Sydney (ENI). The appointment of a conservative Catholic archbishop, Dr George Pell, to the archdiocese of Sydney, has been greeted with a passionate but mixed response, with some clerics and laity predicting an exodus from the church and others claiming Dr Pell will lead a major revival. Sydney is capital of New South Wales and Australia's most populous city, with about 3.9 million residents. Dr Pell is currently Archbishop of Melbourne, capital of the state of Victoria. [1059 words, ENI-01-0129]

Russian prelate urges world's churches to adopt Orthodox dates for Easter

Moscow (ENI). A leading official from the world's second-biggest church, the Russian Orthodox Church, has called on Western churches to reform their religious calendars and celebrate Easter at the same time as the Russian and other churches, thus enabling all the world's Christians to share in Christianity's most important celebration every year. At present, Easter is usually celebrated on two different dates. In most years, most Eastern Orthodox churches, including the Russian church, celebrate Easter on a different date from most Protestant and Catholic churches. One Orthodox theologian from the United States, Dr Thomas Fitzgerald, said in 1997 that the division among Christians over Easter was "an internal scandal ... And we have to ask what sort of witness this division gives to the world at large." [890 words, ENI-01-0130]

Foot-and-mouth reveals 'helplessness' of humans say Dutch churches

Amsterdam (ENI). As the foot and mouth crisis deepens and the British government considers vaccination to help contain the disease, the biggest Protestant organisation in The Netherlands has declared that vaccination is at least an option. The Uniting Protestant Churches in The Netherlands (Samen op Weg-kerken), has given tacit backing to the Dutch government decision to adopt vaccination. The European Union, of which The Netherlands is a member, reluctantly gave permission on 26 March for limited vaccinations here. They began the same day. [838 words, ENI-01-0131]

29 March 2001

New York (ENI). The new president of the California Council of Churches, in the United States, believes that her appointment is a recognition of the growing acceptance of gays and lesbians in the nation's religious life. Gwynne Guibord is also chief ecumenical officer of the predominantly gay and lesbian Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC). She said in an interview with ENI that while she recognised her appointment was a milestone - she is the first openly gay person to become a president of a state ecumenical council in the US - she also felt it was part of a process of wider cultural acceptance of gays and lesbians [919 words, ENI-01-0128]

28 March 2001

Harare (ENI). Father Oskar Wermter, social communications secretary for the Zimbabwe Catholics Bishops' Conference (ZCBC), has protested against remarks by politicians in the ruling party, Zanu PF, who compared their leaders to Jesus Christ. [366 words, ENI-01-0126]

War veterans occupy church on white-owned farm in Zimbabwe

Harare (ENI). War veterans illegally occupying a white-owned commercial farm near Nkayi, 520 kilometres south of Harare, have turned a church on the farm into their "base", preventing Christians in the area from using it for worship. The church building is on Goulay Farm, owned by a white farmer, Richard Pascal. The farm is one of dozens of white-owned properties invaded by Zimbabweans last year claiming to be veterans of the black liberation struggle in the 1970s. [396 words, ENI-01-0127]

27 March 2001

Moscow (ENI). A central Baptist church in the centre of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi was robbed of tens of thousands of dollars earlier this month following a series of attempts to intimidate minority religious groups in the former Soviet Republic. Baptist officials told ENI they suspected the robbery was linked to the attempts at intimidation. [684 words, ENI-01-0124]

UK churches bring prayers and help as foot-and-mouth devastates farms

London (ENI). Churches and related organisations are at the forefront of help for rural communities devastated by Britain's foot and mouth disease crisis. Gordon Gatward, director of the church-backed Arthur Rank Centre, a key support organisation for farmers, told ENI he had seen "grown men crying - they don't know where to turn". [1399 words, ENI-01-0125]

26 March 2001

Geneva (ENI). Torture is not a thing of the past but is regularly inflicted in more than half the countries of the world today, according to an international Christian organisation representing more than 30 000 people around the world campaigning against torture. The International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FI.ACAT) links 28 national "ACATs" around the world. The movement is particularly strong in France, where the first ACAT was founded by two Protestant women after Amnesty International held the world's first international conference against torture in Paris in 1973. Twenty-seven other countries now have ACATs, including 12 in Africa. [980 words, ENI-01-0123]

23 March 2001

Dhaka (ENI). Forty-five-year-old Mayarani Saha, a Hindu, lost her house on a riverbank 15 years ago when a rising river swallowed her small plot of land. Mayarani had to live with her relatives until her "miserable" life underwent dramatic change in 1993. Now, she has a house of her own and has been able to give up working as a maid in the houses of the rich. Nor does her husband need to work any longer as a manual labourer. Together they run a grocery shop in the local market and earn "more than enough" to take care of their three children. [952 words, ENI-01-0120]

Will Isidore be patron saint of the Internet? Pope John Paul will decide

23 March (ENI)--The Vatican is getting closer to naming St Isidore of Seville as the patron saint of the Internet. The decision is being discussed as the Roman Catholic Church prepares a document on "ethics and the Internet". A man of wide knowledge, Isidore, one of the church's leading intellectuals, was born sometime between 560 and 570, eventually becoming bishop of Seville, in Spain. His name was well known to scholars of the medieval church. But most contemporary Catholics were unaware of Isidore until 1999, when he was named as a possible patron saint for the Internet. [736 words, ENI-01-0121]

Church leader says Russia needs to adopt German-style church tax

Moscow (ENI). One of the most influential officials of the Russian Orthodox Church this week suggested a radical reform to his country's tax system whereby the Russian government would donate to the church and other religious organisations part of the money it collects as income tax. During interviews last week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ministry as a bishop, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who heads the Moscow Patriarchate's department of external relations, suggested that Russia adopt what is known here as the "German model" of church-state relations, under which the churches receive a proportion of taxes collected from Christian taxpayers by the German federal government. [1025 words, ENI-01-0122]

22 March 2001

London (ENI). The two most senior bishops of the Church of England have branded as "hurtful and unhelpful" the Vatican ban which prevents Roman Catholics from taking communion in non-Catholic churches. Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the world-wide Anglican Communion, and his colleague, Dr David Hope, the Archbishop of York, expressed their view in the foreword to The Eucharist: Sacrament of Unity, a statement of Anglican belief by the Church of England's House of Bishops. [993 words, ENI-01-0119]

21 March 2001

Hanover (ENI). Margot Kässmann, a Lutheran bishop, has accepted an invitation from Germany's Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder to join a council which will advise the federal government on sustainable development. [204 words, ENI-01-0117]

Patriarch Pavle demands that UN forces protect the peace

Warsaw (ENI). Patriarch Pavle, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, has bitterly criticised UN forces for failing to maintain peace in the Balkans, following a campaign of violence by Albanian guerrillas in southern Serbia and Macedonia. "When we review the facts objectively, it is clear that the United Nations' peace-keeping mission in Kosovo and Metohija [in western Kosovo] has failed to achieve its goal," Patriarch Pavle, the 88-year-old leader of Serbia's dominant church, declared in a letter sent a week ago to the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan. "What is even worse, the region, which should be under the protection of the United Nations has become the centre from which terrorism, one of the greatest evils of the modern world, is spreading to surrounding regions." [844 words, ENI-01-0118]

20 March 2001

Harare (ENI). The heads of Roman Catholic orders of priests and nuns in Zimbabwe have expressed concern about political violence here and about hundreds of thousands of workers on white-owned farms who face redundancy through President Robert Mugabe's controversial land resettlement scheme. In a statement at the weekend, the Conference of Religious Superiors of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe, said they were "deeply pained" by the suffering of the people in the country. While the clergy recognised the need for the land reform - in which white-owned land is being given to black Zimbabweans - the exercise was now part of a "political power game", the Catholic leaders said. [801 words, ENI-01-0116]

19 March 2001

New Delhi (ENI). A leading Protestant bishop has endorsed widespread calls for the resignation of India's ruling federal coalition following revelations on a website last week of government corruption. "The present government should resign immediately," Bishop Z. James Terom, moderator of one of India's leading denominations, the Church of North India (CNI), told ENI. [661 words, ENI-01-0115]

16 March 2001

Amsterdam (ENI). Churches and other religious groups are cooperating in a last-ditch attempt to stop The Netherlands becoming the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia - sometimes known as mercy killing. Officials representing more than 50 religious and social organisations have signed a petition calling for a government bill on euthanasia to be rejected by the Senate. On 13 March the petition was presented to parliamentary officials in the Dutch capital, The Hague. [721 words, ENI-01-0112]

Commission will try to resolve tensions within Anglicanism worldwide

London (ENI). An international Anglican study group that could spell out limits to the quarrels that have beset the 70-million-member worldwide communion is to start work this year. [644 words, ENI-01-0113]

Konrad Raiser helps lay foundation for unity of Bangladesh churches

Dhaka (ENI). Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has concluded an historic visit to Bangladesh by laying the foundation stone for an ecumenical centre on the premises of the National Council of Churches of Bangladesh. [468 words, ENI-01-0114]

15 March 2001

Jos (ENI). A fire at a government secondary school, Bwalbwang, Gindiri in Plateau state in northern Nigeria, has killed 26 young Christian female students. Twenty-three of the students died during the fire at their hostel, while three others died at the Jos University Teaching Hospital after being admitted for burns. [530 words, ENI-01-0108]

Zimbabwe church officials tell Mugabe to respect judiciary and rule of law

Harare (ENI). Church officials in Zimbabwe have declared that pressure by the government and the ruling Zanu PF party on the judiciary, which has resulted in the early retirement of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, is unacceptable. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), a leading Catholic agency here, has stated that the government should not interfere with the independence of the judiciary. Tarcicius Zimbiti, CCJP director, said: "We have noted with dismay that pressure is put on Supreme Court judges to resign from their positions for racist reasons. This is unacceptable." [1100 words, ENI-01-0109]

Churches should discover 'Christ of Bangladesh', says Catholic archbishop

Dhaka (ENI). Catholic Archbishop Michael Rozario, of Dhaka, has called on Christians in his country to "discover the Bangladesh Christ" and to look beyond their denominational differences. The archbishop declared that his church was "open" to joining hands with the National Council of Churches of Bangladesh (NCCB) to ensure the unity of all Christians. This was, he said, an urgent necessity to enable Christians to witness to their faith in this overwhelmingly Muslim nation. [461 words, ENI-01-0110]

Small, rural congregations are the churches' heartland, says US survey

New York (ENI). Despite an increase in so-called "mega-churches" - which have congregations numbering several hundred or even thousands - in US cities and suburbs, half of all US congregations remain rooted in rural areas and have fewer than 100 participating adult members, a new study of US churches, synagogues and mosques has concluded. The Faith Communities Today study by Hartford Seminary, released on 13 March at a news conference in New York, paints a complex portrait of a changing landscape for American religion, where non-Christian groups are making their mark but where institutionalised worship remains central to the US religious experience. [957 words, ENI-01-0111]

14 March 2001

Dhaka (ENI). Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has sharply criticised inequalities in the international credit system on which the global economy is based, claiming it is loaded against the debtor nations. Dr Raiser, who is making his first visit to Bangladesh, made his criticisms at a public meeting in Dhaka on 11 March on "Jubilee and Third World Debt". Several speakers at the meeting endorsed Dr Raiser's keynote address. Delegates called for "moral and ethical values" to be imposed on the international credit system. [671 words, ENI-01-0104]

In England many more church spires will be home to telecoms antennae

London (ENI). More and more of England's historic parish churches are to become home for telecoms antennae as phone companies set up the third-generation mobile phone network which allows internet access. One in four of the Church of England's 16 000 parishes have expressed interest in hosting masts or aerials on church spires for the line-of-sight network needed for the mobile phones. [882 words, ENI-01-0105]

Italy's bishops are advised to remove telecoms antennae from church spires

Rome (ENI). A leading Italian bishop has urged churches not to do deals with telecommunications companies that are eager to use church spires and towers to install antennae for the nation's booming portable phone market. Italy is undergoing a telecommunications revolution, and the portable phone market here is now worth billions of dollars. Italy's telecommunications market has been privatised, resulting in vigorous competition, especially for the portable phone market - Italy's 57 million residents own a total of 40 million portable phones, one of the highest rates in the world. [684 words, ENI-01-0106]

Australian theologian quits priesthood following Vatican investigation

Sydney (ENI). One of Australia's most prominent Roman Catholic priests has resigned from the priesthood, saying that his conscience demands he disassociate himself from an increasingly sectarian Vatican that is destroying true catholicity and the faith of those who embrace it. Paul Collins told ENI that his decision to resign was "the result of a personal and theological process" over many years. "I have constantly argued that it was only by staying in the priesthood that someone like myself could influence things and bring about change," he said. But "staying in" was no longer "a viable or honest option". [1122 words, ENI-01-0107]

13 March 2001

Amsterdam (ENI). The head of the Roman Catholic Church in The Netherlands, Cardinal Adrianus Simonis, of Utrecht, has criticised the Dutch government, accusing it of regarding the church as a "non-entity". Cardinal Simonis made his remarks in an interview published on 6 March in a Dutch daily newspaper, the Volkskrant. Prime Minister Wim Kok has since rejected the criticism, saying that the cardinal had exaggerated his grievances. [671 words, ENI-01-0102]

Clergyman forced to leave Zimbabwe after criticising Mugabe government

Harare (ENI). The Zimbabwe government, which has been criticised by the international community in recent weeks for its attempts to silence and intimidate judges and journalists, has now begun targeting clergy. Paul Andrianotos, a Presbyterian church minister from South Africa based in the southern Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo, 439 kilometres south of Harare, departed for the United Kingdom on Sunday, 11 March, after the government refused to renew his work permit. [971 words, ENI-01-0103]

12 March 2001

New York (ENI). The National Council of Churches, the biggest ecumenical agency in the United States, has criticised a US government plan, which, the NCC says, could worsen violence in war-torn Colombia. A resolution by the NCC board of directors criticises the $1.3-billion US "Plan Colombia", saying it will not be effective in the war against the nation's massive drugs trade and will increase the risk of violence because, as part of an official anti-drug strategy, the plan boosts funding for Colombia's military. [1055 words, ENI-01-0100]

US and Canadian bishops unite to warn of risk to Columbia River

Nelson (ENI). Twelve bishops representing 1.5 million Catholics in the northwest United States and Canada have declared that the Columbia River, the longest river in North or South America flowing into the Pacific Ocean, is threatened with environmental degradation. In an 18-page pastoral letter, The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good, published late in February, the 12 bishops said that the river had been irresponsibly dammed, polluted and over-fished. [988 words, ENI-01-0101]

9 March 2001

Rome (ENI). Walter Kasper, a relatively progressive German cardinal, has been appointed head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Vatican's ecumenical department. [1057 words, ENI-01-0097]

In Orissa you must ask the government if you want to change religion

New Delhi 9 March (ENI)--Church leaders in the Indian state of Orissa have decided to "ignore" a controversial law requiring citizens who convert to another faith to seek permission beforehand from the state government. [615 words, ENI-01-0098]

Koreans plan historic Easter prayer for Christian unity

Seoul (ENI). Members of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches in South Korea will meet for a combined prayer service for Christian unity on Easter Sunday, 15 April. [330 words, ENI-01-0099]

8 March 2001

Moscow (ENI). The Russian Orthodox Church is facing one of its biggest crises since it was freed from the restrictions of Soviet life a decade ago - the refusal of many church members to accept the government tax identification numbers known as INN. Critics describe the bar codes on application forms for the ID numbers as a sign of the Antichrist referred to in the Book of Revelation. The problem, which has caused widespread consternation and even the threat of a church schism, has forced the church's head, Patriarch Alexei II, to address his flock in an unprecedented pastoral message, which was signed on 4 March and will be read in churches on Sunday, 11 March. [1123 words, ENI-01-0094]

Anglican scientist-priest wins Templeton award and $1 million

New York (ENI). Arthur R. Peacocke, a prominent biochemist and Anglican priest who has devoted his life to elucidating the relationship between science and theology, has won the 2001 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Peacocke, aged 76, an Oxford University professor with doctorates in both science and theology, is the founder of the Society of Ordained Scientists, an international ecumenical organisation trying to bridge the gap between science and religion and to foster spirituality among scientists. [836 words, ENI-01-0095]

New Delhi conference condemns 'immense suffering' in caste system

New Delhi (ENI). An international conference on discrimination in India's caste system, held in New Delhi, has called upon the Indian government and the international community "to end this crime against humanity". The New Delhi conference, organised by the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), also demanded that the issue be put on the agenda of the United Nations conference on racism, to be held in South Africa at the end of August. Some delegates claimed that the Indian government was taking action to ensure that the caste system was kept off the UN conference agenda. [1268 words, ENI-01-0096]

7 March 2001

Moscow (ENI). A hundred years after it excommunicated Leo Tolstoy, the Russian Orthodox Church has ignored a plea by his great-great-grandson, Vladimir Tolstoy, to reconsider the writings and reflections of the famous novelist. [716 words, ENI-01-0091]

Church officials optimistic that Iran is changing its views of Christians

Warsaw (ENI). Church officials from Austria have urged closer contacts with Iran after the first visit by a Roman Catholic leader in two decades to the Shi'ite Muslim country. A leading ecumenist said Iran's state and religious authorities were showing a "new openness", and would consider extending the rights of local Christian minorities. [873 words, ENI-01-0092]

An Episcopal bishop resigns, blaming liberal critics

New York (ENI). The Episcopal (Anglican) bishop of the state of Montana has resigned following a church court's decision to defrock him for sexual misconduct. The resignation on 26 February by Charles I. "Ci" Jones III followed reports of a settlement under which Jones will be given $170 000. The Montana diocese also agreed to forgive the remaining mortgage for his diocesan home, Episcopal News Service (ENS) reported. In exchange, Jones agreed not to sue the diocese. [521 words, ENI-01-0093]

6 March 2001

London (ENI). A Gospel translation in London street slang - in which Jesus heals by stretching out his "Ramsgate" before "boarding a nanny with his chinas", has won the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey. "The Bible in Cockney - well, bits of it anyway" includes traditional rhyming slang from East London's working-class community in which common words are represented by down-to-earth rhymes: "nanny" stands for nanny goat = boat, "china" is china plate = mate and "Ramsgate" is Ramsgate sands = hand or hands. The book also uses current street idioms so that the last part of the Lord's Prayer comes out as: "You're the Boss, God, and will be for ever, innit? Cheers, Amen." [863 words, ENI-01-0089]

Christians and Buddhists build bridges for peace in Sri Lanka

New Delhi (ENI). Church leaders in Sri Lanka are making a major contribution to efforts to improve understanding between the island nation's two divided communities, the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community and the Tamil minority which is predominantly Hindu. With the approval of the government, church leaders recently led a group of two dozen religious officials - including 18 Buddhist monks - to what are called "uncleared areas" under the control of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, better known as Tamil Tigers). On 18 February the group then held secret talks with senior LTTE leaders at a Catholic centre, the Madhu Church, in the diocese of Mannar in Northern Sri Lanka. [915 words, ENI-01-0090]

5 March 2001

Moscow (ENI). The Russian branch of the Salvation Army believes its legal problems in the Russian capital, where a local court described them last year as a "national security threat", may be coming to an end. Captain Adam Morales, in charge of the church's financial and legal affairs in Russia and the former Soviet republics, told ENI that the Salvation Army had been registered by the federal justice ministry on 20 February as a "centralised" religious organisation. [547 words, ENI-01-0087]

Pope's desire to visit Greece prompts tense debate

Warsaw (ENI). A senior official in the (Orthodox) Church of Greece has urged Pope John Paul II to delay his plans to visit the country until relations between the Greek and Roman churches improve. The Pope hopes to make a brief visit to Greece in May. [1096 words, ENI-01-0088]

2 March 2001

Warsaw (ENI). The Polish government has been forced to rethink its campaign against new religious movements after complaints of discrimination by minority churches. A senior government official told ENI that attention would now focus on "psycho-manipulative groups" rather than on religious associations which "merely offered an alternative religiousness". [621 words, ENI-01-0085]

Zambian churches and lawyers oppose presidential plan for 3rd term

Lusaka (ENI). Zambian churches in the Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ), along with the Zambia (Roman Catholic) Episcopal Conference (ZEC), and Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ), have formed an alliance with the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to campaign against constitutional changes that would allow President Frederick Chiluba to run for a third term of office. President Chiluba's second five-year term in office ends late this year. [765 words, ENI-01-0086]

1 March 2001

Geneva (ENI). As Armenia celebrates the 1700th anniversary of Christianity as a national religion, the country's spiritual leader has said that his church faces major challenges as it seeks to rebuild its life in a newly independent state. Speaking in Geneva yesterday 28 February, Catholicos Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church told staff of the World Council of Churches that the traditional bond between the Armenian people and his church had helped to preserve Christianity during 70 years of Soviet Communism. [1054 words, ENI-01-0084]

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