Bethlehem (ENI). There are no Christmas lights and there is no decorated tree to celebrate the birth of Jesus in his birthplace this year. Mayor Hanna Nasser, a Palestinian Christian, said the municipality of Bethlehem would not put up Christmas lights or decorate the Christmas tree in Manger Square, opposite the Church of the Nativity, to protest against the presence of Israeli troops. Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem and Jordan stood in Manger Square and said: "If Christmas is to have a real meaning, we have to have a withdrawal of the army from here and the start of negotiations for a just peace and freedom." [561 words, ENI-02-0465]

Christians guard against excesses in West Bank city of extremes

Hebron (ENI). An army checkpoint in the flashpoint city of Hebron is hardly the place you expect to bump into a 66-year-old American grandmother quizzing young Israeli troops. A red cap on her head, JoAnne Lingle, a Mennonite Christian from Indianapolis, points to four Palestinian youths squatting against a wall next to the barrier as two helmeted Israeli soldiers armed with M-16 rifles look askance. [1002 words, ENI-02-0464]

Peru's Catholics and Evangelicals condemn 'legalisation' of abortion

Lima (ENI). Roman Catholic and Evangelical church leaders in Peru are campaigning against a possible change to the country's constitution that they claim could pave the way for the legalisation of abortion. The proposed change states that "abortion is prohibited other than in the case of exceptions permitted by law". The churches argue that by referring to "exceptions", the clause would make abortion legal in certain circumstances, a move they oppose. [452 words, ENI-02-0463]

19 December 2002

Warsaw (ENI). A report issued by a national research centre in Poland has accused the country's predominant Roman Catholic Church of having helped fuel anti-Semitic feeling leading to the 1941 massacre of Jews in the north-eastern village of Jedwabne. The report, published by the parliament-appointed National Remembrance Institute, said the massacre had been provoked by occupying Germans but carried out by Poles. [536 words, ENI-02-0462]

17 December 2002

London (ENI). The Scottish Episcopal Church has hit back at the commercialisation of Christmas by launching an advertising campaign - for Christmas itself. A poster appearing at rail stations throughout Scotland uses the language of shopping to remind people caught up in the seasonal frenzy of the most important meaning of Christmas Day. The light-hearted poster features one of the three kings in the traditional Nativity scene. He is looking down in horror at the price tag still left on his gift of gold, which he had forgotten to remove because he had been so caught up in shopping. [418 words, ENI-02-0458]

Churches launch new initiative to combat trafficking of women in Europe

Geneva (ENI). Churches and church agencies throughout Europe have launched a joint network to combat trafficking in women, a problem estimated to affect many thousands of women. "The criminal networks of traffickers are active internationally, so our responses need to be as international and as proactive as possible," said the general secretary of the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, an ecumenical organisation which is sponsoring the new network along with Caritas Europa, a Roman Catholic agency. [262 words, ENI-02-0459]

16 December 2002

New Delhi (ENI). Christians in India were taken by surprise over the scale of the election triumph of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat, an Indian state rocked by inter-religious violence earlier this year. Surpassing all poll forecasts, the incumbent party in Gujarat won a landslide, capturing 126 of the 182 seats in the state assembly after the ballots in the 12 December election were counted on Sunday. [520 words, ENI-02-0456]

Resignation of Boston cardinal 'only first step' in dealing with scandal

New York (ENI). The resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law as head of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston has closed one chapter in the sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. But critics say efforts to reform the church and help survivors of abuse are far from over. [590 words, ENI-02-0457]

13 December 2002

Harare (ENI). Some international aid agencies have brokered deals to resume food distribution in drought-ravaged Zimbabwe after a group of senior clerics in the province of Matabeleland accused the government of using food supplies for political gain. The United Kingdom-based Save the Children and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have both resumed distribution after reaching agreements with government officials. [409 words, ENI-02-0454]

US peace activist priest remembered

New York (ENI). Philip Berrigan, a former Roman Catholic priest who was arrested more than 100 times and spent more than a decade of his 79-year life in prison for various acts of civil disobedience protesting US military policy, is being remembered for a life-long commitment to peace activism. Berrigan, who died of cancer on 6 December at a communal home for pacifists he helped found in Baltimore, in the state of Maryland, was perhaps best known for his leadership of the "Catonsville 9" - a group of nine peace activists that also included Berrigan's brother, Daniel. [380 words, ENI-02-0455]

Churches warn against 'privatisation' of cemeteries in Germany

Bielefeld, Germany (ENI). Plans by a German state government to overhaul strict rules on burials and allow people to keep the ashes of their loved ones on their mantelpieces are causing concern to German churches. "To take and store urns in private homes might lead to improper use," said Manfred Sorg, president of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia. "The way in which we treat our dead also demonstrates how we care for the living and how we respect human dignity." [419 words, ENI-02-0453]

12 December 2002

Mavnugam (ENI). About 150 Hindu families whose homes in the remote village of Mavnugam were destroyed in a powerful earthquake in the Indian state of Gujarat almost two year ago have moved into a new village built under the auspices of the Church of North India. "The earthquake has changed our lives for the better," said Harji Kachara, whose family of six now has running-water in their house in the rebuilt village. [381 words, ENI-02-0452]

Millions-strong Christian alliance launches campaign to change trade rules

Geneva (ENI). An alliance representing hundreds of millions of Christians world-wide has launched a global campaign in favour of "fair" trade practices and human rights. The "Trade for People, not People for Trade" campaign aims to make the rights of people and the protection of the environment essential criteria for trade agreements between countries. "We accept that trade can bring about good in our world," acknowledged Christoph Stueckelberger, director of Bread for All (Switzerland), a member of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), which is sponsoring the campaign. [427 words, ENI-02-0451]

11 December 2002

Vancouver (ENI). The Supreme Court of Canada in a landmark judgement has ruled against allowing Harvard University a patent on a mouse that has been genetically modified for medical research. The ruling, which ends a 17-year legal battle, is a victory for churches that had argued that patenting the mouse would mean turning living beings into intellectual property. [344 words, ENI-02-0449]

Plans to liberalise drug laws in Hungary draw criticism from churches

Warsaw (ENI). Church leaders in Hungary have condemned government plans to scrap penalties for the possession of small amounts of cannabis and other "soft" drugs. "This is the latest step in an appalling attempt to liberalise public life which is gradually destroying the Hungarian people," said Bishop Lorant Hegedus of the Hungarian Reformed Church, reacting to a bill introduced by the Socialist government of premier Peter Medgyessy. [266 words, ENI-02-0450]

10 December 2002

Ahmedabad, India (ENI). Christians in the Indian state of Gujarat are warning about what they claim is the Hindu nationalist agenda of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the state prepares for elections on Thursday. The BJP's election manifesto includes several proposals Christians believe to be directed against minorities, including a law to ban religious conversions. "By openly reiterating its divisive agenda, the BJP is trying to polarise the Hindu majority against the religious minorities," said Church of North India Bishop Vinod Kumar Malaviya of Gujarat. [358 words, ENI-02-0447]

Hounded Roman Catholic priest will leave Zimbabwe reluctantly

Harare (ENI). A Roman Catholic priest driven from his parish in eastern Zimbabwe last summer under threat from militants of the ruling political party has announced he is leaving the country after church and other officials were unable to ensure his safety. "Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and it saddens me that I have to leave under such circumstances. I pray that one day sanity will once again prevail in the country," said the Rev. Patrick Kelly, an Irish national. [347 words, ENI-02-0448]

10 December 2002

London (ENI). The Methodist Church in Britain has warned that government plans to allow pubs in England and Wales to stay open 24 hours a day will "do little" to curb the country's growing problem of binge drinking. "It is all too commonplace for people to go out binge drinking, especially at the weekend, where the goal becomes the number of pints or glasses consumed," said Rachel Lampard, the church's secretary for parliamentary and political affairs, in a statement on a licensing bill going through the British parliament. [540 words, ENI-02-0446]

6 December 2002

Rajkot, India (ENI). Christians in the Indian state of Gujarat have paid tribute to India's first Irish Protestant missionaries at the place they started their work over 160 years ago. "The church here is a child of the Irish missionaries," said Bishop Vinod Kumar Malaviya of the Church of North India at the ceremony in Rajkot on 28 November attended by nearly 1000 church members from throughout Gujarat and beyond. [370 words, ENI-02-0445]

5 December 2002

New Delhi (ENI). A high-level citizens' tribunal has accused the Gujarat government of condoning the sporadic mob violence that rocked the Indian state earlier this year and resulted in the deaths of more than 1000 people, mostly Muslims. In a report "Crime Against Humanity" released in New Delhi on 22 November, the tribunal called for the prosecution of certain state officials for their responsibility in the bloodshed. The report reflects weeks of investigations and testimonies gathered from more than 2000 witnesses, Christian and other non-governmental organisations and academics, its authors said. [515 words, ENI-02-0443]

Churches in Uganda and Kenya try to help rein in cattle rustling

Nairobi (ENI). In the arid expanses of north-western Kenya and north-eastern Uganda where cattle raiding has been a way of life for centuries, churches on both sides of the border have joined forces to halt the practice, which leads to the deaths of hundreds of people each year. An agreement was signed in late November by the secretary general of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, the Rev. Mutava Musyimi, and the Rev. Grace Kaiso, chairperson of the Uganda Joint Council of Churches, for a pilot programme to help communities stop the cattle raiding. [447 words, ENI-02-0444]

Dutch theologians urge Protestants to share Eucharist

Amsterdam (ENI). In the face of the increasing disregard by Dutch Roman Catholics and Protestants of church rules that prohibit inter-communion, a group of Dutch theologians is calling on Protestant churches to renounce their historic condemnation of the Catholic Eucharist. The theologians, from a group called the Ecumenical Polder Circle, hope that such a move by the Protestant churches might spur the Roman Catholic Church to follow suit. [368 words, ENI-02-0442]

4 December 2002

London (ENI). The Christian yearning for reconciliation can lead to damaging pressure on sex abuse victims to forgive their abusers, the churches of Britain and Ireland have been warned. David Gamble, a Methodist minister and moderator of a group that drew up a new report to the churches on the issue, said: "Often we demand that abuse victims forgive - without thinking what this means when the pains and scars have not been addressed." Gamble was speaking at the public launch on 3 December of Time for Action, published by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, an umbrella organisation of 32 churches. [428 words, ENI-02-0041]

3 December 2002

Moscow (ENI). Russia's education minister has taken steps to include Orthodox Christianity in the school curriculum, prompting a heated debate about the constitutionality of such a measure in an officially secular state. Education Minister Vladimir Filippov released in November a 30-page description of a course on "Orthodox culture" that could, under certain conditions, be taught as an optional subject at schools run by public authorities but the minister, however, appears to have made the decision without consulting other education ministry officials. [490 words, ENI-02-0440]

2 December 2002

Bethlehem (ENI). The cradle of Christianity has again become a hostage of the Middle East conflict after Israeli troops seized control of the West Bank city of Bethlehem in response to the suicide bombing that killed 11 people on 21 November. The bomber was identified as a 23-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem, and his father declared before television cameras that he was proud of his what his son had done. [700 words, ENI-02-0439]

Call for ban on Muslim dress denounced by church leaders in Australia

Sydney (ENI). A suggestion made by a member of an Australian state parliament, the Rev. Fred Nile, that authorities ban Muslim women from wearing traditional dress in public in case they were hiding explosives or guns has drawn strong criticism. "Such remarks are inconsistent with the Christian gospel of freedom and peace," said the Rev. James Haire, president of the Uniting Church in Australia. "We support the right of Muslim women to wear whatever clothing they feel is appropriate in accordance with their beliefs." [420 words, ENI-02-0438]

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