We must first of all guard our lives, but we must also take on the work of tilling and tending, of taking care of the Eden we have been given and all who dwell in it, and bringing about the peace we all so need

Unnamed rabbi, quoted by Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, X/Twitter, 23 October

The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people

António Guterres, UN secretary-general, 24 October

I acted according to my faith and duty to be a father and protector of the children entrusted to me and removed these symbols

Fr Jaromir Smejkal, parish priest of St John the Baptist, Kurdejov, South Moravia, after stamping on children’s Hallowe’en pumpkins, reported by the BBC, 21 October

There is a consensus for change within the Church but not a consensus on what that change should be

“Living in Love and Faith: Setting out the progress made and work still to do” (GS 2328), a briefing paper for the General Synod, 20 October

How on earth did we get from a House of Bishops that was 1/3 in favour of equal marriage & 2/3 in favour of blessing same-sex civil marriages to GS2328 with its pitiless & draconian liturgical policing of LGBTQIA+ lives & loves!?

Robert Thompson, Vicar of St Mary’s, Kilburn, and St James’s, West Hampstead, X/Twitter, 22 October

“But we need to keep everyone on board” has been successfully used to enable structural racism, misogyny, queerphobia, ableism, and all forms of bully boy hate. That our bishops are now making this their mission is to nail Christ’s broken body back on to the cross

Charlie Bell, priest and psychiatrist, X/Twitter, 21 October

Alexis Jay is now working on proposals for independence in safeguarding in the Church of England. It will be essential that her recommendations to the Church — unlike her recommendations to the Government — are fully and swiftly implemented

Andrew Graystone, X/Twitter, 20 October

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