing face paint crowded a petting zoo. Families held balloons and bubble wands. Yet as the sun began to dip, two men dressed in black and wielding long-barrelled firearms shot into the crowd from positions just outside the beach-side park where the event was taking place. They murdered at least 15 people and injured dozens more, including two police officers.

Anthony Albanese, Australia’s prime minister, confirmed the massacre was a “targeted attack on Jewish Australians”. He labelled the attack “a terrorist incident”; that designation gives authorities additional powers to question and detain suspects. The dead include Eli Schlanger, a prominent local rabbi and the organiser of the event.

The attack is one of the worst shootings in modern Australian history, even if the final toll will take some days to come clear. And but for the immense courage of bystanders, it might have been even more lethal. One video shows a man in a white T-shirt creeping up on one of the gunmen from behind a car, then wrestling the attacker’s rifle away from him. “That man is a genuine hero,” said Chris Minns, the premier of New South Wales. “I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery.”

Read it all.

The attack is one of the worst shootings in modern Australian history, even if the final toll will take some days to come clear. And but for the immense courage of bystanders, it might have been even more lethal https://t.co/3PxXmMvLYN

Photo: AFP via Getty Images pic.twitter.com/OpyEkjiKcn

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) December 14, 2025

Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel calls on Sydney to embrace our Jewish neighbours in love, friendship and support and to reject antisemitism, violence and hatred.

Archbishop Raffel says this is the way of Jesus.

Minister of Bondi Anglican Martin Morgan says they sheltered people in the church last night, who were terrified, running for their lives.

In a The Pastor’s Heart special, Archbishop Raffel is joined by minister of Bondi Anglican Church Martin Morgan and Messianic Jew Ben Pakula (also an Anglican Minister) in praying for those family and friends and the Bondi community, impacted by the gunman opening fire – leaving 16 dead including a 10 year old girl.

Listen to it all.

“How many women have shed tears over the way their sexuality has been misused by others? God will hold us accountable for dishonoring the image of others,” Archbishop Kanishka Raffel of Sydney preaches at #gafcon23. pic.twitter.com/J6ZMu3rM0r

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) April 20, 2023

Loving God, who for the salvation of all didst give Jesus Christ as light to a world in darkness: Illumine us, with thy daughter Lucy, with the light of Christ, that by the merits of his passion we may be led to eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks.

Today is St Lucy's Day, which was once the date of the winter solstice – the saint of light in the darkest days of winter. This luminous medieval St Lucy is from Minster Lovell. pic.twitter.com/hvnXM0k9N2

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) December 13, 2025

People used to die. Now, it seems, they pass away. Or — say it quickly and quietly enough no one will even notice — they just pass. Media outlets report the passing of someone famous. Undertakers now refer to the deceased as having passed away when communicating funeral arrangements. Buckingham Palace, announcing the recent death of the Duchess of Kent, stated that she had “passed away peacefully” (News, 12 September). Is this the death of dying?

Euphemisms for death and dying are nothing new. But there is a subtle and important difference between the idioms that we have used in the past, and the increasingly normalised use of “pass” and “pass away”….

Jesus did not pass on the cross; nor did he pass away for our sins. If we believe that our hope of resurrection lies in the resurrection of Jesus, then we need to use the same language about our death as we do about his death. We need to reclaim the language of dying and death.

Read it all.

Went to visit my grandfather (and my great grandparents, greatuncle & greataunt). You hear the sound of the sea from the graveyard.

Hard to believe my grandfather is dead these 12 years. pic.twitter.com/VzExPZg3gW

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) June 22, 2024

Week two of the assisted suicide Bill Select Committee in the House of Lords showed that when Parliament hears from those most at risk, the Bill’s argument collapses. Disability rights campaigners, human rights experts, and mental health specialists gathered to reveal the dangers, shattering the illusion of effective safeguards.

The week began with evidence from leading palliative clinicians, care providers, and a representative from Age UK. Dr Sam Ahmedzai, a pro-assisted suicide doctor, acknowledged that “there will be mistakes and casualties” if the Bill passes. Even he, an assisted suicide fan, could not hide the reality. People would die who should not.

Baroness Hayter, a stalwart of the pro-camp, unwittingly admitted that it is very hard to safely legislate for introducing assisted suicide. Pro-assisted suicide Justice Minister Sarah Sackman floundered, offering evasions and vague complaints about the current law’s “conundrums” and “real difficulties” but few answers. Sackman’s silent sidekick, Paul Candler, spoke for less than 30 seconds during the 75-minute session.

A senior representative from Mind outlined threats to suicide prevention efforts. Dr Sarah Hughes said that Mind simply cannot support the Bill in its current form. Jurisdictions that have legalised assisted suicide have seen the law expand quickly, she said, and assessments by video call are utterly insufficient. Cherryl Henry-Leach, Chief Executive at Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, summarised this well by stating, “It will be very difficult to deliver assisted dying safely”.

Paralympic legend and member of the House of Lords Tanni Grey-Thompson delivered one of the committee’s most emotional interventions. She branded the Bill “a danger to disabled people,” explaining through obvious emotion how parents fear how their adult children with Down’s syndrome will be treated if they outlive them. Baroness Grey-Thompson dismantled the Bill’s six-month prognosis safeguard, calling it “arbitrary” and a “best guess,” and warned it would not protect disabled people at all. She told her fellow parliamentarians that no disability organisation supports the Bill.

Read it all.

Those most at risk from this law are clear that assisted suicide is unsafe, writes @fleurmeston https://t.co/fTiDsUwZbL

— The Critic (@TheCriticMag) November 3, 2025

O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of thy Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as thy children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. Amen.

Precious in thy sight, O Lord, is the death of thy saints, whose faithful witness, by thy providence, hath its great reward: We give thee thanks for thy martyrs James Hannington and his companions, who purchased with their blood a road unto Uganda for the proclamation of the Gospel; and we pray that with them we also may obtain the crown of righteousness which is laid up for all who love the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

29 Oct 1885, James Hannington, @cmsmission missionary & first Anglican bishop of East Africa, speared to death in Uganda. Born Hurstpierpoint. Studied @OrielOxford, 1874 ordained. 1882-3 in E Africa but left due to illness, returned 1885. 'Blood of the martyrs is seed of church'. pic.twitter.com/yAX0ffvsoo

— Revd Nicholas Pye (@RevdPye) October 29, 2025

Most Holy God, whose servant Tabitha thou didst raise from the dead to display thy power and confirm thy message that thy Son is Lord; grant unto us thy grace, that aided by her prayers and example, we may be given a new life in thy Spirit to do works pleasing in thy sight; Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who livest and reignest with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today is the feast of Saint Tabitha, a widow “completely occupied with good deeds and almsgiving” who was raised from the dead by Saint Peter, as accounted in the Acts of the Apostles. She is honoured by the Episcopal, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Catholic churches. pic.twitter.com/VJBSiEdtO8

— Chess Valley RC (@ChessValleyRC) October 25, 2025