New Delhi (ENI). Church officials in Pakistan say the firing on a Christian congregation during Easter Sunday that killed one worshipper and injured seven others shows the vulnerability of the Christian community in the Muslim-majority nation. Armed assailants fired bullets at the Christians on Easter Sunday when about 50 worshippers in Khahamba village near Lahore were leaving a service at the New Apostolic Church in the locality. [394 words, ENI-05-0220]

Canadian churches warn of trade freedom impact on Mexico

Vancouver, Canada (ENI). Canadian church leaders have returned from a visit to Mexico in advance of a global week of actions on trade justice, warning about the effects of trade liberalisation on that country. "What we saw was familiar to Canadians - that it is difficult for a small economy to manage the North American Free Trade Agreement in the face of the huge economy of the United States," said Ray Schultz, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. [429 words, ENI-05-0218]

Zambian president challenged by former No. 2 and tele-evangelist

Lusaka (ENI). Former Zambian vice-president Nevers Mumba, who was once a television evangelist, says that at the ruling party's May convention he will challenge President Levy Mwanawasa, the man who sacked him last year. Mumba has said he will also take on Mwanawasa in the presidential elections scheduled for 2006. The former vice-president announced his intention to wrestle power from Mwanawasa during an interview on Lusaka's private Radio Phoenix. [434 words, ENI-05-0221]

Moscow court finds vandalised 'beware of religion' exhibition insulting

Moscow (ENI). A court in Moscow has issued a verdict in a case relating to a group of infuriated Russian Orthodox believers who poured paint on exhibits at a display in the Andrei Sakharov Museum, which they said insulted their religious feelings. The Taganka district court's verdict found the director of the Sakharov Museum and public centre, Yuri Samodurov, and the staff expert, Lyudmila Vassilovskaya, were guilty of provocative actions that could fan ethnic and religious strife. [439 words, ENI-05-0217]

60 years after his execution, Bonhoeffer still inspires

Flossenbuerg, Germany (ENI). Flossenbuerg lies just a few miles inside the German border with the Czech Republic. Gentle, wooded slopes surround the former death camp in a corner of which is a small concrete-walled yard. Here, early in the morning of 9 April 1945 - just a month before the German surrender at the end of the Second World War - Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and six other remaining members of the conspiracy against Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler were hanged by the brutal special military unit, the SS. [715 words, ENI-05-0219]

30 March 2005

New Delhi (ENI). Sri Lanka's top Anglican bishop has criticised a government plan to create an uninhabited buffer zone next to the sea to protect against tsunami-type disasters which authorities say has gained new urgency following Monday's earthquake in Indonesia. "There are still houses and businesses on the seashore," said Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo, who has warned that plans for a buffer zone 100-200 metres from the sea risked creating a new category of displaced people in the island nation. [506 words, ENI-05-0215]

US evangelist links with ultra-Orthodox Jews to halt gay festival

Jerusalem (ENI). A US Christian evangelist has teamed up with ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel to try to prevent an international gay and lesbian festival later this year in Jerusalem. California Pastor Leo Giovinetti along with members of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party hope to get the signatures of one million Christians and Jews from around the world to lobby the government of Israel and the Jerusalem municipality to prevent the Gay and Lesbian World Pride Parade this August. [368 words, ENI-05-0214]

Polish churches hail scrapping of human corpses exhibition

Warsaw (ENI). Polish churches have hailed a town council decision to bar a German scientist, who has both reviled and excited his watchers, from using a deserted communist-era warehouse to prepare human corpses for commercial exhibition. ''Polish law does not allow bodies to be prepared for exhibition, even with the consent of the dead or their relatives,'' the council at Sieniawa Zarska in western Poland said in a statement. "Graves are the only legal resting places, and they can be sited solely in a cemetery.'' [458 words, ENI-05-0216]

29 March 2005

Jerusalem (ENI). Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims worshipped at Jerusalem's holy sites over Easter in the largest gathering of local and foreign Christians marking the occasion in the city since a Palestinian uprising began almost five years ago. The commemoration got off to a solemn start on Good Friday, the day that marks the crucifixion of Jesus. [404 words, ENI-05-0209]

WCC's Kobia in Bangladesh wants to learn from Asian spirituality

Dhaka (ENI). Asian people, irrespective of their religion, have a lot to contribute to spirituality in the world, believes the Rev. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, who has just completed a three-day visit to predominantly-Muslim Bangladesh "Their spirituality is informed by their centuries-old ways ... and we want to learn from that - as Christians and as people of other parts of the world," said Kobia in an interview at the end of a visit during which he met President Iajuddin Ahmed. [471 words, ENI-05-0210]

Zimbabwe's Mugabe says he will uses biblical laws against deserters

Harare (ENI). US President George W. Bush faced criticism in 2004 for exploiting religion in campaigning, now Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who has been accused of going to any lengths to stay in power, has been using the Bible for electoral purposes. In the run up to Zimbabwe's national parliamentary election on 31 March, Mugabe said he would use biblical laws to punish people who desert the ruling Zanu-PF party, which is expected to increase its majority in the legislature. [561 words, ENI-05-0213]

Serbian Orthodox Church condemns anti-Semitism

Sofia (ENI). The Serbian Orthodox Church has strongly condemned anti-Semitism after posters deriding Jews were put up in the capital Belgrade, and against a background of anti-Jewish sentiments in the country that has caused widespread concern. "Once again, as we have done in previous years, we most strongly condemn every form and every manifestation of anti-Semitism," the Holy Synod of the church said in a statement. "This phenomenon is unacceptable theologically, morally, on the grounds of civilisation and in every other respect." [272 words, ENI-05-0212]

Swiss missionaries' south China work hailed in Hong Kong

Hong Kong (ENI). The role of Swiss missionaries from Basel in providing education, health and cultural links in southern China is being highlighted at an exhibition in Hong Kong running from March to June. The exhibition entitled "Early Swiss-Chinese Encounters: Basel Mission in Hong Kong" started with a conference organized by the Tsung Tsin Mission of Hong Kong which sprang from the Basel Mission. It is being held in conjunction with the University of Hong Kong. [499 words, ENI-05-0211]

28 March 2005

Harare (ENI). The Roman Catholic archbishop in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, has enraged President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party ahead of the 31 March national election by calling for a non-violent mass uprising like the one last year in Ukraine. "I hope that people get so disillusioned that they really organize against the government and kick him out by a non-violent, popular, mass uprising," Ncube said in an interview with South Africa's Sunday Independent newspaper. [357 words, ENI-05-0208]

Greek Orthodox official calls on Jerusalem Patriarch to resign

Jerusalem (ENI). A senior Greek Orthodox cleric in the Holy Land has joined calls by Arab parishioners and clerics for the Patriarch of Jerusalem to resign over allegations that a close aide sold church property in Jerusalem's Old City to Jewish investors. Patriarch Irineos I has come under pressure to resign following an Israeli newspaper report that a close aide sold property near the Jaffa Gate entrance to Jerusalem's Old City to Jewish investors from abroad. [405 words, ENI-05-0207]

24 March 2005

Geneva (ENI). Religious freedom is in effect absent in North Korea, where the government severely represses public and private religious activities and enforces a policy of actively discriminating against religious believers, an advisory body to the US president and congress has said in Geneva. "There is no evidence that there has been any improvement in the conditions for religious freedom in the past year," Felice D. Gear, vice chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, told a media briefing at the United Nations' office in the Swiss city. [575 words, ENI-05-0206]

S. Sudan church leaders ask to help in drafting new constitution

Rumbek, Sudan (ENI)--Church leaders in southern Sudan are expressing concern at signs they are being sidelined in the process of drawing up a constitution for the region following a 21-year-long civil war. "We cannot just sit and see things happening. We would like to share in the peace, reconstruction and reconciliation," Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Abangite Gasi of Yambio diocese told a delegation of African religious leaders who visiting southern Sudan. [413 words, ENI-05-0204]

US Catholic bishops launch drive against death penalty

New York (ENI). The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced a nation-wide campaign to end the death penalty in the United States. "We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. We cannot defend life by taking life," said Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, who has acknowledged he once supported the death penalty. [368 words, ENI-05-0203]

Three months after tsunami, agencies continue aid for children

Banda Aceh, Indonesia (ENI). Three months after an earthquake-triggered tsunami in the Indian Ocean rim killed more than 288 000 people, leaving many more homeless, aid workers in the hardest-hit Sumatra region of Indonesia are continuing their efforts to provide support to children. "We fully expect it will take many years for children and their families to overcome this enormous disaster," said Charles MacCormack, president and chief executive officer of Save the Children in the United States as Indonesia prepared to move into an official reconstruction phase on 26 March. [700 words, ENI-05-0205]

23 March 2005

Jerusalem (ENI). The Palestinian Authority has decided to send a delegation to Greece to seek the dismissal of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in the Holy Land due to a scandal over the reported sale of land in Jerusalem to Jewish buyers. Palestinian lawmakers have voted in a meeting to seek the "expulsion" of Patriarch Irineos and to claim all the property owned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in the Holy Land as belonging to its mainly Arab parishioners. [403 words, ENI-05-0197]

Religious groups fuel debate on US brain-injured woman Schiavo

New York (ENI). The United States is gripped in debate about brain-injured Terri Schiavo whose family are waging a legal battle to keep her alive. Religious communities including Roman Catholics and evangelical Christians have taken up the case as highlighting the right to life. Both the US Congress and President George W. Bush have waded into the case of Schiavo, a 41-year-old Florida woman who has suffered from brain damage since 1990. [575 words, ENI-05-0199]

Human rights group criticises Bulgaria for interference in religion

Sofia (ENI). A Bulgarian human rights group has strongly criticised the country's government for what it termed "serious violations of religious rights" by interfering in religious affairs. The criticism was made by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee in its annual report on human rights in Bulgaria. It highlighted the forcible expulsion by police in July 2004 of members of the "Alternative Synod" who are opposed to Orthodox Patriarch Maxim from hundreds of churches, monasteries, and church properties. [273 words, ENI-05-0198]

Anglican bishops in Scotland say gays not barred from priesthood

London (ENI). Leaders of the Scottish Episcopal Church have added fuel to a controversy dividing their Anglican Communion worldwide by declaring for the first time that in their church practising homosexuals are not barred from becoming priests. They also criticised the leaders of the 78-million communion for seeking to isolate Anglican churches in North America following the consecration of an openly gay bishop in the United States and the introduction of a blessing for same-sex couples in a part of Canada. [348 words, ENI-05-0202]

Zambia churches say president should deliver on female lawmakers

Lusaka (ENI). The Council of Churches in Zambia's gender and children co-ordinator Susan Mantale is battling to ensure the country's president meets a commitment that at least 3 out of 10 decision-makers should be women by the end of 2005. "Women who qualify on merit should participate in national development at any level," said Mantale, reacting to a statement by President Levy Mwanawasa earlier this year that Zambia was unlikely to reach the 30 per cent mark. [358 words, ENI-05-0200]

Mission pilots in African hotspots shun pay for higher calling

Rumbek, Sudan (ENI). Landing on a tiny East African dirt airfield in a nine-seat C-208 Cessna Grand Caravan in the middle of a war zone might strike fear into ordinary mortals, but when the pilot touches down he feels satisfaction from using a God-given gift. "It is very rewarding to know that I do something I enjoy every day," the pilot told Ecumenical News International in Rumbek, southern Sudan. "I am using the gift the Lord has given to me for the sake of the gospel and the people of East Africa." [676 words, ENI-05-0201]

22 March 2005

Manila (ENI). Threats to bomb churches, bus termini and train stations, have not deterred Philippine Christians in the national capital from queuing up for trips to the provinces during the most holy week in the Christian calendar. Undaunted by the threats, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales urged Roman Catholic faithful to reflect and meditate on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [398 words, ENI-05-0195]

Religious leaders stir abortion debate before British election

London (ENI). Britain's media is speculating that abortion will become a national election issue after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, joined other religious leaders in expressing concern at the law allowing terminations of pregnancy up to 24 weeks after conception. The subject has in the past been avoided by British political parties, but with the media speculating there will be a general election on 5 May the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Michael Howard, called for the legal limit to be reduced to 20 weeks. [379 words, ENI-05-0192]

Greek government to investigate Orthodox Jerusalem property deal

Jerusalem (ENI). The Greek government has joined the Greek Orthodox Church in investigating allegations of a dubious land deal involving church property in Jerusalem's Old City to Jewish buyers. The outcry began after Israel's Maariv newspaper published a report that an aide to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the Holy Land, Irineos I, secretly sold church land to Jewish buyers at the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City. Patriarch Irineos immediately distanced himself from the incident. [334 words, ENI-05-0193]

Hong Kong academics see some good in China's new religion rules

Hong Kong (ENI). New regulations promulgated by the Chinese government continue existing controls on religion but also include a number of positive aspects, say some observers of religion in Hong Kong. The regulations which came into force on 1 March deal with religious organizations, venues for religious activities, religious personnel, religious properties and legal responsibilities. [350 words, ENI-05-0196]

Zimbabwe's conjoined twins will live believes Salvation Army official

Harare (ENI). The Salvation Army, the Christian organization which facilitated the birth eight months ago of Zimbabwe's first known set of conjoined twins, has expressed faith that the pair will survive after an operation to separate them in Canada. The twins, Tinashe and Tinotenda, were joined at the abdomen and shared one liver. The conjoined twins have been in a serious condition and on life support after being separated on 7 March by doctors in a 25-strong medical team at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. [354 words, ENI-05-0194]

21 March 2005

Jerusalem (ENI). Thousands of Christians waving palm fronds above their heads retraced the journey taken by Jesus to Jerusalem in the traditional Palm Sunday procession that marks the start of the holiest week of the Christian calendar. Pilgrims from abroad joined local Christians to celebrate the procession from the Mount of Olives through the gates of Jerusalem's walled Old City. The march retraces Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem five days before he was crucified. [366 words, ENI-05-0188]

Retiring Namibian president Nujoma praises church's role

Windhoek (ENI). Namibia's retiring President Sam Nujoma who on Monday handed over power to his elected successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, has paid tribute to the role of the churches in the southern African nation. "The church has always played an important role in the social and spiritual sphere in our society by promoting peace, harmony, equality and national reconciliation," said Nujoma at a ceremony organized by the Council of Churches in Namibia. [375 words, ENI-05-0190]

Indian Christian groups hail US cancellation of Gujarat leader's visa

New Delhi (ENI). Christian groups in Gujarat have praised the United States for cancelling the visa of Narendra Modi, Gujarat chief minister, for violating religious freedom in the troubled north western state of India during riots three years ago. The US State Department announced the cancellation of Modi's tourist and business visa after a resolution was passed in the congress criticising the minister for his role in the 2002 riots in the state. [299 words, ENI-05-0189]

Israeli Christian convert Vanunu faces jail again

Jerusalem (ENI). Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu could face up to two years in prison after being indicted for violating the terms of his release from prison. Justice officials charged the 50-year-old Christian convert on 21 charges of speaking to foreign reporters and trying to leave Israeli territory last year when he attempted to visit Bethlehem, in the West Bank, for Christmas services. [302 words, ENI-05-0191]

Zimbabwe ruling party labels Catholic bishop a traitor

Geneva (ENI). Zimbabwe's ruling party has declared outspoken Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube a traitor along with several government critics and opposition leaders. In a pamphlet forming part of its campaign literature for parliamentary elections on 31 March, President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party labelled Ncube "an imperialist agent schooled in the deceitful art of teaching and leading Africans into becoming servants". [370 words, ENI-05-0187]

18 March 2005

Rumbek, Sudan (ENI). Church leaders in Southern Sudan are warning that a conflict in Darfur in the west of the country that has displaced 1.5 million people could jeopardise a peace agreement to end a separate civil war in their area of Africa's largest country. "The [Darfur] war is not helping the peace agreement in the south. It should be stopped immediately," said the Rev. Samuel Ador, a Presbyterian minister who heads the department of church and society in the Khartoum-based Sudan Council of Churches. [432 words, ENI-05-0184]

Christians in Israeli town trickle back to school after Druze attacks

Jerusalem (ENI). Christian children are gradually returning to classes at their schools in the Galilee town of Maghar in northern Israel, a month after Christians were attacked and their property looted in the worst sectarian violence for years. Druze-Arab villagers attacked their Christian-Arab neighbours, beating them, burning several homes and looting shops after rumours swept through the village that Christian schoolboys had posted naked photographs of Druze girls on the Internet. [369 words, ENI-05-0186]

US Episcopal Church declares moratorium on appointing bishops

New York (ENI). The bishops of the US Episcopal (Anglican) Church have declared a moratorium on the appointments of any new bishops until 2006, when the denomination holds its next general convention. The bishops also expressed "deep regret for the pain that others have experienced" after the 2003 consecration of openly gay V. Gene Robinson as bishop of the state of New Hampshire. [380 words, ENI-05-0183]

Zimbabwe arsonists burn Methodist church building

Harare (ENI). Unknown arsonists have burnt down an outbuilding at a church in Zimbabwe nearby residents said has links with former prime minister Bishop Abel Muzorewa as the southern African country prepares for national elections on 31 March. The affected United Methodist Church building in the Marondera East constituency - 75 kilometres north of Harare - where Zimbabwe's defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi of the ruling Zanu-PF party is pitted in the elections against Ian Kay, a white farmer standing for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Kay is said to have given financial and material support toward building the church. [398 words, ENI-05-0185]

17 March 2005

Hong Kong (ENI). Two Protestant church leaders in Taiwan have objected to Beijing's newly endorsed anti-secession law, which China believes safeguards national unity by forbidding Taiwan from formally declaring independence from China. "Taiwan is not a part of China, Beijing has never ruled Taiwan even for a minute," the Rev. William J.K. Lo, general secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), told Ecumenical News International in a telephone interview. "The sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the people [here]." [413 words, ENI-05-0182]

Malawi frees journalists held over presidential exorcism reports

Blantyre (ENI). Two Malawi journalists arrested over news reports that President Bingu wa Mutharika had sought divine intervention to exorcise ghosts from his official residence have been released, news agencies have reported. The journalists are Mabvuto Banda, a senior reporter for The Nation newspaper who also reports for the Reuters news agency, and Raphael Tenthani, a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation. [279 words, ENI-05-0179]

Racism charges in South African Catholic Church create storm

Johannesburg (ENI). Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, head of the Roman Catholic Church in South Africa, has questioned some parts of an internal church report which alleged widespread racism among clergy and laity. The 31-page report called "Racism and the Catholic Church", written by the justice and peace department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, has sparked controversy in South Africa when it was made public before it had been discussed by the bishops. [379 words, ENI-05-0181]

Germany recalls arrest of 500 pastors who condemned Nazism

Bielefeld, Germany (ENI). German churches are remembering the 70th anniversary of the arrest of 500 Protestant pastors by the police and the Gestapo for reading an anti-Nazi proclamation from their pulpits. "This was a unique event in the history of the struggle of the Confessing Church with the leaders of the Third Reich," the Union of Evangelical Churches in Germany said in a statement to mark the anniversary. [364 words, ENI-05-0180]

16 March 2005

Yei, Sudan (ENI). An Anglican bishop at the forefront of peace initiatives in Africa has urged Sudanese to embrace and nurture January's comprehensive peace agreement for Southern Sudan signed in Nairobi, saying the accord was still very fragile. "The peace agreement is like a newly-born child," said retired Anglican Bishop Macleod Ochola of Kitgum. During a visit by interfaith leaders to Yei, near Uganda, Ochola said of the accord: "It needs to be cared for by everyone in Sudan, Africa and the world." [471 words, ENI-05-0178]

African cleric tells Americans goal to cut global poverty is in danger

New York (ENI). South Africa's Anglican leader Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane says he is worried that an international effort to cut the global poverty rate by half has been too slow and is in danger of collapsing. Ndungane has just returned to South Africa from the United States where he lobbied members of the US administration in Washington to push for greater action on international poverty relief and development programmes. [319 words, ENI-05-0176]

Canadian Lutherans to vote on same-sex blessings Anglicans snubbed

Vancouver (ENI). The national convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) meeting later this year will consider a motion that would allow local congregations to authorise the blessing of same-sex relationships. At the same time, Canada's top Anglican cleric, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, has expressed disappointment at the rejection of an invitation by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to attend a meeting in Windsor, Ontario, of North American bishops in April. [357 words, ENI-05-0177]

Zambian president attacks Church for criticism of government

Lusaka (ENI). Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has accused churches of fomenting a culture of verbal abuse following persistent criticism of the delayed enactment of a new constitution before elections scheduled for 2006. "I am concerned at the culture of insults, which is fast taking root in our midst in the name of freedom of expression," Mwanawasa said. "Sadly even the Church, which is supposed to be the guiding star and the light in darkness has fallen prey to this unfortunate development, alien to our culture." [386 words, ENI-05-0175]

15 March 2005

Hong Kong (ENI). The man who has taken over the top post in Hong Kong may be a devout Roman Catholic, but the bishop in Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, says that does not guarantee he will be a good leader. Leaders in Beijing have named Hong Kong Chief Secretary Donald Tsang as the acting chief executive of Hong Kong, which has been one of China's Special Administrative Regions since the British left the territory in 1997. [538 words, ENI-05-0171]

Despite terror eruptions Philippines religious leaders still want dialogue

Manila (ENI). Despite terrorism threats and sporadic violence in the Philippines many government and religious leaders still advocate ending violence through dialogue. The latest violent incident was on Tuesday when police said they killed at least 22 detainees after storming a maximum-security prison, firing tear gas and using sharpshooters to retake the jail from Muslim militants who had stolen guards' weapons during an attempted breakout. [353 words, ENI-05-0174]

Bulgaria honours role of Parliament and Church in saving Jews

Sofia (ENI). Bulgaria has held formal commemorations of the courageous efforts of its then Parliament and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to save Bulgarian Jews from the Nazi death camps of the Second World War. At a ceremony in Sofia outside Bulgaria's Parliament, Emil Kalo, president of Bulgaria's Jewish Shalom organization, said, "We commemorate those valiant men from the National Assembly, and the courageous behaviour of the Holy Synod, and of thousands of Bulgarians." [412 words, ENI-05-0172]

Christian communicators call for a new Europe covenant

Geneva (ENI). The European region of the World Association for Christian Communication has called for a new social and moral covenant for Europe that ensures equality of citizenship, discourse and participation for all those in its cultural landscape. "Openness to re-negotiating and sharing public communication space will be the first signs of this new covenant, and shared ownership and editorial decision-making its inevitable consequences," participants at the March WACC Assembly in Strasbourg, France said. [417 words, ENI-05-0174]

14 March 2005

New Delhi (ENI). Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised to take action to curb increasing violence against Christians - who are a tiny minority in the world's second most populous nation - a church leader has said. "Indications are that the attacks are a part of a well-planned conspiracy to terrorise the community," a delegation of Indian church leaders had said in a memorandum presented to Prime Minister Singh. [390 words, ENI-05-0170]

UK anti-terror measure remains threat to freedom, says bishop

London (ENI). An Anglican bishop who spoke out in the British parliament against a draft anti-terrorism law has said the final form of the measure remains a threat to freedom. "The act still does not allow accused people due process, and I could not be satisfied until it is replaced by something that does not interfere with our tradition of civil liberties," said Peter Selby, the bishop of Worcester. [317 words, ENI-05-0169]

UK church seeks to save nurse from deportation to Zimbabwe

London (ENI). Edneth Gotora, a 27-year-old Zimbabwean nurse, who fears persecution in her country and who is battling to have a decision to deport her reversed, is pinning her hopes on a petition sent to the lower chamber of Britain's parliament. Frank Cook, a member of parliament in the governing Labour Party for Stockton North, where Gotora lives and worships at the local United Reformed Church, is canvassing fellow parliamentarians for a motion he has tabled. It asks home secretary Charles Clarke to allow her to stay in Britain. [388 words, ENI-05-0168]

Jerusalem court rules election of Greek patriarch as 'illegal'

Athens (ENI). The election in 2001 of Irineos I as the Greek Orthodox patriarch of the Holy Land has been declared illegal by an Israeli court which has called for the election to be re-run, a lawyer for the church leader has said in Athens. The patriarchate's Greek lawyer, Frangiskos Ragousis, said Patriarch Irineos learned of the court judgement only from the media. Neither the Patriarch nor any representative of the church leader had been asked to testify before the court, he added. [410 words, ENI-05-0167]

11 March 2005

Abuja (ENI). Religious issues are said to be dogging progress at Nigeria's ongoing National Political Reform Conference in the federal capital Abuja despite their exclusion from the agenda. Some 400 delegates have a mandate to discuss issues threatening to derail democratic governance in Africa's largest nation. Delegates who spoke to Ecumenical News International, faulted Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo for declaring religion a no-go area for discussion while inaugurating the conference on 21 February. [434 words, ENI-05-0164]

New US grouping bringing more churches together set for June launch

New York (ENI). A long-discussed grouping bringing together a wide range of US churches and church bodies will be officially launched in June. The new organization, Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT-USA), will officially inaugurate its work on 1 to 3 June at a Jesuit retreat centre in Los Altos, California. It is the first time the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined such a church grouping. The bishops formally declared their support for the initiative in late 2004. [338 words, ENI-05-0165]

Reading Bible oblivious of context can be a peril says Reformed leader

Geneva (ENI). Reading the Bible while insensitive to one's context can be dangerous, the leader of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) has told US theology students. Don't read and interpret the Bible while oblivious to suffering and need, the Rev. Setri Nyomi, the leader of the 75 million member strong alliance of Reformed churches has urged Christians in an address at Princeton Theological Seminary. [427 words, ENI-05-0166]

10 March 2005

Manila (ENI). Bishops, activist women and legislators are embroiled in a heated battle with one another over a law that would require couples to space their children two or three years apart to curb the Philippines rapid 2.3 per cent population growth. Many of the Philippines population of 86 million people live in poverty and the national growth rate is considered high by international aid agencies. [402 words, ENI-05-0163]

Book on British torture of Kenya's Mau Mau stirs debate on era

Nairobi (ENI). New documentation of brutality against Mau Mau freedom fighters by British rulers in Kenya during the 1950s has rekindled debate on the bloody era, with church leaders backing government demands for an apology from the UK government. However, "They need to pay for the damages," Bishop Gideon Githiga of the Anglican diocese of Thika, told Ecumenical News International. "The war was very devastating especially in areas around Mount Kenya. It is not enough to apologise." [386 words, ENI-05-0160]

Church-supported boycott of fast-food giant ends after 3 years

New York (ENI). A three-year consumer boycott of the US fast food giant Taco Bell over wages and working conditions for farm workers has ended in a union agreement, earning praise from the US National Council of Churches, a key supporter of the boycott. "This is really, really good news," NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar said following the announcement that Taco Bell had agreed to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, that had called the boycott, to address concerns about the treatment of farm workers working in the Florida tomato industry. [319 words, ENI-05-0162]

Ecumenical Patriarch and Romanian Orthodox head pray for Pope

Sofia (ENI). Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I and Romanian Orthodox Church Patriarch Teoctist have prayed together in Bucharest for the health of Pope John Paul II. During a visit to Romania, Bartholomeos II, the spiritual leader of the majority of the world's Orthodox Christians, told Associated Press television, "I pray wholeheartedly for (the Pope's) health. ... Courage is characteristic of him. I think and I pray that he will overcome this difficult time of (his) life and will continue, for many years to come, his life in service of Christ and ... peace in the world." [193 words, ENI-05-0161]

9 March 2005

London (ENI). An Anglican bishop, Peter Selby, whose father was once interned, has spoken out against an anti-terror measure in Britain which will allow suspects to be deprived of liberty indefinitely without charge or trial. Sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Bill have already been heavily defeated in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the UK parliament. That has left the government seeking a compromise for the bill, which earlier had narrowly cleared the House of Commons, the lower chamber of parliament. [402 words, ENI-05-0158]

Hungary, Slovak bishops regret clergy collaboration with communists

Warsaw (ENI). Roman Catholic bishops from Slovakia and Hungary have apologised for church members who acted as communist agents after clergy names appeared on new lists of former collaborators opening up old wounds in the two countries. ''Although this problem was tackled long ago, the church has never taken a public position on it,'' said Marian Gavenda, spokesman for the Slovakia Bishops' Conference. ''The real responsibility for persecution lies with the regime. But society has accepted our request for forgiveness for priests who genuinely collaborated with the secret police.'' [406 words, ENI-05-0159]

US physicist, religion-science dialogue advocate, wins Templeton Prize

New York (ENI). US physicist Charles Townes, a Nobel physics laureate and early champion of the study of science and religion, has been named the 2005 winner of the Templeton Prize, probably the best-known award in the field of religion. The research of the 89-year-old University of California professor led to the development of the laser and he shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with two scientists from Moscow. He is cited for his groundbreaking thought on the convergence of science and religion and his advocacy for dialogue between scientists and theologians. [375 words, ENI-05-0157]

Zambian president baptised as he switches Christian denominations

Lusaka (ENI). President Levy Mwanawasa has made a niche in history by becoming the first sitting president in Southern Africa to undergo baptism as he switched allegiance from one Christian denomination to the other. "This is a new life for me and I am happy," said Mwanawasa after his baptism. "God has defined a purpose for my life, and this is to provide leadership to the people of Zambia. God has struck me." [339 words, ENI-05-0156]

8 March 2005

Warsaw (ENI). Poland's former president, Lech Walesa, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, has accused the country's largest Roman Catholic radio station of stirring up hatred through its broadcasts and has urged the authorities to remove its operating licence. ''This radio threatens our young democracy and Poland's image in the world,'' said the leader of Solidarity, which battled in the 1980s against the then communist rulers. ''I hope the authorities will see this threat and do something, rather than just monitoring it.'' [393 words, ENI-05-0152]

Bulgarian religious leaders visit NATO headquarters

Sofia (ENI). A delegation of leaders representing various religions and denominations have made an unprecedented visit to the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels, Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Bulgaria was among a number of Central and Eastern European countries that in May 2004 became the newest members of NATO - a military alliance that includes Western European countries as well as Canada, Turkey and the United States. [328 words, ENI-05-0155]

Tsunami unites creeds and denominations in India's Andaman isles

Port Blair, India (ENI). Tsunami survivors sheltered at a Roman Catholic relief camp in the Andaman isles of India are resisting government attempts to move them to a relief camp set up for their ethnic group, known as the Nicobari people. Most of them belong to the Church of North India. "We will only move back to our island and not to a new camp," a Nicobari camp member told government officials during a visit to the relief camp set up at the Catholic Nirmala school in Port Blair. [474 words, ENI-05-0153]

Ex-England cricketer David Sheppard, voice of the poor, dies at 75

London (ENI). David Sheppard, an Anglican bishop and former England cricket captain who was an outspoken voice for England's poor, has died aged 75. Sheppard, Bishop of Liverpool from 1975 to 1997, worked closely with his Roman Catholic counterpart in the deprived city, Derek Worlock. As a cricket player, Sheppard had the rare distinction of leading England's Test Match side when an ordained man. [379 words, ENI-05-0154]

7 March 2005

Nairobi (ENI). The warning by UN aid chief, Jan Egeland, that the world is committing an historic mistake by failing to support peace in southern Sudan is underlined by the feeling of abandonment churches and peace groups are experiencing due to sluggish responses to aid pledges. "People are returning to southern Sudan. There are huge needs, but the world is not sending support," the Rev. Anthony Bangoye, the general secretary of the Nairobi based Sudan Catholic Bishops' Regional Conference said. "We don't understand why." [387 words, ENI-05-0150]

Liberian churches condemn rebels for looting rubber wealth

Monrovia (ENI). Churches in Liberia have condemned the continuous squandering of rubber plantations in the country accusing ex-combatants of looting revenue that could be used to finance the process of rebuilding the war-ravaged country. The National Transition Government of Liberia mandated to prepare for general elections in October, has watched fighters from the disbanded group known as LURD looting the rubber resources that churches say should benefit all citizens during the struggle to build peace. [453 words, ENI-05-0151]

Worshippers going undercover in London to check churches

London (ENI). Churchgoers in London are taking a leaf from the commercial retailers' book and are planning "mystery shopping" or incognito checks on places of worship. Store groups and trade associations regularly send their officials to check stores anonymously. Up to 100 people will do the same with churches in London on 24 April. [270 words, ENI-05-0149]

4 March 2005

Jerusalem (ENI). The head of the Lutheran church in the Holy Land has urged Israel and the Palestinians to skip interim peace negotiations and work at finalising a treaty that would give Palestinians an independent state of their own. "Now is the time to negotiate an end game for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to implement it quickly," said Bishop Munib Younan, the leader of the 3000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the Holy Land. [353 words, ENI-05-0144]

US Supreme Court to rule on public display of Ten Commandments

New York (ENI). The US Supreme Court is considering whether displaying religious symbols on government property is constitutional, in cases that could redefine the place of religion in public life in the United States. The court has been hearinf arguments about displays of the Ten Commandments on a granite monument in the grounds of the Texas State Capitol building and framed copies of the commandments on courthouse walls in Kentucky. At issue is whether such displays are permitted under the US constitution, which endorses freedom of speech but also prohibits state endorsement of religion. [369 words, ENI-05-0147]

US Quaker group nominates atomic bomb survivors for Nobel prize

New York (ENI). A US-based Quaker humanitarian group has nominated a group of survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) of the group Nihon Hidankyo comes in a year that will mark the 60th anniversary of the US bombing of the two Japanese cities at the end of the Second World War. Nihon Hidankyo has a membership of those called Hibakusha - survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings in Japan as well as the subsequent hydrogen bomb testing in the Bikini Atoll. [278 words, ENI-05-0145]

African churches urge world trade rules that benefit poor

Nairobi (ENI). African churches and civil society groups are urging the world's biggest trading nations at World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Kenya to agree rules that would foster progress in developing countries. "The positions of the World Trade Organization which have been identified by African governments as hurting the survival of African economy and people should be discussed fully and agreed on through consensus," said the Rev. Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches. Meanwhile, representatives of non-governmental groups on Friday urged the Kenyan government to drop charges against 39 farmers and activists arrested while protesting near the conference venue. [405 words, ENI-05-0146]

Priest suspended by Harare's Anglican bishop 'resigns'

Geneva (ENI). A Zimbabwean Anglican cleric, suspended by his bishop for allowing an opposition lawmaker to donate money at a public thanksgiving service last year, is reported to have resigned. The cleric, Rev. Paul Gwese, was suspended by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga of Harare after the thanksgiving service last December but had the suspension lifted at the end of January following protests from parishioners of his church in Harare's Glen Norah township. [289 words, ENI-05-0148]

3 March 2005

New York (ENI). The US National Council of Churches has issued a warning about the dangers of Christian evangelisation in predominately non-Christian regions affected by the devastating tsunami of late 2004. "The work of those who don't know the difference between aid and evangelism has caused serious problems," said the Rev. Shanta Premawardhana, the council's associate general secretary for interfaith relations. [310 words, ENI-05-0140]

Pastor is suspect for Mozambique killing of Brazilian missionary

Geneva (ENI). Mozambican authorities have reported arresting a Lutheran pastor as a suspect in the 2004 murder of Brazilian Lutheran missionary Doraci J. Edinger, but the Lutheran World Federation has expressed concern about the time taken for investigations. Edinger was killed on 21 February 2004 in Nampula, Mozambique, shortly after it was reported she had discovered information about trafficking in human organs. [340 words, ENI-05-0139]

Unite against weapons says bishop, who turns swords into ploughshares

Nairobi (ENI). Mozambican Anglican Bishop Dinis Sengulane, who in his own country heads a project that exchanges weapons for tools of production, has urged church leaders, governments and civil society groups to unite against the proliferation of small arms. "The availability of guns makes it easy to have our peace disrupted," Sengulane, wearing a cross made from pieces of destroyed guns, told journalists in Nairobi. In Mozambique, Sengulane founded a project called "Transforming Arms into Tools" in which former guerrilla fighters and others exchange guns and weapons for equipment such as sewing machines, bicycles, and building materials. [335 words, ENI-05-0143]

Philippines newspaper advises journalists on religious stereotyping

Manila (ENI). A top daily newspaper in the Philippines is providing advice for journalists on avoiding stereotyping and what it says is inappropriate labelling of Muslims in this predominantly Roman Catholic Southeast Asian nation of 86 million. The newspaper noted that Filipino Muslims are often written about only during armed conflicts in a country where some of the Muslim population in southern Philippines have been fighting since 1972 for an independent Islamic state. [285 words, ENI-05-0141]

Churches rue loss of secular parties in east Indian state poll

New Delhi (ENI). Church leaders in Jharkhand, eastern India, have described as a setback the election results in the state where the ruling Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the largest bloc voting due to division among secular parties. "The secular parties were set to sweep the election here, but they fought among themselves," said Church of North India moderator Bishop Z. James Terom of Chota Nagpur, whose diocese encompases Jharkhand state. [260 words, ENI-05-0142]

2 March 2005

Nairobi (ENI). Churches in Africa have been urged to speak out more forcefully about sexual violence against women, a scourge highlighted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.Gender violence is escalating. Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war. The Church has a moral obligation to respond to this," said the Rev. Fred Nyabera, of the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa at the launch in Kenya of a campaign against sexual violence. [400 words, ENI-05-0137]

Orthodox African Patriarch urges S. African pressure on Zimbabwe

Johannesburg (ENI). The Greek Orthodox African Patriarch believes the South African government should put more pressure on the Zimbabwean government to change its ways. Theodoros II, a former archbishop of Zimbabwe, was speaking on his first visit to South Africa since becoming Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa last year. [323 words, ENI-05-0135]

Nigerian Christians may go to court over Ash Wednesday curfew

Abeokuta, Nigeria (ENI). Christian leaders in Abeokuta, western Nigeria, are threatening to take on their local authority in a court challenge for what they see as an infringement of their religious rights due to a curfew imposed on Ash Wednesday. The restriction on the day that starts the Christian period of 40 days of fasting preceding Easter prevented worshippers attending Ash Wednesday prayers in churches. [400 words, ENI-05-0138]

Hollywood take on Lucifer earns fans, but not critical respect

New York (ENI). With the 2005 Oscars behind them, US moviegoers can take a breather and indulge in a film about fighting demons that is taking a drubbing by American movie critics but has already earned a respectable US$51 million in its first two weeks of release. "Constantine", a science-fiction fantasy starring Keanu Reeves in a title role based on a comic series entitled "Hellblazer", centres on a man who "has been to hell and back," as the promotion for the Warner Brothers film puts it. [322 words, ENI-05-0136]

1 March 2005

Oxford, Ohio (ENI). "Million Dollar Baby", a film about a female boxer, landed four major Oscars at Hollywood's Academy Awards, as well as protests from Christian pro-life organizations. The film has also brought attention to the plight of Terri Schiavo, who has lived in a vegetative state for more than 15 years after a chemical imbalance caused her heart to stop beating for several minutes. Her husband has fought a legal struggle against her family for the right to allow Terri to die by removing the feeding tube. Her parents and some Christian organizations have fought for the right to keep her alive. [550 words, ENI-05-0134]

Clergy bribed to keep silent on Zimbabwe, says Catholic archbishop

Cape Town (ENI). Many clergy in Zimbabwe have been bribed into silence about human rights violations in Zimbabwe by the government of President Robert Mugabe, says the Roman Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo Pius Ncube. The archbishop, who is visiting South Africa said the church was divided by Mugabe "who used a strategy to buy certain churches and individual ministers and bishops". [547 words, ENI-05-0133]

Philippine church groups back opposition to mining revival

Manila (ENI). Philippine church groups are among the fiercest opponents of plans by the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to restart large-scale mining in the country as a way out of a financial crisis afflicting this southeast Asian nation of 86 million people since mid-2004. "We have had enough of big foreign and local companies, which, in their pursuit of maximum profits, compromise environmental protection and respect for indigenous peoples and their ancestral domain," said the Rev. Allan Jose Arcebuche of the ecumenical Promotion of Church People's Response. [365 words, ENI-05-0131]

Holy Land's Lutheran church says it changes name to reflect realities

Jerusalem (ENI). The only Arabic-speaking Lutheran denomination in the world has changed its name to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the Holy Land to reflect the fact that five out of its six congregations are clustered around Jerusalem and Bethlehem. "We had to adapt with the situation because our church is serving in Jordan, Palestine and Israel," the head of the church, Bishop Munib Younan, told Ecumenical News International. [361 words, ENI-05-0132]

Go to ENI Home Page