Katmandu (ENI). Nepal's tiny Christian minority has joined in hailing steps to restore democracy in the kingdom of Nepal, but a global church leader has said peace can only last if injustices that fuelled recent upheavals are dealt with. "There is big relief as the king has succumbed to the people's protests," Kalai Bahadur Rokaya, founder general secretary of the National Christian Council of Nepal told Ecumenical News International. [451 words, ENI-06-0362]

Zimbabwe's top politicians rushing to God baffles some faithful

Harare (ENI). Six of Zimbabwe's top politicians including the two vice-presidents Joseph Msika and Joice Mujuru, have publicised their Christian faith in recent weeks leading to debate over whether their callings are genuine or politically inspired. "We have seen church leaders supporting state-sponsored violence and one wonders if it is not an extension of that strategy to pacify the church," said Jonah Gokova, coordinator of the Zimbabwe National Pastors Conference, a grouping of pastors from various denominations. [486 words, ENI-06-0361]

Serbia's hasty adoption of new law on religions worries watchdogs

Sofia (ENI). The hasty adoption by Serbia's legislature of a new law on religions that supporters say will help the country's path towards the European Union, has been criticised by both the Council of Europe and the US-based Helsinki Commission. The law calls for freedom of religion and belief and autonomy of churches. It provides for financial support from the government despite a stated stipulation about the separation of church and state. Leadership of the US Helsinki Commission expressed concern over the Serbian parliament's abrupt passage of the Law on Churches and Religious Communities and called on President Boris Tadic to veto the legislation. [498 words, ENI-06-0363]

Beatrix knights Dutch national for work to unify diverse churches

Geneva (ENI). Netherlands' Queen Beatrix has bestowed a knighthood on a former staff member of the World Council of Churches, Huibert van Beek, who worked for many years to build bridges between diverse Christian denominations. Van Beek was until 2004 the World Council of Churches staff person responsible for relationships with denominations. He received the distinction in honour of the Dutch queen's birthday that is normally celebrated on 30 April. Van Beek became a Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau. [258 words, ENI-06-0364]

27 April 2006

New Delhi (ENI). Churches in Sri Lanka have condemned an escalation of violence in the Indian Ocean nation, urging Tamil rebels to halt suicide bomb attacks and government forces to cease activities that are undermining the resumption of peace talks. The churches deplored a 25 April suicide bombing on army headquarters in Colombo and subsequent military action against what Tamil rebels said were civilian targets in the northeast of the country. [312 words, ENI-06-0358]

Japan interfaith network mobilises to hold onto anti-war constitution

Tokyo (ENI). Thousands of Christians and other religious people across Japan are petitioning legislators to halt a proposed national referendum sought by Japan's ruling coalition parties seen as aiming to amend Japan's war-renouncing constitution. "We strongly oppose the referendum bill that will be submitted to the Diet [parliament] during its present session term as a procedural bill for the amendment of Article 9 [the section of the constitution forbidding Japan to go to war]," said the Interfaith Unity group. [347 words, ENI-06-0360]

'Gospel of Judas' sparks debate in Kenya

Nairobi (ENI). The "Gospel of Judas", an ancient manuscript released in April and favourable to the disciple showed in the Bible betraying Jesus, has triggered debate in Kenya, an East African nation where Christianity is on the upsurge. "Anything that contradicts the established Christian values has the effect of twisting the truth and going against the Church," Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi told reporters regarding the recently discovered texts on Judas. The new document upbraids the portrayal of Judas the betrayer and replaces it with a view that he was, in fact, Jesus' most loyal and steadfast disciple. [329 words,

26 April 2006

Geneva (ENI). Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has told an interfaith gathering his life has never been the same since the day in 1986 when the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded creating the world's worst nuclear disaster. "The disaster was a shocking reminder of the reality of nuclear threats and it has become a symbol of modern technological risks," Gorbachev said in his message to a gathering at the headquarters of the World Council of Churches in Geneva. In his message, Gorbachev said he had been awakened by a phone call at 5 a.m. informing him of the accident at the nuclear power station in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. [385 words, ENI-06-0357]

Christians concerned after spate of attacks in Palestinian territories

Jerusalem (ENI). A Roman Catholic parish school and a bible study centre in the West Bank have been firebombed twice in the past two months in a spate of unexplained anti-Christian violence in the Palestinian territories. All took place since the Islamist Hamas movement won a legislative election in January, Christian clerics said. A priest at the Roman Catholic Al-Ahliyya College in the West Bank city of Ramallah said several firebombs were thrown into a school sports room in early March, causing serious damage and destroying all the equipment stored there. [384 words, ENI-06-0354]

Kenya religious leaders say politicians who want to pray should repent

Nairobi (ENI). Church leaders in Kenya say politicians have abandoned God and are calling on them to repent and take action to deal with problems such as corruption besetting the East African country. Nationwide inter-denominational prayers were held at the weekend in response to an appeal by President Mwai Kibaki to reflect in prayer about problems and tragedies that have hit the country in recent years. [339 words, ENI-06-0355]

Indian desert village blooms after church project launched

Dand, India (ENI). Retired Indian soldier Amar Singh has been living in penury after six consecutive years of droughts that forced his family to stop farming in their fields around the village of Dand in India's northwestern state of Rajasthan. However, their harsh lives in the desert state changed for the better when church social workers arrived and set up self-help groups for women. Initially, Singh's wife Hiri Devi was not keen to join the women's group started by the social workers from the Church of North India. But her friends and her husband cajoled Devi to join the group and to take out loan of 5000 rupees (US$110). With that money, Singh's family bought six sheep. Two year's later, they have 55 animals. [476 words, ENI-06-0356]

25 April 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres says Pope Benedict XVI's scheduled visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp in May will send a strong message to those who question the veracity of the Holocaust, including Iranian President Ahmadinejad. "There were times when Hitler was not taken seriously and we regretted it later," said Peres, in Poland for an annual march from the concentration camp at Auschwitz to the nearby Birkenau camp on Israel's national Holocaust memorial day. [276 words, ENI-06-0352]

South African Christian leader backs law for unmarried couples

Johannesburg (ENI). The head of the South African Council of Churches has welcomed proposals to give legal protection to unmarried people in long-term relationships. The council's general secretary, Eddie Makue, told The Sowetan newspaper that the proposed law was an attempt to strike a balance between religious and human rights viewpoints, by allowing unmarried couples to register as a partnership. He rejected assertions from some Christian groups that the measure would weaken society and undermine morality. "This law will build families," Makue said in the interview. "Rather than continue living in an exploitative situation, this will ensure that these types of relationships are legalised." [291 words, ENI-06-0353]

Christians in India stage three-day march in schools protest

New Delhi (ENI). More than 600 members of the Church of South India (CSI) have staged a three-day protest march to Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, in a campaign to return control of four Christian colleges to the church. "The missionaries started these colleges for the benefit of the entire community," said Chennai's CSI bishop Vedanayagam Devasahayam. "Unfortunately, the administration of these colleges have gone into the hands of individuals who treat these as their private property." [339 words, ENI-06-0351]

24 April 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). Thousands of Orthodox Christians crowded into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to witness the annual holy fire ceremony in which a flame believed to be miraculously lit in Christ's tomb is then dispersed throughout the Orthodox Christian world as an Easter message that Jesus has not forgotten his followers. The Greek and Armenian Orthodox patriarchs entered the underground tomb in the church during the ceremony and soon emerged carrying torches baring flames. [325 words, ENI-06-0348]

Church report says Zimbabwe army seizing poor farmers' harvests

Harare (ENI). A report by a non-governmental organization says President Robert Mugabe's army is seizing grain from poor farmers in the traditionally opposition-supporting province of Matabeleland ahead of local government elections scheduled for September in the hope of drawing votes for the ruling Zanu-PF party. Zimbabwe's government says the army launched a food self-sufficiency programme in September 2005 to resuscitate failing production in one of Africa's former major agricultural producers. The Solidarity Peace Trust, an NGO headed by southern African church leaders, said the army actions had left small-holder farmers in Matabeleland with no income or food. [509 words, ENI-06-0347]

Philippines' 'green' cardinal apologises to planet

Manila (ENI). Manila's Roman Catholic Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales was given a red hat in March when Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal, but for many of his faithful the colour of his headgear should be green due to his advocacy for the environment. "Human acquisitiveness and avarice threaten the supply and availability of resources destined also for future generations," Rosales said at an Earth Day celebration held at garbage dumpsite that has been turned into a housing resettlement site in Manila. There, he apologised for the people's "sins" against nature. Rosales has been long known for his advocacy against logging and large-scale mining projects, and for support for reforestation and garbage management campaigns. [342 words, ENI-06-0350]

UK's extreme nationalists try to use St George to further their cause

Canterbury (ENI). The British National Party (BNP) has been criticised by church leaders for supporting a campaign to have 23 April, St George's Day, declared a public holiday. It states on its Web site the country "is being ripped apart by the forces of multiculturalism" and it is "the only hope for the survival of British people". Everywhere BNP candidates go, chanting supporters wave the red and white flags of St George, the patron saint of England. "It's a terrible thing to see," said retired Anglican Canon John Paul who spent 15 years of his working life ministering in Mozambique. "The BNP has no right to wave the flag of Saint George and pretend that a Christian saint would have supported them." [393 words, ENI-06-0349]

21 April 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). A group of Israeli settlers have attacked five foreign activists, including members of two church-sponsored monitoring teams, as they escorted Palestinian girls from school in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, members of the group said. Shouting "We will kill you", about 15 young Jewish settlers threw stones and kicked the foreign activists. The activists sustained light injuries, mostly bruising from stones thrown at them, said a spokesperson for the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). [403 words, ENI-06-0344]

Civil society group urges religious bodies to mediate in Ethiopia

Nairobi (ENI). A pan-African delegation of religious and civic leaders is urging churches and governments to help promote a peaceful solution to a crisis in Ethiopia where thousands of people are reported imprisoned after a disputed general election in May 2005. "We are asking the church, and the faith-based movement to come to the aid of Ethiopia and be able to provide leadership in mediating and providing peaceful transition towards an open civic and political space," said Henry Malumo, a Zambian member of the delegation from the Global Call to Action against Poverty coalition. [304 words, ENI-06-0345]

Handwritten Bible scripted in Wales returns to ancient tradition

London (ENI). One of the foremost Western calligraphers is producing a complete handwritten, illuminated Bible for the first time since the invention of the printing press in Europe in the 15th century from his studio in Wales. Donald Jackson, scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Crown Office at the House of Lords, is five years through the seven-year US$3.4 million project commissioned by the Benedictine Saint John's Abbey and the Saint John's University in the US state of Minnesota. [342 words, ENI-06-0346]

Bulgarian monks dye 2006 eggs for Orthodox Easter

Sofia (ENI). Monks at the Bachkovo monastery in southwestern Bulgaria have dyed 2006 eggs as part of the Orthodox Church celebrations of Easter. The dyeing of eggs is part of the Orthodox Christian rituals at Easter. Like most other Orthodox churches, the Bulgarian church celebrates Easter Sunday on 23 April, a week after Christianity's holiest day was celebrated by Protestant and Catholic churches. [232 words, ENI-06-0343]

20 April 2006

Bangalore, India (ENI). Churches in Sri Lanka are fearing for the prospects of peace on their troubled island due to escalating violence and the withdrawal of rebels from peace talks scheduled for Geneva next week aimed at stabilising a precarious cease fire. "The situation is really worrying," the Rev. Jayasiri Peiris, general secretary of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, that groups eight major Protestant churches told Ecumenical News International. [423 words, ENI-06-0341]

Tutu says churches found it easier to speak out under apartheid

Johannesburg (ENI). -South African Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu says the church in his country finds it difficult to speak out about the suffering of underprivileged people for fear of being accused of not helping the government in its nation-building process. "It's not easy when you want to speak out against people who are really on your side and you are wondering whether it will upset the process of nation-building," South African media quoted Tutu saying at an Easter service near Cape Town. [279 words, ENI-06-0342]

Kenya church leader seeks links with US opponents of gay ordination

Nairobi (ENI). The moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) has urged his denomination to forge links with American congregations opposed to changing the Presbyterian Church USA's stance on homosexuality. "I'm calling upon this assembly to open the door for those Presbyterians in the US wishing to affiliate themselves with the PCEA," the Rev. David Githii told the church's assembly in Nairobi. [288 words, ENI-06-0340]

'Atheist' Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin supported Church says colleague

Warsaw (ENI). The world's first person in space, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, publicly advocated rebuilding Moscow's destroyed Christ the Saviour basilica despite being depicted as a committed atheist by the Soviet regime, a former friend has revealed. "Like every Russian, Gagarin was baptised - and, as far as I know, he was a believer," said Colonel Valentin Petrov, an associate professor at Russia's Gagarin Air Force Academy. "Gagarin's motive was very simple: patriotism cannot be promoted without knowledge of one's roots." [500 words, ENI-06-0339]

19 April 2006

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (ENI). For a visitor to the country, or the consumer of news reports, the numbers in Zimbabwe are staggering and depressing, whether they relate to the economy, inflation, or HIV infection. But some Christians in the southern African country, which this week celebrated 26 years of independence, still believe there is reason to hope. On a recent weekend, when the funeral of liberation struggle hero James Chikerema was carried live on national television, workers in an old-age home in the eastern city of Mutare were shown on state TV striking in protest against a monthly wage of 1.8 million Zimbabwe dollars (US$18). [727 words, 06-0336]

Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem urges support from Christians worldwide

Jerusalem (ENI). The head of the Lutheran church in the Holy Land has urged Christians around the world to dig into their pockets to help their fellow believers in the region continue their witness in the face of growing hardships. "Given the present situation for those suffering on the road in the Holy Land today, we appeal to you to continue to carry and share our burdens enabling us to serve our people, Christians and Muslims alike," Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land wrote in an open letter to Christian communities. [338 words, ENI-06-0335]

Orphanage head warns Japanese children abused due to poverty

Tokyo (ENI). The head of a Christian-run orphanage in northern Japan has warned that tens of thousands of poor children are abused because of the poverty in which they are mired despite living in the country deemed to have the world's second largest economy. "While society has become affluent, there are many poor children in Japanese society. Many children are being killed and dying. Our task has not changed," said Kinya Osaka, vice president of the Sendai Christian Orphanage at the ceremony of the Juji Ishii Award, named after a renowned Japanese welfare pioneer. [430 words, ENI-06-0338]

US Protestant denomination stirs debate on political agenda

Oxford (ENI). The United Church of Christ (UCC), often described as one of the socially critical Protestant denominations in the United States, has turned to television commercials and the Internet to hammer home its message that it is an inclusive church. At the same time, the denomination's president has accused the Institute on Religion and Democracy advocacy group of promoting a "neo-conservative agenda" within Protestant churches, as different US religious groups engage in labelling those seen to be supporters of opposing political views or social values as either "liberal" or "conservative". [524 words, ENI-06-0337]

18 April 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). It was the busiest Easter in years in Jerusalem as tens of thousands of Christians participated in rites over the holiday period in the holy city where the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus took place. But the celebrations were marred when a Palestinian suicide bomber killed nine people and injured dozens of others on 17 April at a Tel Aviv takeaway restaurant. A lull in violence in recent months had brought the largest number of Christians in years to the Holy Land to take part in Protestant and Roman Catholic Easter services, which this year coincided with the Jewish feast of the Passover. [352 words, ENI-06-0331]

Archbishop of Canterbury sounds warning on Sudan

London (ENI). The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has urged a speeding up of international aid to southern Sudan, the scene of a two-decade civil war, and has denounced continuing violence in a separate conflict in the western part of Africa's biggest country. "The mechanisms by which international aid is delivered are so slow that the people of war-torn southern Sudan, even a whole year after the peace agreement, are still waiting for basic aid, and too few voices are raised in the wealthy world to protest," Williams said in an Eastertide letter sent to 50 Christian leaders, including the heads of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Old Catholic, and Lutheran churches around the world. [279 words, ENI-06-0334]

'Da Vinci Code' triggers debate about church 'enlightenment'

Manila (ENI). Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code" and the "Gospel of Judas" have triggered debates in this predominantly Roman Catholic country where some faithful are nailed to crosses on Good Friday, the day that marks the crucifixion of Jesus. "Authoritarian religion which has held sway in this country since the colonial period is bound to be affected profoundly by Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code'," wrote commentator Carmen Pedrosa in the Philippine Star newspaper. "This is not such a bad thing ... Religious questioning carries far-reaching implications for a country held down by dogmatism." [314 words, ENI-06-0333]

Kenya's Catholics turns to local funding for seminaries

Nairobi (ENI). Citing a decline in foreign donor support against a rising demand for priests, the Roman Catholic Church in Kenya has moved to raise funds locally for its four national seminaries. "We invite every Catholic in Kenya to contribute towards the education of his or her future priest," Archbishop Nicodemus Kirima, the chairperson of the seminaries commission of the Kenya bishops' conference wrote in a recent letter to all dioceses. [326 words, ENI-06-0332]

William Sloane Coffin, US activist and former Yale chaplain, dies at 81

New York (ENI). William Sloane Coffin, a former Yale University chaplain, civil rights activist and self-proclaimed "disturber of the peace" who revelled in infuriating his critics, has died, aged 81. Coffin died at his home in Strafford, Vermont, on 12 April. In his last years he displayed a sense of prophetic passion that belied his age and failing health, including two strokes. In 2003, Coffin was presented with the Union Medal, the most prestigious award of New York's Union Theological Seminary, where his uncle, Henry Sloane Coffin, had once served as president. At that event, although his speech was slowed and slurred, Coffin railed against the war in Iraq and the administration of President George W. Bush. [448 words, ENI-06-0330]

13 April 2006

Thrissur, India (ENI). The killing of two church aid workers in northern Sri Lanka who were caught in an ambush highlights escalating tensions in the South Asian island nation that threaten scheduled peace talks in Geneva. Two staff members of Caritas, the Roman Catholic aid agency, were killed and two others suffered minor injuries when their vehicle passed an army vehicle that was targeted with an anti-personnel mine that also killed five soldiers. The attack was thought to have been carried out by Tamil rebels. [464 words, ENI-06-0325]

Church leaders urge international community to halt boycott of Hamas

Jerusalem (ENI). Church leaders in the Holy Land in their annual Easter message have urged the international community to halt a boycott of the new Palestinian government headed by the Islamist Hamas movement. "We call first upon the international community that decided to boycott the Palestinian people: it is not permitted to boycott a people on whom oppressions and injustices were and are being imposed," the Christian leaders stated. [337 words, ENI-06-0329]

Malawi court freezes bishop's appointment after tensions flare

Blantyre (ENI). The High Court of Malawi has granted an injunction restraining a newly-installed Anglican bishop from working until a controversy over his appointment is settled. Lake Malawi Bishop Leonard James Mwenda was installed on 9 April in Nkhotakota in central Malawi but police arrested two people after being called to restore calm when tensions flared and stones were thrown by protesters. The controversy follows the rejection by the denomination's leadership of a British priest, the Rev. Nicholas Henderson, as bishop of the Lake Malawi diocese who was accused of supporting an Anglican group seen as supporting homosexual clergy. [289 words, ENI-06-0326]

US evangelical groups aim to establish pro-Israel lobby

Jerusalem (ENI). US evangelists are setting up a pro-Israel lobby group to influence US policy on the Middle East. "The evangelical population's support of Israel is very important," said the Rev. John Hagee, who is establishing the group, called Leaders of Christians United for Israel. The advocacy group will be launched in July and it will mostly target congressmen and senators, Hagee told reporters in Washington D.C. A quarter of the legislators are evangelicals, he said. [334 words, ENI-06-0327]

Christian communication agency relocating to Canada after grant cuts

Toronto (ENI). The World Association for Christian Communication, a global media development and advocacy network, is relocating its headquarters from London to Toronto following a decline in grants from European donors to cover its core budget. The group is known for promoting the communication rights of marginalised peoples as well as supporting training in small-format broadcast production and publishing for community groups in the global south and eastern Europe. The president of WACC's board, Musimbi Kanyoro said, "WACC will continue to reflect the total globe. Our mission is to take the option for the disadvantaged. Those exist in North America too." [297 words, ENI-06-0324]

Zimbabweans pay tribute to Swiss priest who fought white rule

Gweru, Zimbabwe (ENI). Zimbabweans have paid tribute to a Roman Catholic priest who fought for their independence, but was deported by the then illegal government of Ian Smith in the colony of Rhodesia. Michael Traber died aged 77 at Bethlehem Mission House, Immensee in Switzerland where he was being looked after with a cancer related illness. "As a journalist he spoke his mind out without reservations. He simply could not stand racism," said Mambo Press managing director, the Rev. Constantine Mashonganyika, noting Traber's role in building Mambo's international renown. [454 words, ENI-06-0328]

12 April 2006

Jerusalem (ENI). The Latin Patriarch, Michel Sabbah, the top Roman Catholic leader in the Holy Land, is urging Christians in his yearly Easter message to imbue the land of Jesus' birth with Christian values to overcome the language of hate and violence. At the time Christians commemorate the death of Jesus, one of their holiest times' of the year, Sabbah called on leaders from all faiths to show courage and a change of heart that would instil security, justice and tranquillity in the Holy Land and across the world. [441 words, ENI-06-0321]

Swedish Lutherans urge Russian church to restore ties

Uppsala/Geneva (ENI). An official of the Church of Sweden says she hopes the Russian Orthodox Church will reinstate bilateral contacts which it suspended with the Lutheran denomination after it voted to allow for the blessing of same-sex civil partnerships. "We regret that the Russian Orthodox Church has come to this decision. They have taken a 'time-out' in our bilateral cooperation," said Inger Aasa-Marklund, international and ecumenical officer for the northern Sweden's Lulea diocese. "We hope it will be possible to resume it in the future." [399 words, ENI-06-0320]

Dutch church to set up Protestant university in Netherlands

Utrecht (ENI). The largest Protestant church in the Netherlands is to set up a national university to streamline its training programmes for clergy who currently study at scattered locations in the country. "The new university will also be cheaper and will hopefully revive flagging interest among young people in a career as an ordained minister," a supervisory board for theological education said in a report to the 6-7 April synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. The synod was told that in 2015, the Protestant Church expects to have 25 per cent fewer members and 40 per cent fewer clergy in active service. [346 words, ENI-06-0322]

Faith, marriage in Japan set up release for Congolese asylum seeker

Tokyo (ENI). A Christian asylum seeker has received a rare permission for residence in Japan following his marriage to a Japanese woman of the same faith while he was detained in Tokyo. Among asylum seekers who have sought to be allowed to stay in Japan, only a few cases since 2003 has special permission for residence been granted. "The news of the permission came as a surprise. I believe that this is the will of God," said Grodya Njalu Arsene, a 44-year-old historian and a member of the United Church of Christ in Japan. [340 words, ENI-06-0323]

11 April 2006

Warsaw (ENI). A meeting sponsored by Russian Orthodox Church has elaborated a human rights declaration that challenges Western notions of freedom lacking "moral norms" and states that it is unacceptable to "jeopardise the motherland" in pursuit of human rights. "We reject the policy of double standards with regard to human rights, as well as attempts to use them for political, ideological, military and economical purposes, for imposing a particular socio-political system," said the "Declaration on Human Rights and Dignity" adopted by the tenth World Russian People's Council. [339 words, ENI-06-0316]

'Dan Brown phenomenon' fuels Judas text interest say UK scholars

Cambridge, England (ENI). Religion scholars say the recent release of the "Gospel of Judas", an early Christian text favourable to the disciple reputed to have betrayed Jesus, can contribute to understanding about the world of early Christianity. But some have also expressed scepticism about what they see as media hype surrounding the manuscript's release. "I think the massive media interest in the 'Gospel of Judas' is related to the whole 'Dan Brown phenomenon'," said Graham Stanton, a divinity professor at the University of Cambridge, referring the international bestseller author of "The Da Vinci Code". [476 words, ENI-06-0319]

Kenyan archbishop praises peacemaking assistant killed in air crash

Nairobi (ENI). Kenyan Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi says Bishop William Waqo, the church's provincial secretary, who was killed in a plane crash in northern Kenya while accompanying a peace delegation, died serving his cause as a reconciler of those caught in conflict. "We wish to stress the fact that the late bishop was a beacon, a moderator, a peacemaker and a churchman accepted by all parties, he was severally invited to peace missions by the government," said Nzimbi announcing the death of his fellow cleric on 11 April, the day after the crash. [310 words, ENI-06-0318]

Veteran burglar's crimes raise concerns in Britain's places of worship

Canterbury (ENI). Christopher Coulthard, aged 43, robbed 850 churches and other places of worship along England's M4 Motorway before being jailed for five years at Ipswich Crown Court. "When the police picked him up, they found an AA [Automobile Association] handbook and he'd marked all the churches he'd robbed," Nick Tolson, director of the six-year-old National Churchwatch told Ecumenical News International. Coulthard, from Warwickshire, travelled Britain staying at hotels and he robbed churches and chapels from North Yorkshire to Devon and Cornwall, from Wales to Norfolk. "He's been at it [burglary] since he was 13," explained Tolson, a 107 kilogram former military policeman and church verger. [385 words, ENI-06-0317]

10 April 2006

Chennai, India (ENI). Christians are expressing anguish over draconian provisions they see in an anti-conversion bill passed despite a boycott by opposition parties in the legislature of Rajasthan state ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Secular human rights activists joined Christians and Muslims at a meeting in the state capital of Jaipur to denounce the bill the day after it was passed. They fear it could be misused to hound religious minorities especially Christians who have been facing harassment at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists. [353 words, ENI-06-0315]

German Bible translation using 'inclusive' language sparks debate

Bielefeld, Germany (ENI). Plans for a new "Bible in inclusive language" intended to do justice to women, Jews and marginalised groups have been unveiled in Germany. "A Bible in the German language has to be sensitive about racism and ethnic discrimination because of the Shoah [Holocaust]," says Luise Metzler, who has raised funds for the project in which 52 translators are translating the original Hebrew and Greek using inclusive language. The translation to be published in October aims to tone down violent language while also taking into account the perspectives of feminist and liberation theology. [273 words, ENI-06-0312]

Pope may visit Holy Land in 2007 says Shimon Peres

Jerusalem (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI may visit the Holy Land in 2007, according to Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres after a meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican. During their 40-minute meeting on 6 April, Peres gave the Pope a letter from acting prime minister Ehud Olmert inviting him to visit the Holy Land. "I told him he would be welcomed by the Israeli government and the people of Israel," Peres told reporters after the meeting. "He indicated that he may do it in the first part of next year." [267 words, ENI-06-0314]

Southern African church rejects same-sex marriages

Cape Town (ENI). The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa has said that its ministers and congregations must not perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, though the denomination says it wants to welcome gay and lesbian people in its churches. "Notwithstanding our pastoral concern for gay and lesbian persons, the UCCSA understands marriage as a union of a man and a woman, as God intended," the executive committee of the denomination, which has members in five southern African countries, stated in a resolution adopted at a meeting in Zimbabwe, held at the end of March and beginning of April. [212 words, ENI-06-0313]

7 April 2006

Geneva (ENI). South African President Thabo Mbeki has been urged by more than two hundred organizations representing civil society and faith based groups to explain why his government has excluded two prominent NGOs from participating at a special meeting of the UN General Assembly on HIV/AIDS. Namibia's President Hifikepunye Pohamba is also asked by the same groups to explain why his administration has barred two Namibian NGO's from taking part at the same meeting. [464 words, ENI-06-0311] UN's Jan Egeland praises faith groups' response in Uganda

Nairobi (ENI). United Nations humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland has singled out the special role of faith-based groups in bringing aid to crisis-hit northern Uganda, the scene of a violent insurgency spearheaded by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. "They have a very important role as humanitarian organizations," said Egeland, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaking at a media conference in Nairobi. [363 words, ENI-06-0310]

Dispute simmers over plans for Catholic basilica in Warsaw

Warsaw (ENI). Plans to build a huge Roman Catholic basilica in Warsaw with taxpayer's money in thanksgiving for the collapse of communism and for the leadership of Pope John Paul II have triggered a controversy in Poland. Members of the country's opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) have protested against the plans. They say Polish law bars the use of state money for places of worship, but lawmakers from the governing Law and Justice party assert the funds will be used on an adjoining papal museum, representing "a cultural rather than religious investment". [305 words, ENI-06-0309]

Bulgarian Orthodox Church frown upon Jesus film campaign

Sofia (ENI). Bulgaria's Orthodox Church has distanced itself from a countrywide project offering free showings of the film "The Story of Jesus for Children" because the project is being run by an evangelical non-government organization. Doncho Alexandrov, spokesperson for the church's metropolitan of Varna, said the church was having nothing to do with the film and the associated distribution of Christian literature because the campaign was run by a Protestant organization. [350 words, ENI-06-0308]

6 April 2006

New Delhi (ENI). Christian groups in India are furious at the Gujarat government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP for forcing out Roman Catholics nuns from a government-run leprosy hospital they served for more than 50 years. Six nuns working in the Narol leprosy hospital in Ahmedabad have bid a tearful farewell to the hospital where their congregation had worked since 1949. "Our contract with the government expired Marc leave immediately," Sister Karuna, ousted superintendent of the hospital told Ecumenical News International. [323 words, ENI-06-03-6]

Evangelical pastor enters Peru election to 'change politics'

Lima (ENI). A left-wing ex-president, a nationalist ex-army officer, and a female ex-lawmaker are the frontrunners in the race to become Peru's next president. But a 71-year old evangelical pastor who is also competing is optimistic there will be surprises when the ballot papers are counted. "We are called to be the salt and the light and so we must be involved in politics where there are many dark shadows and much need for change," Pastor Humberto Lay told Ecumenical News International in an interview three days before the 9 April election. [410 words, ENI-06-0307]

Kenyan Presbyterian says churches need to open up for disabled

Nairobi (ENI). A blind Kenyan Presbyterian who coordinates an international church-linked disability network says the World Council of Churches needs to challenge governments around the world to introduce inclusive policies for persons with disabilities. And churches themselves need to "widen the tents", to ensure that persons with disabilities are not just passive observers, says the Rev. Samuel Kabue, coordinator of the WCC's Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network. [341 words, ENI-06-0304]

Cancellation of Dracula Park hailed as victory by Romanian church

Warsaw (ENI). Romania's Orthodox church has welcomed a government decision to cancel a "Dracula Park" entertainment complex near Bucharest, five years after the project was initiated to take advantage of the country's legendary vampire. "Our church was against this project from the beginning - we regard the fact that it has now been dropped as something normal," said Constantin Stoica, the church's spokesperson. "Although the churches weren't consulted, they made clear the Dracula myth had nothing to do with Romanian history, and this view was shared by many historians." [340 words, ENI-06-0305]

5 April 2006

Warsaw (ENI). Reports that Pope Benedict XVI may visit Russia in the near future are without foundation, a senior leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has said. "Speculation about a trip by Benedict XVI is completely unfounded - this subject hasn't been raised or examined," said Metropolitan Kirill, director of the Russian church's department for external church relations. "Although dialogue between the Holy See and Moscow Patriarchate has intensified since the present pope's election, it hasn't so far achieved any concrete results." [302 words, ENI-06-0301]

Letters show why UK didn't act on Bonhoeffer's Nazi resistance offer

London (ENI). War-time letters published for the first time are shedding light on why Britain refused to support an internal German resistance movement seeking to topple the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler during the Second World War. Correspondence in 1942 between Bell and the then British foreign minister Anthony Eden is included in "Bishop George Bell - the Greatest Churchman - a Portrait in Letters" published by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Anglican Bishop Bell, who was a trenchant foe of Nazism, also opposed British bombing of civilians in Germany and helped found the World Council of Churches. [452 words, ENI-06-0300]

Malawi Christians want upper age limit for presidents

Blantyre, Malawi (ENI). Christian groups in Malawi are proposing that there should be a retirement age for serving presidents just as the country's constitution has set the entry age for the person to lead the nation at 35 years. "A serving president should retire when he or she has clocked between 70 and 85 years," reveals a recently released survey conducted by the Christian groups. Malawi is expected to review its constitution in 2006 and the government is seeking views of the people and organizations on what they think should be included in it. [300 words, ENI-06-0303]

British missionary who wanted Zimbabwe free is remembered

Canterbury, England (ENI). White Rhodesians branded him a communist troublemaker when he was alive. But when he died in 1995, black Zimbabweans lauded Guy Clutton-Brock, who was born 100 years ago, as a great Christian Socialist and he was the first white man to have some of his ashes scattered at Heroes' Acre outside Harare. "I regard Guy Clutton - Brock as one of the greatest white men I've met in my long life," said a founder of Zimbabwean nationalism, James Chikerema, who died in the United States earlier this year. [316 words, ENI-06-0302]

4 April 2006

New Delhi (ENI). India's sentencing of an abortionist to jail for using ultrasound technology to determine the sex of an unborn child before an abortion is the first executive action since the government's launch of the "Decade of Survival of the Girl Child". India's federal government launched the campaign to reverse an alarming decline in the ratio of women to men due to rampant female foeticide that has increased due to the ability to detect the sex of a foetus using 21st century technology. [528 words, ENI-06-0299]

Priests from Krakow respond to Polish needs in Scotland

Haddington, Scotland (ENI). Poland's admission to the European Union in 2005 triggered much media publicity about sending plumbers to France, but the dispatching of priests to Scotland got much less attention. Two Polish priests from Krakow, where the late Pope John Paul 11 served as bishop, have arrived in Scotland where they are to start catering for the spiritual needs of hundreds of Polish immigrants since the enlargement of the European Union in 2004. [386 words, ENI-06-0298]

3 April 2006

Tokyo (ENI). A group of more than 25 churches in Japan is calling on the government to immediately stop its testing of full-fledged spent nuclear fuel reprocessing at Rokkasho in the north of Japan's main island of Honshu. The churches released a statement l after testing started on 31 March. They raised concerns about the environmental impact of radiation on the sea and the air and the potential proliferation of "surplus plutonium" extracted from the fuel that can be used in the making of nuclear weapons. [355 words, ENI-06-0295]

Catholics and Pentecostals included in new US church grouping

New York (ENI). After nearly five years of discussions and planning, a new grouping of the major Christian traditions in the United States, including Roman Catholics as well as Evangelical and Pentecostal denominations, has been formally launched. Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) calls itself "the most inclusive fellowship of Christian churches and traditions" in the United States. [429 words, ENI-06-0296]

New Norway Christian group spans all major churches

Oslo (ENI). Two church groupings in Norway have agreed to form a council spanning all the major churches including Lutheran, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Pentecostal denominations. The new grouping is to be formally inaugurated on 1 September, and results from the merger of the Christian Council of Norway and the Norwegian Free Church Council. [390 words, ENI-06-0297]

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