My father’s house

My father’s house: Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor (pictured) launched a homelessness charity on Thursday with Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. The charity was formed after the merger of the Catholic Housing Aid Society and the Churches National Housing Coalition.

At the launch, held at the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London, the archbishop described the merger as “a step forward that pools resources between different churches”. The cardinal said: “As Christians and Catholics we have a special responsibility to work on behalf of homeless people.”