Jerusalem (ENI). Hamas intends to apply the Islamic law, sharia, as the basis for running the Palestinian Authority after its landslide win in last week's elections for the legislature, officials from the group have said. But they said that people would not be forced to comply with sharia. The victory of the militant group in the elections has stirred concerns by more liberal Palestinians that the Islamist group might enforce its views after defeating Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' secular Fatah movement. [352 words, ENI-06-0086]

Church of Norway denounces publication of Muhammad cartoons

Oslo (ENI). A (Lutheran) Church of Norway leader has denounced the distribution in the Norwegian publication Magazinet of drawings and caricatures of the prophet Muhammad that had provoked a furore after first appearing in a Danish newspaper. Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the Church of Norway's Council on Ecumenical and International Relations said: "No church or church leader should accept what Magazinet did. It is difficult to detect any other purpose in doing this than offending Muslims and their religious feelings." [400 words, ENI-06-0088]

Hungarian Reformed cleric hails Putin plan to return antiquities

Warsaw (ENI). Hungary's Reformed church has welcomed a decision by Russia to return a valuable Calvinist book collection, six decades after it was seized as war booty by the Soviet Red Army. "We're very happy this collection is returning after so many years, and we hope all the books will be included," said Zoltan Tarr, general secretary of Hungary's Reformed church, which comprises about a fifth of Hungary's 10 million inhabitants. "It's an important symbolic act, which could help heal the war wounds which are still very real in the life of Europe." [295 words, ENI-06-0083]

Use peaceful means only, Lutheran leader urges Hamas

Geneva (ENI). The Lutheran World Federation has urged the militant Islamic group Hamas which won a sweeping victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections to commit itself to dialogue and to promoting peace efforts with Israel. "For the sake of the Palestinian people and the future State of Palestine, Hamas must transform itself in its policies and approaches concerning the State of Israel, and commit itself to dialogue and negotiations," said LWF general secretary the Rev. Ishmael Noko in a statement. [383 words, ENI-06-00087]

World Reformed leader warns of Christian divide on political lines

Geneva (ENI). Confusion about their role in the 21st Century is dividing Christian churches along political lines in dangerous ways that are hurting their witness, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Rev. Setri Nyomi, has warned. Nyomi was delivering the inaugural address at the installation of Gregg Mast as president of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a US institution noted for fostering integration of different races located in New Jersey. Mast is a former president of the Reformed Church in America. [344 words, ENI-06-0084]

A million people line up to mourn Indian Orthodox church leader

New Delhi (ENI). More than a million people lined the road through the night in the southern Indian state of Kerala as the body of Orthodox church leader Baselios Marthoma Mathews II was taken 120 kilometres for burial. "It was one of the biggest funeral processions Kerala has ever witnessed," said Jose Parakkadavil, spokesperson for the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, which Mathews II led until his retirement in October 2005, at the age of 90, due to ill health. [358 words, ENI-06-0085]

30 January 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). Holy Land Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan has urged Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip not to panic over the militant Islamic group Hamas' victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections. Palestinian Christians have been unsettled by the sweeping victory by Hamas, which has a charter calling for the establishment of an Islamic state in all of Israel and the Palestinian territories. [359 words, ENI-06-0078]

Churches urge end to army operation in isolated Pakistan area

New Delhi (ENI). Churches in Pakistan have joined protests over army actions in the country's troubled Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan. "We want the government to stop the military operation there [in Balochistan] and start political dialogue," said Victor Azariah, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Pakistan that groups four major Protestant churches in Pakistan. Azariah told Ecumenical News International in a telephone interview that "loss of innocent lives can only complicate the situation". [379 words, ENI-06-0079]

Christian and Islamic leaders are guests at Davos Jewish Shabbat dinner

Geneva (ENI). It was not only billionaires, political leaders, Hollywood celebrities and U2 pop star Bono who descended on the five-day World Economic Forum in Davos. There was also a sprinkling of religious leaders at the global event that ended on 29 January in the Swiss winter resort. Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, who is seen as the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, made his way to the meeting often called the world's biggest "talkfest" There were also leaders from other faiths and Christian denominations. After a Jewish service led by Rabbi David Rosen, director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee and Rabbi Awraham Soetendor of the Jewish Institute for Human Values in the Netherlands, there was a "Shabbat" dinner attended by other religious leaders. [386 words, ENI-06-0082]

Briton to take over from Swede as new Salvation Army head

London (ENI). The Salvation Army has announced that Shaw Clifton, a veteran of the denomination from Britain, who has served as far afield as Zimbabwe, the United States, Pakistan, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga is to take over as its world leader. Clifton will take up his new position on 1 April as head of the church whose office bearers use military ranks and uniforms but are renowned for providing life assistance to those who have nothing. He had led the denomination in the United Kingdom and Ireland from June 2004. [305 words, ENI-06-0080]

Protestant 'saint' who opposed Hitler remembered

Bielefeld, Germany (ENI). Christians around the world are preparing to remember the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran theologian executed for his opposition to the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. "He is a saint - in the Protestant meaning of the word," said Germany's top Protestant bishop, Wolfgang Huber, one of the editors of the complete works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was born on 4 February 1906 in Breslau in what was then Germany, but is now the Polish city of Wroclaw. [625 words, ENI-06-0081]

27 January 2006

Nairobi (ENI). Leaders from African continental and regional church groupings have jointly expressed shock and sorrow at the death of 14 people following a collapse of a building under construction in the centre of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The leaders of the All Africa Conference of Churches and of the Fellowship of Churches and Christian Councils of the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa castigated building authorities as selfish in carrying out lax inspections of the building, which collapsed on 23 January. [301 words, ENI-0676]

Pope Benedict says Europe needs to find its Christian roots

Vatican City (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI has given his support to a gathering of Europe's main Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 2007 saying he hoped it would help promote awareness of Europe's spiritual roots. "Europe needs to rediscover its Christian roots, making room for ethical values that are part of its rich and well-established spiritual heritage," Pope Benedict told church leaders from different denominations attending the opening event in Rome for the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly which will culminate in Romania in September 2007. [504 words, ENI-06-0073]

Acts of former German president, 'Brother Johannes', lauded

Geneva (ENI). Former German President Johannes Rau, who has died aged 75, is being hailed as a prominent Protestant who promoted social justice and worked for reconciliation with the victims of the Holocaust. Rau, who died on 27 January after a long illness, was in born in 1931 into a Protestant family in the Rhineland, and was involved from his youth in the Confessing Church, which opposed Hitler's interventions in church life. [413 words, ENI-06-0077]

Tanzanian Catholic bishops want Julius Nyerere canonised

Nairobi (ENI). Roman Catholic bishops in Tanzania have started a process for considering sainthood for the country's founding president, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere. Leaders of the country's Catholic Church officially launched the search for canonisation on 21 January with a dawn Mass led by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo in Nyerere's birth place, Butiama parish in the Musoma diocese on the shores of Lake Victoria. [319 words, ENI-06-0072]

Russian patriarch honours Cypriot leader, Albanian bishop, others

Warsaw (ENI). The head of Russia's Orthodox church Patriarch Alexei II has honoured politicians and church representatives for their work in strengthening Orthodox unity worldwide. "The Orthodox world makes a unique, irreplaceable contribution to the human family's positive development," said Alexei. "Strengthening the unity of Orthodox churches and nations of the eastern Christian spiritual tradition is one of the most important tasks of the times we are now living through." [295 words, ENI-06-0075]

S African film, at US festival, portrays Jesus as black African

New York (ENI). A new film from South Africa eschews an often-popular image of a meek, white European Jesus and replaces it with one of a strong-willed, black African Jesus who preaches hope to the poor and questions political authority. The film, "Son of Man", has been showing at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah where it premiered on 22 January. Its creators are seeking worldwide distribution of the movie. [361 words, ENI-06-0074]

26 January 2006

Rome (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI has won plaudits from what some consider an unlikely quarter for attempting in his encyclical to relate the spiritual and erotic aspects on love, delivering what one commentator labelled a "compassionate conservatism". True the dissenting Roman Catholic theologian Hans Küng was critical of what he said was Benedict's failure in the encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" (Latin for "God is Love"), to tackle the issues of justice within the Roman Catholic Church such as the welcoming of divorced and remarried people in the church. [597 words, ENI-06-0067]

Church in Malawi wants to help those in jail by building prison

Blantyre (ENI). The Church has long been known as providing succour for the imprisoned, but the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Malawi's southern region has announced a new project - the construction of a prison. The proposal raised some eyebrows, but the church says there are noble intentions behind the project - to ease congestion in jails where prisoners are held inhumanely, packed in like sardines. [379 words, ENI-06-0068]

Israel to relocate prison to preserve ancient church

Jerusalem (ENI). Israel is to relocate a jail in the Galilee on the recommendation of archaeologists who have discovered in its grounds the oldest church ever found in the Holy Land. The third century prayer chapel laden with inscriptions and mosaics was found last year on Megiddo prison land, west of Afula in northern Israel. It was uncovered by prisoners helping archaeologists excavate the site before a new prison wing was constructed. [341 words, ENI-06-0071]

Church workers lament haphazard funding for tsunami relief

Chennai, India (ENI). A year after the tsunami, church leaders heading up relief work along India's east coast have expressed concern about lack of coordination and haphazard funding. "We could have done much better work but for lack of coordination," said the Rev. Chandran Paul Martin, executive secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India, summing up the experience of its 11 member churches involved in tsunami relief work. [356 words, ENI-06-0070]

Czech churches unite against proposed gay partnership law

Warsaw (ENI). Churches in the Czech Republic have urged parliamentarians not to support a proposed law to legalise gay unions, warning it will undermine families and worsen the country's demographic plight. "Marriage between man and woman is key to the healthy development of children," said the appeal, co-signed by the leaders of 10 denominations, including the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical Augsburg, Brethren and Evangelical Methodist churches. [335 words, ENI-06-0069]

Britain's oldest museum rolls out its art to promote religious unity

Oxford, England (ENI). Britain's oldest public museum has launched an art exhibition which aims to unite people of different faiths against extremism and estrangement from religious traditions. "Pilgrimage: The Sacred Journey" which has opened at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and runs until 2 April, is the first in a series of initiatives from the museum's new Inter-Faith Exhibition Service set up to promote religious understanding using art as a bridge between cultures and religions. [319 words, ENI-06-0066]

25 January 2006

Rome (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI in his first encyclical since he began his papacy in 2005 says the Church must play a part in the struggle for greater justice in the world although the attainment of this cause will depend on the State. "The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible," Pope Benedict writes in the document "Deus Caritas Est" (Latin for "God is Love"). "Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice." [506 words, ENI-06-0065]

Christians fear for safety ahead of Gujerat Hindu convention

New Delhi (ENI). Churches from different denominations have appealed to Indian authorities to ensure the safety and religious freedom of Christians in the rural area known as the "tribal region" of Gujarat state. "Plans are afoot for a massive (reconversion) programme aimed at the Christian population," cautioned the Church of North India in a statement referring to a Hindu convention of half a million people being planned in the Dangs district of Gujarat. [380 words, ENI-06-0061]

Vatican cardinal warns that search for Christian unity is in danger

Rome (ENI). The search for Christian unity is at risk because churches no longer agree about the aim of ecumenism, a top Vatican official has warned, but he says they can make progress if they clearly state their differences in an honest dialogue. "If we no longer agree about the aim the danger is that we will go in different, maybe even opposite directions, and will be further apart at the end than we were at the beginning," said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. [422 words, ENI-06-0063]

European churches have hopes and doubts at Rome unity meeting

Rome (ENI). Leaders representing all of Europe's main Christian traditions have begun meeting in Rome with the aim of progressing the cause of unity among the church denominations. "We want to witness together to the good news of the Gospel in a secularised Europe which doubts that reference to Christ can help it to have hope in its future," said the Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), one of the two sponsors of the Rome meeting. [455 words, ENI-06-0060]

US TV show on priest with problems stops after protests

New York (ENI). Conservative critics are claiming victory over the closing of a new prime-time US television series that depicted the life of an Episcopal (Anglican) priest, with a host of family problems who held long conversations with a seemingly hip Jesus. "The Book of Daniel" show, which debuted on 6 January but only aired four of its eight scheduled episodes, provoked howls of protest from groups such as the American Family Association (AFA) which orchestrated a campaign to cancel the series. The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) received 678 000 angry e-mails from family association supporters, prompting advertisers to pull out and a number of NBC affiliates to refuse to run the show. [424 words, ENI-06-0062]

Tributes from all faiths follow sudden death of Muslim leader in UK

London (ENI). The sudden death at the age of 83 of Sheik Zaki Badawi, a leading figure in interfaith dialogue in Britain, on the day he was to attend the launch of the Christian Muslim Forum at London's Lambeth Palace triggered immediate tributes from religious leaders and also from the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, said: "I shall miss him greatly as a friend who has contributed immensely to the continuing labour of building bridges between the Christian church and the Muslim world, but also simply as someone whose company was a delight and whose commitment was an inspiration." [367 words, ENI-06-0064]

24 January 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). Hosam al-Taweel seems an unlikely candidate to run in the Palestinian parliamentary elections on behalf of the militant Islamic group Hamas. Al-Taweel, 40, is a Greek-Orthodox Christian living in the Gaza Strip who has volunteered at the local YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) for more than three decades. But he decided to join Hamas - a group that seeks to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic state based on strict Sharia law - because he believes a Hamas government is in the best interests of the Palestinian people. [376 words, ENI-06-0059]

African church leader says Sudan should not chair African Union

Nairobi (ENI). The head of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Rev. Mvume Dandala, added his voice to national leaders and human rights groups opposed to Sudan chairing the 53 member African Union before the AU heeded their advice and opted for Congo as a replacement. "It is unfair to call upon Sudan to chair the AU at this point in time given the critical nature of the Sudan problem - a problem which requires proper attention not only by the government of the Sudan but also from the ecumenical community," AACC general secretary Dandala said. [371 words, ENI-06-0056]

Hong Kong police hit back at Catholic bishop's criticism over WTO

Hong Kong (ENI). Police officers in Hong Kong say they have written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI expressing severe indignation about Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen who described their handling of protests during December's world trade talks as a "disgrace". Two groups of police officers, representing some 25 000 serving police, wrote to Pope Benedict January saying Zen's comments, which they said also described them as "the shame of Hong Kong" and "mentally deficient", were publicly insulting. [432 words, ENI-06-0057]

Malawi's Muslims split over decision to invite president to prayers

Blantyre (ENI). Malawi Muslims are divided over an invitation to President Bingu wa Mutharika to attend prayers to mark the Islamic feast of Eid ul-Adha. The Malawi president has recently had strong disagreements with Muslim politicians in the mainly Christian country. The Muslim Association of Malawi shunned the Eid ul-Adha prayers organized by the Quadria Muslim Association of Malawi, which invited Mutharika to the celebrations. [356 words, ENI-06-0058]

23 January 2006

Nairobi (ENI). Churches in Uganda have denounced a government directive restricting foreign journalists to within 100 kilometres from Kampala, saying it raises serious questions as the country prepares to hold presidential elections in a month's time. "This is a bad sign for press freedom in Uganda," the Rev. Grace Kaiso, the executive secretary of the Uganda Joint Christian Council, which unites the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant denominations, told Ecumenical News International. "We question why it has to happen now." [377 words, ENI-06-0051]

WCC head Kobia warns of renewed war in Sri Lanka

Geneva (ENI). The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, has urged Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to start peace talks with Tamil rebels, warning that a recent upsurge in violence risks escalating into all-out war. "It is feared if the rapidly deteriorating situation is not brought under immediate control, it is likely to result in another long drawn out war in which many more people may perish and hopes of peace and development suffer a major setback," Kobia wrote to Rajapakse in a letter published on 23 January. [289 words, ENI-06-0054]

Church of Norway doctrine commission split on homosexuality

Oslo (ENI). The 20-member doctrinal commission of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway is split on the issue of homosexuality and has warned that disagreements are straining the unity of the church.The report was requested by the church's general synod and will be reviewed in advance of a another round of debate on whether people in same-sex registered partnerships may hold the consecrated offices of bishop, priest, or deacon. [355 words, ENI-06-0052]

British Seventh-day Adventists to transform 'pub' for worship

London (ENI). In Britain redundant churches are sometimes turned into apartments or even public houses, establishments where alcoholic drinks are sold. A "pub" in Wolverhampton, an industrial city in the middle of England is, however, bucking the trend. There Seventh-day Adventists have bought a bar which will be run as a church in an innovative joint venture with the city council. [342 words, ENI-06-0053]

One time Zimbabwe chaplain son of ex-Rhodesian PM dies

Canterbury, England (ENI). Alec Smith, the only son of former Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith and his deceased wife Janet, who was a once a reserve force chaplain in the army of independent Zimbabwe, has died at London's Heathrow Airport. He had been visiting the family of his wife Elizabeth for Christmas and New Year celebrations at their home outside Oslo and was on his way home to Zimbabwe when he died of a heart attack on 19 January, aged 57. [411 words, ENI-06-0055]

20 January 2006

Geneva (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI is to join delegates from other Christian traditions who will gather in Rome from 24 to 27 January for the opening event of the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly which organizers hope will promote the cause of church unity. The meeting is intended to "help European churches make their comm the challenges of our time," said a keynote speaker at the Rome meeting, Lutheran Bishop Margot Kaessmann from Hanover in northern Germany. [508 words, ENI-06-0048]

Former tele-evangelist Mumba ramps up Zambia presidential drive

Lusaka (ENI). Zambian tele-evangelist-turned-politician Nevers Mumba, a former vice president who recently launched his own party, is using the pulling power he had as a pastor in his campaign for the country's presidency in elections scheduled towards the end of 2006. He began the New Year by promoting his opposition Reform Party using his preaching skills to lure media attention in a way not seen before in the southern African nation, which for decades after independence in 1964 had one-party rule under President Kenneth Kaunda. [380 words, ENI-06-0049]

Pope's envoy in Holy Land leaves for US posting

Jerusalem (ENI). The Pope's envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories is leaving after eight years of service in the Holy Land during which he was instrumental in warming relations between the Vatican and the Jewish state. Italian Archbishop Pietro Sambi heads to Washington where he will serve as the Vatican's new papal nuncio to the United States. "We are losing a good friend today," said Israeli tourism minister Avraham Hirchson at a farewell reception for Sambi earlier in the week. [304 words, ENI-06-0050]

Bulgarian priest with marijuana faces church, but not police, probe

Sofia (ENI). A 62-year-old Bulgarian Orthodox Church village priest caught with more than five kilograms of marijuana will not be prosecuted because, local police say, they do not have enough evidence to prosecute him. The Rev. Kiril Papudov of the south-western Bulgarian mountain village of Kladentsi (population: 10) was held in 24-hour police custody after police found 5.3 kilograms of marijuana in his house and back garden. He was released on 19 January. [296 words, ENI-06-0046]

19 January 2006

New Delhi (ENI). Churches in Sri Lanka have pleaded for an end to escalating violence in the troubled north and east of the country that threatens a fragile four-year cease-fire in the ethnically-divided island nation. "No one seems to be able to stop the spiral of killing for killing," lamented all the country's major churches in a joint statement in the second week of January. "The people of this country must take serious note that the culture of violence is spreading dangerously and indiscriminately." [347 words, ENI-06-0044]

Zambian humanitarian worker to head ACT International

Geneva (ENI). Zambian-born John Nduna, an internationally-experienced relief and development worker, is to head the Geneva-based coordinating office of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International from 1 April. Nduna is currently the director of Church Ecumenical Action in Sudan, which operates out of Nairobi, ACT said. He previously worked in Geneva as the Africa appeals officer for ACT, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in humanitarian emergencies. [387 words, ENI-06-0045]

Jesus' disciple Judas is being rehabilitated, media speculates

Canterbury, England (ENI). Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver, and reviled as the ultimate symbol of betrayal, is getting a chance to redeem himself according to Vatican scholars, Europe's media are speculating. "Judas was doing God's business and so might just as easily be deemed a saint as an ultimate sinner," wrote Peter Stanford, a former editor of the Catholic Herald, in the Daily Mail newspaper. [345 words, ENI-06-0043]

18 January 2006

Manila (ENI). Philippines' churches seeking justice over the summary killings of church and human rights workers are looking to the international Christian community to pressure the government in Manila to put a halt to the assassinations of activists. The latest church delegation to come to this predominantly Roman Catholic country was from the United Methodist Church, whose representatives from the United States, Europe, Africa and Russia urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to probe all summary killings and to put a stop to them. [400 words, ENI-06-0039]

Kenya Catholic bishops urge Church unity, but warn of challenges

Nairobi (ENI). Churches around the world are marking a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity but in Kenya, Roman Catholic bishops say many of their priests are suspicious of unity efforts because of the activities of other denominations. "We do not wish to be naive in calling for ecumenism at every level of the Kenyan Church," the bishops stated in "Ecumenism in Kenya", a pastoral letter issued for the unity week. "We know that many of our Catholic faithful feel pressured by individuals of other Christian denominations to reject their Catholic faith and to leave the Catholic Church." [357 words, ENI-06-0040]

Irish divisions inspire world's Christian unity week

London (ENI). Efforts to overcome divisions in Ireland have inspired this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity where different denominations throughout the world pledge to work for church unity. The theme for the annual week in 2006 has been chosen by an ecumenical group in the Irish republic's capital of Dublin and stresses the importance of forgiveness in promoting reconciliation. [359 words, ENI-06-0041]

Possibility of female bishops in UK Anglican church advances

London (ENI). The Church of England has edged a step closer to accepting women bishops and the ability to have a female Archbishop of Canterbury as spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican communion following a report by a denominational group. The 57-page document entitled "Women in the Episcopate: the Guildford Group Report", issued on 16 January by a group of bishops, was produced at the request of the General Synod, the Church of England parliament. It will be debated in February but a final vote is not expected until members meet again in July. [326 words, ENI-06-0042]

Vatican's Swiss Guards mark 500 years guarding popes

Rome (ENI). Bedecked in striped blue, yellow and red tunics the Pontifical Swiss Guard are known throughout the world as the small company of men sworn to protect the life of the Pope even at the cost of their own blood. On 22 January, the 100-strong guard is celebrating its 500th anniversary. Pope Benedict XVI will pronounce a blessing in St Peter's Square, and a special Mass will be celebrated in the Sistine Chapel to mark the anniversary. [641 words, 06-0038]

17 January 2006

Abuja (ENI). Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia's president, who has been sworn into office with pomp and pageantry, has accepted the call of Liberian church leaders to combat corruption that has become endemic in the West African country. "We shall confront and fight corruption which has become a canker worm in Liberia," she told cheering Liberians and international guests, including Laura Bush, wife of US President George W. Bush. [387 words, ENI-06-0036]

Israel to reconsider halt to Pat Robertson's Christian park

Jerusalem (ENI). Israel has said it will renew ties with US television evangelist Pat Robertson after he apologised for suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. Robertson had been planning to build a US$50 million Christian park by the banks of the Sea of Galilee on land provided by the Israeli government, but Israel said it was halting the deal after Robertson made the remarks about Sharon on his "700 Club" television show. [197 words, ENI-06-0033]

New school curriculum on condom use angers clergy in Tanzania

Blantyre, Malawi (ENI). A new school science syllabus in Tanzania that incorporates the teaching of how condoms should be used has angered Roman Catholic bishops who have condemned it as unacceptable. "Introduction of the [teaching of] use of condoms in schools, apart from being sinful, is indeed justification and opening the door for immoral lifestyles," Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, the archbishop of Dar es Salaam, said in a statement issued by Tanzania's Episcopal Conference on 9 January. "Teaching children, some as young as 12 years old, the use of condoms is disastrous." [306 words, ENI-06-0035]

South Korea church body triggers North Korea human rights' debate

Seoul (ENI). The Christian Council of Korea has triggered a debate in South Korea after pressuring the Seoul government over what it deems a silence about human rights in the communist North of the divided country. After the US congress passed a North Korean human rights law in September, the CCK, seen by some as more conservative than the National Council of Churches in Korea, began to pressure the South Korean government for its silence on human rights in the North. [326 words, ENI-06-0037]

Nun who served Pope John Paul II becomes major in Polish army

Warsaw (ENI). An 80-year-old Roman Catholic nun who looked after Pope John Paul II in his Vatican apartment throughout his pontificate has been made an Army major in her native Poland. Sister Teresa Rumian served with detachments of Poland's underground army during the Second World War. After the war she started training as a novice nun but was conscripted into the communist-controlled Polish Army, where she rose to the rank of lieutenant. She entered the Sacred Heart order in 1953 at the end of her military service. [306 words, ENI-06-0034]

16 January 2006

Oxford, Ohio (ENI). A group of 25 people based in a Catholic Worker Community in New York City have drawn international attention for their protest against the US policy on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Members of the group, known for its support of non-violence, launched Witness Against Torture, a campaign which culminated in a protest and prayer vigil in mid-December outside the prison camp at the US naval base in Cuba where an estimated 500 prisoners are held. The group plans to protest in Washington DC on Ash Wednesday, 1 March. [389 words, ENI-06-0031]

Austrian church urges Schwarzenegger to spare convicted killer

Warsaw (ENI). Protestant leaders in Austria are urging the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to suspend the death penalty and spare the life of an elderly convict on death row. "A country which uses the death penalty violates its citizens' human dignity," the Evangelical Church in Austria said in advance of the scheduled execution of 76-year-old Clarence Ray Allen, blind and wheelchair-bound. "Biblical and theological arguments point only to a clear and unambiguous No to the death penalty." [343 words, ENI-06-0029]

WCC's Kobia to meet Swiss government and churches for first time

Geneva (ENI). The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Samuel Kobia, will pay his first official visit to the churches of the country that is home to the headquarters of the largest grouping of Christian denominations. On the agenda of the two-day visit to Switzerland's capital city Bern are discussions with the leadership of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches and its member churches. [320 words, ENI-06-0032]

Japan interfaith university project may herald Buddhist dialogue

Tokyo (ENI). A newly-established union of one Christian and six Buddhist universities in Kyoto is introducing an interfaith exchange programme in April, the first of its type in Japan. Professor Katsuhiro Kohara, the secretary general of the Kyoto Graduate Union of Religious Studies, said he hoped the initiative would also promote dialogue between the various stands of Buddhism in Japan. [428 words, ENI-06-0030]

13 January 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). The Greek Orthodox church in the Holy Land said it is offended by Israel's snubbing of its new Patriarch Theophilos III at the annual New Year's reception by Israel for Christian leaders. Theophilos and his bishops did not attend the banquet hosted by President Moshe Katsav because he was not invited in his capacity as the leader of the church. Instead the invitation referred to him merely as a "bishop". [325 words, ENI-06-0026]

US Catholic bishop declares he was sexually abused

New York (ENI). An auxiliary Roman Catholic bishop in Detroit, Michigan, has declared he was sexually abused as a teenager by a Catholic priest while he attended seminary. The statement by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, aged 75, is believed to be the first time that such a prominent US Roman Catholic cleric has said he was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest. [208 words, ENI-06- 0027]

Robertson regrets suggesting Sharon's stroke was divine punishment

Jerusalem (ENI). US Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's son apologising for suggesting that Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. "I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel for saying what was clearly insensitive at the time," Robertson wrote in a letter to Sharon's son Omri. [207 words, ENI-06-0028]

12 January 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). Israel has frozen a US$50 million tourism deal with US Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson after he suggested that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for Israel's pullout from the Gaza strip. "We will not do business with him, only with other evangelicals who don't back these comments," said tourism ministry spokesperson Ido Hartuv on 11 January. Israel had said it would provide free land for Robertson's plans to build a Christian heritage centre overlooking the Sea of Galilee for pilgrims to walk in Jesus' footsteps. But Israel's tourism ministry said it was breaking off the negotiations with Robertson due to his comments about Sharon's stroke made on his television evangelist show "The 700 Club". [247 words, ENI-06-0024]

Award-winning film sparks charity mission for Kenyan slum dwellers

Nairobi (ENI). "The Constant Gardener", an award winning film shot in Kibera, one of Africa's largest shanty towns near Nairobi, has inspired a charity that hopes to improve the conditions of an estimated 800 000 Kenyans living in deprivation. "The residents remember happily the few days the production was being done here," the Rev. Samuel Machugu, a Presbyterian minister serving in Kibera told Ecumenical News International. The team that shot the film directed by Brazilian Fernando Meirelles built toilets, shower blocks, three 10 000 litre water tanks, a bridge, and a level playing ground to allow children to play safely. The projects were undertaken by a charity, The Constant Gardener Trust, set up by some of the filmmakers, including Simon Channing Williams, the film's British producer. [547 words, ENI-06-0025]

11 January 2006

Lusaka (ENI). A Zambian court has temporarily lifted a government ban on the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, allowing the denomination to continue worshipping in the country until a court case contesting its de-registration has been heard. Zambian authorities banned the church on 29 November after riots outside one of its places of worship in Lusaka amid claims that the church practised devil worship. The church's leaders have rejected the allegations of Satanism. [320 words, ENI-06-0022]

Church foundation hopes to turn Pope's birthplace into museum

Bielefeld (ENI). A foundation has been set up by Roman Catholic Bishop Wilhelm Schraml of Passau in southern Germany to purchase the house in which Pope Benedict XVI was born and turn it into a museum devoted to the Pope's personal and spiritual life. "We're pleased that the Pope's home can now be used by the church in a fitting way," said Hubert Gschwendtner, mayor of Marktl am Inn, where the house built in 1745 is located. The house was put up for sale by its current owner after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope in April 2005. She said she wanted to escape constant interruptions by tourists seeking to visit the typical Bavarian-style house where Ratzinger was born on 16 April 1927. [255 words, ENI-06-0021]

Tributes flow for New York freelance religion writer

New York (ENI). Tracy Early, who has died aged 71, was reputed to be New York's only freelance journalist covering religion full-time. He wrote for a wide variety of news agencies and publications, including Ecumenical News International and the Catholic News Service. A tall, courtly Texan, Early covered the religion beat for almost 40 years from the city he lovingly called "the centre of the universe". He wrote with a writer's flair and a scholar's critical eye, having earned a doctorate in theology from New York's Union Theological Seminary in 1963. [402 words, ENI-06-0023]

10 January 2006

Vancouver (ENI). A Canadian church agency has joined forces with two other groups in a legal challenge to a Canada-United States agreement they say endangers refugees seeking asylum in North America. The Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), together with Amnesty International and the Canadian Council for Refugees, launched a challenge in Canada's Federal Court to the "Safe Third Country Agreement", one year after it came into effect in December 2004. The agreement states that both Canada and the United States are safe countries and that asylum seekers who pass through either country are prohibited from entering the other country in order to make a refugee claim. "We have in place a law that sends people back to claim in the US when those people may in fact not be protected and end up being sent back home to face persecution," said Janet Dench, the executive director of the refugee council. [416 words, ENI-06-0019]

Church grouping in Malawi launches food aid programme

Blantyre (ENI). Malawi's Church Action in Relief and Development agency has launched a programme to bring assistance to people in the country's two southern districts of Blantyre and Zomba which have been hit by a severe food shortage. "Currently, there are over 4.5 million Malawians in need of food, a figure that we may live with until harvesting time in April," said Baptist pastor Fletcher Kaiya, the programme's project coordinator. [231 words, ENI-06-0020]

Former ENI correspondent Sam Gonza 'had a knack for news'

Nairobi (ENI). Sam Gonza, a journalist in Nairobi who was a correspondent for Ecumenical News International from 1996 to 2003, has died following a battle against heart disease. Gonza, aged 53, died on 18 December after a heart attack and was buried on 24 December in Kiambu district near the Kenyan capital. "He had a knack for news. I admired his way of doing things," said Osman Njuguna, a Roman Catholic journalist who worked with Gonza at the All Africa Press Service (APS), which later became the All Africa News Agency. "He would always be equipped with reports and sources," Njuguna recalled in an interview with Ecumenical News International. [303 words, ENI-06-0018]

9 January 2006

Geneva (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI has praised dialogue with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), saying the dialogue is helping to surmount "tragic divisions" between Christians going back to the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Pope was speaking at the Vatican to a delegation of the Geneva-based alliance led by its president, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA). "I pray that our meeting today will itself bear fruit in a renewed commitment to work for the unity of all Christians," said Benedict, echoing remarks after his election in April when he pledged that promoting Christian unity would be his "primary task". [422 words, ENI-06-0016]

Patriarch Bartholomeos visits hurricane-stricken New Orleans

New York (ENI). Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, widely seen as the spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians, has visited hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, declaring that the city will be rebuilt and will flourish once again. "Damage will be restored. Life will blossom," the patriarch said during a visit to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in New Orleans, which has the oldest Greek Orthodox congregation in the Americas. [274 words, ENI-06-0015]

Politics and peace dominate Orthodox Christmas messages

Sofia (ENI). Heads of Eastern Orthodox churches that celebrate Christmas on 7 January have issued messages to mark the religious festival. In Moscow, Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church urged the faithful to do good deeds "for those close to us, with whom we walk the same path of life", according to a report by the ITAR-Tass news agency. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement released by the Kremlin, said that with every year the positive influence on Russians of Christmas celebrations was growing. "It is important for traditional moral values to be organically perceived by the younger generation," Putin noted. [328 words, ENI-06-0017]

5 January 2006

Warsaw (ENI). The Vatican's top official for church unity has repeated calls for a joint synod of Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishops to debate papal primacy and other "practical" issues that divide the two traditions."There's no shortage of troubles between us, and these can only be settled by dialogue," said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.Orthodox-Roman Catholic ties have been tense in recent years over accusations of Roman Catholic "proselytising" in traditionally Orthodox areas, as well as over the postcommunist revival of Greek or Eastern Catholic churches which combine loyalty to Rome with the eastern liturgy. [356 words, ENI-06-0013]

Robertson rebuked for linking Sharon's stroke to divine punishment

Oxford, Ohio, United States (ENI). Comments by US Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggesting that Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke might be a punishment from God for Israel's pullout from the Gaza strip have been deplored by political and religious leaders. "The Prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide my land'," Robertson said on his "700 Club" cable TV show. "And I would say, woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, 'This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'" Prime Minister Sharon was rushed to hospital in Jerusalem on 4 January and was said to be in a critical condition after emergency surgery. Under his leadership, Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip in September 2005, dismantling 21 Jewish settlements, as part of a plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians. [373 words, ENI-06-0012]

'Catholic recipe for self-help offers hope in Sri Lanka's rebel stronghold

Akkarayan, Sri Lanka (ENI). Displaced several times during two decades of fighting in Sri Lanka's civil war with Tamil rebels in the north of the island, Pushpa Thiagarajah was fed up with life struggling to look after her five children. However, her family's fight for survival eased after Thiagarajah joined a women's self-help group promoted by the Roman Catholic Church. "Earlier, we had nothing. Now, we are happy and life is no more a struggle," Thiagarajah, a Hindu, told Ecumenical News International in Akkarayan village, 15 kilometres from Kilinochchi, the capital of the Wanni region which is under the control of the Tamil rebels. As a result of the conflict between the rebels and Sri Lankan government forces, the half-million Tamils in Wanni live in rudimentary conditions, often in huts without electricity, running water or even proper roads. [439 words, ENI-06-0014]

Zimbabwean Christians say march 'planned' to protest at Mugabe

Canterbury (ENI). Zimbabwean Christians living in exile in Britain say protest marches against President Robert Mugabe are being planned for Easter in South Africa and other countries. "We're at the stage of putting together a high powered organizing committee of prominent Zimbabwean and African celebrities, people in civil society and the media," said Arthur Molife, a Zimbabwean activist living in self-imposed exile in London. "It will take place between Johannesburg and Beit Bridge [on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe] and draw attention to the economic collapse of Zimbabwe as Mugabe celebrates 26 years of power on April 18 this year." [404 words, ENI-06-0009]

Commission to propose 'loosening' church-state ties in Norway

Oslo (ENI). A clear majority of the members of a government-appointed commission studying Norway's state church system wants to loosen the (Lutheran) Church of Norway's ties to the state, a national newspaper has reported. The report in the Vart Land newspaper stated that 14 out of 20 commission members wanted to relax the ties between church and state, but without moving to a complete separation. Since the Lutheran-led reformation in 1537, the Church of Norway, the country's dominant church, has had the reigning king as its formal head. But in recent years, Norwegian society has been reflecting its increasingly multi-faith nature, particularly in urban areas. The commission set up in March 2003 is expected to publish its formal conclusions at the end of January or in early February, and members have made no public comment on the newspaper report. [385 words, ENI-06-0011]

'Dummies' turn to books to seek spiritual knowledge

Oxford (ENI). With titles like "Spirituality For Dummies" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jesus", user-friendly books on sacred texts, major religions, meditation, and figures such as Jesus, the Buddha and Pope John Paul II are proving popular in the United States. "Many people in the United States today see spirituality as a tool to be understood and used in life," said Mary Kupiec Cayton, professor of history and American studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. "These guides can help bring people up to speed on subjects where they have little prior knowledge. They also suggest that there is a market for accessible information dealing with religion and spirituality." The books are known for their colourful designs - the "Dummies" series is in yellow and black, and the "Idiot's guides" are in bright orange and white - and for their straightforward explanation of subjects ranging from car repair and home design to computer programmes and history. [388 words, ENI-06-0010]

4 January 2006

Warsaw/Stockholm (ENI). The Russian Orthodox Church has suspended its contacts with the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden after a vote by the Swedish church to introduce a service of blessing for same-sex civil partnerships. "It is with great disappointment and sorrow that we learned that the Lutheran church of Sweden not only failed to oppose the so-called same-sex marriages, but also issued a decree to establish an official blessing rite for those marriages," the Russian church's Holy Synod said in a statement. The assembly of the Church of Sweden, which accounts for about 7 million of Sweden's 9 million people, voted on 27 October to establish a blessing in churches for same-sex couples who have signed a civil partnership agreement, although the ceremony is not called marriage. [389 words, ENI-06-0007]

Kenyan churches gather aid for famine-hit regions

Nairobi (ENI). Churches in Kenya are moving to provide aid for millions of citizens facing starvation due to a severe famine in this East African country, where the head of state has declared the food crisis a national disaster. "It is sin for somebody to die of hunger. It is also a criminal offence for the government to leave citizens to die of hunger," said Roman Catholic Bishop Cornelius Korir, chairperson of the Kenya Episcopal Conference. The food shortages had remained largely unreported until local newspapers and television stations carried pictures at Christmas of malnourished children in northeastern Kenya, sparking a Kenyan charity operation and criticisms of the government. President Mwai Kibaki has since declared the food crisis a national disaster and launched appeals for local and international help. [348 words, ENI-06-0006]

Catholic leader in Philippines calls for national transformation

Manila (ENI). The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines says his country is "still in deep crisis" and must rouse itself to the need for change. "We might have avoided the worst scenario, but truth to tell, we are still in deep crisis," said Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, in a New Year message for this southeast Asian country of 86 million people, about four-fifths of whom are Catholics. Observers said Lagdameo was apparently referring to controversy about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration, which faced ouster moves in 2005 from opposition groups because of allegations that Arroyo had connived with some election officials to ensure her victory in elections in 2004. Arroyo's husband, Mike, and son, Mikey, also faced allegations of involvement in a gambling bribery scandal. The family denied all the allegations. But moderate and militant opposition groups staged protest actions calling for President Arroyo to resign. [330 words, ENI-06-0008]

3 January 2006

Lusaka (ENI). A senior priest at Lusaka's Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the Rev. Derrick Muwina, has, with the support of two other Anglican clerics, challenged the Anglican church in Central Africa to start encouraging women to take up positions of leadership in the church. "We must deliberately encourage a policy in which women are not looked down upon. The problem is that in the Anglican church, we look down on women as is the case in secular society," said Muwina. [350 words, ENI-06-0003]

Japanese Catholics mark 500th anniversary of Christian missionary

Tokyo (ENI). Roman Catholics in Japan are gearing up to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of St Francis Xavier, the Catholic missionary who brought Christianity to Japan in 1549. [374 words, ENI-06-0005]

Tsunami aid builds bridges for Christians and Buddhists in Sri Lanka

Galle, Sri Lanka (ENI). One year after Sri Lanka was struck by a devastating tsunami that wreaked destruction throughout south and southeast Asia, churches in the island nation say their relief work has promoted better relations with the country's Buddhist majority. "It [the tsunami] has given us an opportunity to work closely with the Buddhist people and win their confidence," said the Rev. Lesley Weerasinghe, Methodist pastor in the southern port city of Galle, where more than 4000 people were killed by the giant waves. [424 words, ENI-06-0004]

2 January 2006

Bethlehem (ENI). Bethlehem has celebrated its most festive Christmas since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000 with the largest turnout of pilgrims visiting the town of Jesus' birth for more than five years. More than 30 000 pilgrims descended on the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town for the festive holiday. Still, it was the first Christmas celebrated in the West Bank town since Israel completed construction of a barrier that it says is intended to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers infiltrating into its cities. Many Palestinians say it has turned the town into a virtual prison and cut off residents from their fields as well as friends and relatives in adjacent Jerusalem. [347 words, ENI-06-0001]

Afghanistan enters 2006 with warning by human rights advocates

New York (ENI). The appointment of a religious affairs official of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime to the country's new parliament is prompting concern among international human rights advocates. "There's a growing feeling of an opportunity lost," said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, after his return in December from a three-week visit to Afghanistan. [347 words, ENI-06-0002]

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