18th June, 2009

URGENCY GROWS FOR INVESTMENT IN CONFLICT PREVENTION AS 42 MILLION UPROOTED BY WAR AND PERSECUTION

The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stood at 42 million at the end of last year, according to new figures from the UNHCR.

     However, neither the UK nor the US feature amongst the main refugee-hosting countries in the world, despite waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which have caused the biggest refugee movements.

     The news comes after campaigners have urged that more money be put into conflict prevention and peacebuilding work, which they suggest would save millions of pounds and prevent millions from being displaced.

     A report from Ekklesia...  | more... |

13th June, 2009

PATRIARCH CONNECTS TO RUSSIAN YOUTH USING "MEGA-CHURCH" STYLE

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill I has addressed thousands of young people about the dangers of alcoholism and an unchecked market economy as he takes the church to a people used to the Kremlin as the biggest institution.

     When he was installed in February, Patriarch Kirill committed himself to connecting with Russia's young people and he launched a special programme at a meeting of several thousand college students in Moscow on 23rd May. The Patriarch then appeared before an even larger gathering in St Petersburg a week later.

     SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY reports for Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

31st May, 2009

TAMIL AND SINHALESE CHRISTIANS UNITE TO OVERCOME AFTERMATH OF SRI LANKA'S WAR

At least a quarter of a million civilians, including Christians, remained displaced last week in Sri Lanka following the government's final military crackdown on independence-seeking Tamil rebels, but Tamil and Sinhalese Christians said they have united to overcome the crisis and show reconciliation is possible.

      Sinhalese and Tamil Christians said it remained difficult for hundreds of thousands of people to rebuild their shattered lives but added they have united and are working closely with the Evangelical Alliance United Kingdom “to call on Christians to pray for Sri Lanka and donate to agencies working on the ground.”

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

15th May, 2009

UN CHIEF URGED TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE ON RIGHT FOR FOOD

A group of Christian leaders who campaign for justice in the fight against hunger are calling on the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to step up to the plate and seek tangible results in realising the right to food. The Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance sent the letter as the first of a series of actions in a global campaign on food. It was launched on the same day the World Council of Churches and its donors discussed the food issue after being addressed by EAA members. "Churches have always helped people in need of food, but now we want to tackle the root causes of hunger as a structural problem," the Rev Malcolm Damon, chairperson of the EAA's Food Strategy Group, told Ecumenical News International on 13th May.

     PETER KENNY reports...  | more... |

8th May, 2009

NAMIBIAN CHURCH-BACKED COALITION URGES BASIC GRANT TO CITIZENS

Churches and civil society groups are urging the Namibian government to provide citizens with monthly basic income grants by raising taxes. They have called for a Basic Income Grant of 100 Namibian dollars (US$11) to alleviate poverty in the country. "Namibia's taxable capacity exceeds 30 per cent of national income. Yet Namibia's actual tax collection and projected tax collection over the medium term horizon has been falling," said a report published on 28th April by a coalition of groups, including the Council of Churches of Namibia and the National Union of Namibian Workers.

     RODERICK MUKUMBIRA reports for ENI from Windhoek...  | more... |

1st May, 2009

CHRISTIANS UNDER ATTACK IN SUDAN

Christians in Sudan faced another tense day Wednesday, 29th April, amid reports that followers of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir have intensified attacks on Christians and others they believe support the International Criminal Court's recent decision to prosecute the president for his alleged involvement in atrocities in the Darfur region.

Among those attacked is Aburahaman Tai, a leader of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the Nuba Mountains village of Chat in central Sudan, who was beaten and injured by a suspected government militia in early March, news reports said.

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

24th April, 2009

FAITHS, RIGHTS GROUPS LAMENT RACISM CONFERENCE'S SHUNNING OF DALITS

There is an untouchable word that appears nowhere in the declaration of the UN conference in Geneva reviewing progress on fighting racism. It is Dalit, the self-designation of a South Asian group traditionally regarded as untouchable or of the lowest caste. "Caste discrimination is one of the most important issues being left out of this conference," said Peter Prove of the Lutheran World Federation. The Australian human rights lawyer has worked with the Geneva-based LWF for many years towards eliminating discrimination against Dalits.

     PETER KENNY, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

16th April, 2009

CUBA'S CATHOLIC CHURCH SEEKS DIALOGUE AND CHANGE

At a time of shake up in Cuba's ruling elite, and with international pressure mounting to break the long impasse in relations with the United States, the Roman Catholic Church on the island is urging a "national dialogue". "Each Catholic, each Christian, each baptised person that makes up the Church has the same expectations as any other person," the recently-elected president of the Cuban Catholic bishops' conference said at the end of March. In an interview with Palabra Nueva, the newspaper of the Havana archdiocese, Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago de Cuba described changes in Cuba as "necessary", and said, "The Church is part of the people."

     A report from Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

3rd April, 2009

CHURCH GROUPS REJECT "RUTHLESS" MILITARY ACTIONS IN MADAGASCAR

A delegation from two global church groups to Madagascar has called for international pressure to secure democracy in the island nation following the military-supported ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana. The delegation urged the African Union and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community to assume, "their rightful place in ensuring justice, establishing peace and effecting democracy in Madagascar as a matter of urgency".

     A report from Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

29th March, 2009

IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, RAPE LEAVES A TERRIFYING TRAIL

Nifa fled from the fields near her village after she heard the sounds of the screaming and commotion. By the time she reached Kiwanja and her mother’s tearful embrace, she had already been raped by soldiers on a dirt road. Compounding the ordeal, her father died in the assault. “We want women and girls to talk about the sexual violence,” says Esther Ntoto, who serves with her husband Camille as field coordinators for Light of Africa Network.

     MARK ELLIS reports...  | more... |

19th March, 2009

THOUSANDS OF NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS RECEIVE FOOD AND SECRET TRAINING

Thousands of North Korean Christians have received food and Christian education from a major Western organisation, despite fresh attempts by North Korea's leadership to crackdown on foreign aid. Netherlands-based advocacy group Open Doors said it gave Biblical training to over 4,000 Christians from the world's most isolated nation in 2008, about 10 times more than in 2007 when "440 North Koreans received Christian education".

     ERIC LEIJENAAR and STEFAN J. BOS report...  | more... |

11th March, 2009

RIGHT TO LIFE ADVOCATES CRITICISE OBAMA ON STEM CELL RESEARCH

"Right to Life" advocates have criticised US President Barack Obama's decision to reverse policies of the administration of George W. Bush that limited federal funding for stem cell research. "It is a sad day when the federal government will fund research that exploits living members of the human species as raw material for research," Douglas Johnson, a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee, said in a statement. He was speaking about Obama's decision to overturn policies of the previous administration and to expand stem cell research, announced at a 9th March ceremony at the White House.

     CHRIS ERLINGER reports...  | more... |

5th March, 2009

CHRISTIANS ANXIOUS AS GUINEA-BISSAU'S PRESIDENT IS KILLED

Minority Christians and missionaries were among those anxiously looking to the future of Guinea-Bissau as officials confirmed that President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed, hours after the West African nation's armed forces chief died in a bomb blast. It was not immediately clear whether a coup was under way, but automatic gunfire and heavier explosions were heard in Guinea-Bissau's capital, Bissau, early Monday, 2nd March, before a tense calm returned.

     STEFAN J. BOS reports...  | more... |

24th February, 2009

AID AGENCY WARNS OF 'TSUNAMI SCALE' LONG-TERM NEED IN SRI LANKA

A Christian aid agency has warned of ‘tsunami scale’ long-term need in Sri Lanka.

     Tearfund is working with partner agencies in Sri Lanka to help many of the 250,000 civilians caught up in the island’s increasingly bloody civil war. Recent weeks have seen an intensification of fighting between government forces and those of the Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebel group in the north of the country.

     Key rebel strongholds have fallen to advancing government forces but many civilians have been caught in the crossfire, despite the creation of ‘safe zones’.

     A report from Ekklesia...  | more... |

13th February, 2009

MERCY SHIPS REACHES OUT TO BENIN, AMONG THE WORLD'S POOREST NATIONS

The world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, arrived in Cotounou, Benin, this week to begin 10 months of specialized partnership with the nation’s Ministry of Health.

     The hospital ship’s “Operation Access” screening team left Cotonou for two provincial capitals in North Benin shortly after docking with the goal of increasing access to health care services offered by the ship throughout the nation equitably. Posters and public service announcements were sent out ahead of the team appealing for family members to bring those with particular ailments to the North Benin screening sites this week.

     PETER WOODING reports...  | more... |

2nd February, 2009

CHURCHES URGE REVAMP OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM AT WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

The global economic crisis offers an opportunity to create a more just financial system, a representative of the World Council of Churches has said during the World Social Forum in Brazil.

     "If we miss this point again we are going to repeat history with another crisis," Rogate Mshana, the church grouping's programme executive for poverty, wealth and ecology, told Ecumenical News International during the 27th January to 1st February event, a global gathering addressing exploitative globalisation.

     STEPHEN BROWN, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

13th January, 2009

CHURCH GROUPS WARN ABOUT 'COLLAPSE' OF SUDAN PEACE PACT

Church agencies and analysts have warned that an agreement signed four years ago to put an end to a two-decade long civil war in Sudan is threatened with breakdown, thereby endangering the already fragile Horn of Africa region.

     The pact, called the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed on 9th January 2005, ended a 22-year civil war between Sudan’s central government and the Southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army.

     "Without swift, decisive action by the international community there is a danger that the peace agreement will collapse and violence will escalate in Sudan," Gerrit Noltensmeier, the special representative for Sudan of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) said in a statement to mark the anniversary of the signing of the pact.

     STEPHEN BROWN, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS SERVING IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT

Pakistani Christian communities confronted with the presence of the Taliban and Al-Qaida serve their Muslim neighbors in an unfriendly environment. Christians in the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan find themselves in the midst of a complex conflict involving regional and global powers. With Pakistani government security forces fighting Taliban from within the country and Al-Qaida militants from beyond it, the border to Afghanistan is not much more than a demarcation line on the map. In the mountainous landscape extremists can roam freely. Add in cross border strikes from US military based in Afghanistan and it is hard to know who is who in the very tense situation.

HENRIK HANSSON, of the World Council of Churches, reports... | more... |

CHURCH LEADER WANTS CHRISTIANS TO CELEBRATE EASTER ON SAME DAY

Lebanon-based Armenian Orthodox leader Aram I has at a Vatican meeting with Pope Benedict XVI proposed that the world's churches set a common date for Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. "There are no special doctrinal problems to achieve this goal, but only problems of the calendar," Aram, who heads the Catholicosate of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, told journalists in Rome at the end of his 23rd to 27th November visit to Rome.

     LUIGI SANDRI reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

MIDDLE EAST: EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS FROM IRAQ CONTINUES

Words of encouragement from local, regional and international church leaders, who want Christian institutions to remain in Iraq, have not been able to stem a tide of Iraqi refugees from leaving their country in the face of violence.

The family of 60-year-old Basil Mati Koriya Kaktoma and his wife, Ekram Ishak Buni Safar, aged 55, have lived in Syria since July 2006. Refugees such as these are adamant they will never return to their homeland given their experience of threats, physical abuse and, in the case of Kaktoma, a week-long abduction by Muslim gunmen Kaktoma believes targeted him because he is Christian.

     CHRIS HERLINGER reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

20 YEARS OF WORLD AIDS DAY IS TIME FOR FAITHS TO "TAKE STOCK"

Faith leaders "should shout from the rooftops that AIDS is not a punishment from God but a medical condition which is preventable", the former leader of South Africa's Anglican church, Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, has told the World Aids Campaign. Archbishop Ndungane was speaking in an interview for the Amsterdam and Cape Town-based World Aids Campaign, founded by UNAIDS, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the marking of 1st December as World AIDS Day. The campaign says World AIDS Day is a time of "global solidarity for a pandemic that has led to over 25 million deaths, with an estimated 33 million people currently living with HIV worldwide".

     PETER KENNY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

GLOBAL CHRISTIAN LEADERS CENSURE AFRICA FOR ZIMBABWE FAILURE

Leaders of global Christian organizations have criticised African leaders for their failure to address a "growing humanitarian catastrophe" in Zimbabwe and for their failure to question the "illegitimacy of the current government" there. In a statement on 14th November they called on" the Zanu-PF party [of Robert Mugabe] and the MDC [the Movement for Democratic Change] to form a government based on the will of the voters, true equity and in the interest of real and durable political progress, socio-economic transformation and national healing".

     PETER KENNY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE SAYS WORLD'S GREAT CHALLENGES ALSO BRING "GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVANGELICAL ENGAGEMENT"

More than 500 senior evangelical leaders gathering in Pattaya, Thailand, wrapped up their General Assembly in late October, after five days of intensive discussion to plan the way forward in world evangelisation. Delegates agreed upon six major resolutions setting out an evangelical response to religious liberty, HIV and Aids, poverty, peacemaking, creation care and the global financial crisis. "The worldwide financial turmoil is, at its root, evidence of what happens when too many are captivated by greed and put their faith in, and entrust their security and future aspirations to, a system animated by the maximization of wealth. Many legitimately feel betrayed," read the resolution on the global financial crisis.

     MICHAEL IRELAND reports for Assist News... | more... |

CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS FEAR CATASTROPE IN CONGO

Christian emergency response organizations have expressed alarm at a deteriorating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Northern Kivu province and about brutalities innocent civilians are facing in a potential humanitarian catastrophe. The Geneva-based ACT International (Action by Churches Together) said in a statement on 30th October that it had accounts from aid workers of looted shops and dead bodies on the pavements in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

    A report from Ecumenical News International... | more... |

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL CONSECRATED IN HAVANA

In the latest signs of warming relations between Russia and Cuba, President Raul Castro has attended the consecration of Cuba's first Russian Orthodox church, and Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who led the Russian church's delegation from Moscow, met the ailing leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. Raul Castro, who became president in February 2008, when his brother's nearly half-century rule ended, was present at the consecration of the white, gold-domed Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana on 19th October.

   SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

INDIA VIOLENCE HIGHLIGHTS GLOBAL PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

The World Council of Churches' General Secretary, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, has said that "one of the greatest problems facing the world today is religious extremism" - and that all faiths must be fully engaged in tackling it.

      Rev Dr Kobia expressed his concern over the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in the eastern India state of Orissa during a visit to the national headquarters of the Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) in New Delhi, India.

    A report from Ekklesia... | more... |

WE STILL NEED TO "SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER" IN SOUTH AFRICA, SAYS TUTU

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has commended Christian communicators for support that helped liberate his country from minority white rule, and has appealed for their continued assistance in the post-apartheid era. "We are free today because you supported us," Tutu said at the opening in Cape Town of a 6th to 10th October congress of the World Association for Christian Communication, as he highlighted the role that the group had played in sustaining independent media during the apartheid era.

    STEPHEN BROWN reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

EUROPEAN CYCLISTS RIDE FOR PEACE THROUGH HOLY LAND

Eight cyclists from Europe have spent three weeks travelling through the Holy Land to highlight the need for a just and peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.

     The bicycle journey, the third of its kind, began on 14th August in the Jordanian capital of Amman, where the riders toured the city and visited a Palestinian refugee camp. They then spent the remainder of the trip, cycling through Arab communities near Nazareth and Haifa in northern Israel, and Palestinian communities in the occupied territories.

     JUDITH SUDILOVSKY reports from Jerusalem for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

PAKISTAN'S EMBATTLED CHRISTIANS AWAITING HELP FROM NEW PRESIDENT

The widower of Pakistan's assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was elected president on 6th September, raising hopes among the country's minority Christians who are reeling from several murders and attacks in recent months.

     Although he is officially Muslim, Asif Ali Zardari, attended Christian missionary schools and a top boarding school on the banks of the Indus River near the city of Hyderabad, according to official records.

     JAWAD MAZHAR and STEFAN J. BOS, of BosNewsLife, report... | more... |

IMMIGRATION - A BENEFIT OR A BURDEN?

One of the architects of the modern EU, Francois Mitterand, once said: "I'm afraid that when Europe's body is reunited it may lose its soul." Some people feel that is happening right now -- and that immigration is largely to blame.

     Immigration has been called the most potent political issue in Europe today. It can certainly be a very emotive one.

     On one side, there are people who argue for a very open handed approach to immigration. On the other are people who call for tighter immigration laws because, they claim, immigration may bring higher levels of crime or jeopardise traditional values.

    MAL FLETCHER takes a look at the often vexed issue of immigration... | more... |

ANGLICAN LEADER SAYS 'WIDE' CONSENSUS EXISTS TO HEAL DIVISIONS

Leaders of the Anglican Communion left for home from the Lambeth Conference earlier this month having heard Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams say there is "wide support" for measures to resolve a dispute over homosexuality that had threatened to tear apart the 77-million-strong grouping.

     "We may not have put an end to all our problems but the pieces are on the board," Archbishop Williams said in his final presidential address to the 670 or so bishops attending the 16th July to 3rd August gathering in Canterbury, England.

     TREVOR GRUNDY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

REKINDLING HOPE, RENEWING THE TRADITION OF CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM COOPERATION IN SULAWESI

The concrete wall behind the altar of the Christian Church of Central Sulawesi in Palu, Indonesia still bears marks from two bullets just three inches to the right of a framed cross-stitch portrait of Jesus Christ.
     Four years ago, on 18th July, 2004, the two bullets were among those fired from an assassin’s automatic rifle which ended the life of Rev. Susianti Tinulele, who had just finished preaching during an evening worship service. Tinulele, 28, was one of a growing number of women pastors in Indonesia.

     MAURICE MALANES reports for the World Council of Churches... | more... |

LONDON'S GANGS - MORE SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES NEEDED

Earlier this month , yet another teenager died as a result of gang-related violence in London - the eighteenth this year.

      An Independent on Sunday investigation suggested that almost 14,000 people a year are injured in knife attacks. Some authorities believe the number may be much higher, because many people do not report their injuries for fear of reprisals.

     In his second article on the issue, MAL FLETCHER writes about the problem of youth violence in the UK...  | more... |

YOUTH VIOLENCE AND GANGS IN THE UK - A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE

Some authorities have called youth violence a public health issue, because it's like a virus that spreads from child to child.

     Last week , I stood outside the Damilola Taylor Centre in Peckham, London and pondered again how we could have come to a situation where, in some European cities, violence by and against teenagers has reached chronic proportions.

     MAL FLETCHER writes about the problem of youth violence in the UK...  | more... |

IN THE SHADOW OF THE DAM, LESOTHO COMMUNITIES LONG FOR WATER

The massive dams built by South Africa and Lesotho in the mountain kingdom's highlands have proven a success for the economies of both countries. The Christian Council of Lesotho is worried, however, that the residents displaced by the project are bypassed when it comes to the benefits.

     Malethibela Lits'esane, 35, gazes up to the mountains surrounding the village of Ha Makhalanyane in Lesotho, the kingdom encompassed by mighty South Africa. She longs for the life she once lived several miles beyond those mountains. Five years have passed since she and her husband Emmanuel, 36, were forced from their village of Lamapong Ha Koporala. When the Mohale dam was built, many of the people living in the surrounding area were resettled to other locations. Two of them were the Lits'esanes.

     CHRISTIAN JOHANNESSEN reports...  | more... |

18th June, 2009

URGENCY GROWS FOR INVESTMENT IN CONFLICT PREVENTION AS 42 MILLION UPROOTED BY WAR AND PERSECUTION

The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stood at 42 million at the end of last year, according to new figures from the UNHCR.

     However, neither the UK nor the US feature amongst the main refugee-hosting countries in the world, despite waging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which have caused the biggest refugee movements.

     The news comes after campaigners have urged that more money be put into conflict prevention and peacebuilding work, which they suggest would save millions of pounds and prevent millions from being displaced.

     A report from Ekklesia...  | more... |

13th June, 2009

PATRIARCH CONNECTS TO RUSSIAN YOUTH USING "MEGA-CHURCH" STYLE

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill I has addressed thousands of young people about the dangers of alcoholism and an unchecked market economy as he takes the church to a people used to the Kremlin as the biggest institution.

     When he was installed in February, Patriarch Kirill committed himself to connecting with Russia's young people and he launched a special programme at a meeting of several thousand college students in Moscow on 23rd May. The Patriarch then appeared before an even larger gathering in St Petersburg a week later.

     SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY reports for Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

31st May, 2009

TAMIL AND SINHALESE CHRISTIANS UNITE TO OVERCOME AFTERMATH OF SRI LANKA'S WAR

At least a quarter of a million civilians, including Christians, remained displaced last week in Sri Lanka following the government's final military crackdown on independence-seeking Tamil rebels, but Tamil and Sinhalese Christians said they have united to overcome the crisis and show reconciliation is possible.

      Sinhalese and Tamil Christians said it remained difficult for hundreds of thousands of people to rebuild their shattered lives but added they have united and are working closely with the Evangelical Alliance United Kingdom “to call on Christians to pray for Sri Lanka and donate to agencies working on the ground.”

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

15th May, 2009

UN CHIEF URGED TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE ON RIGHT FOR FOOD

A group of Christian leaders who campaign for justice in the fight against hunger are calling on the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to step up to the plate and seek tangible results in realising the right to food. The Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance sent the letter as the first of a series of actions in a global campaign on food. It was launched on the same day the World Council of Churches and its donors discussed the food issue after being addressed by EAA members. "Churches have always helped people in need of food, but now we want to tackle the root causes of hunger as a structural problem," the Rev Malcolm Damon, chairperson of the EAA's Food Strategy Group, told Ecumenical News International on 13th May.

     PETER KENNY reports...  | more... |

8th May, 2009

NAMIBIAN CHURCH-BACKED COALITION URGES BASIC GRANT TO CITIZENS

Churches and civil society groups are urging the Namibian government to provide citizens with monthly basic income grants by raising taxes. They have called for a Basic Income Grant of 100 Namibian dollars (US$11) to alleviate poverty in the country. "Namibia's taxable capacity exceeds 30 per cent of national income. Yet Namibia's actual tax collection and projected tax collection over the medium term horizon has been falling," said a report published on 28th April by a coalition of groups, including the Council of Churches of Namibia and the National Union of Namibian Workers.

     RODERICK MUKUMBIRA reports for ENI from Windhoek...  | more... |

1st May, 2009

CHRISTIANS UNDER ATTACK IN SUDAN

Christians in Sudan faced another tense day Wednesday, 29th April, amid reports that followers of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir have intensified attacks on Christians and others they believe support the International Criminal Court's recent decision to prosecute the president for his alleged involvement in atrocities in the Darfur region.

Among those attacked is Aburahaman Tai, a leader of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the Nuba Mountains village of Chat in central Sudan, who was beaten and injured by a suspected government militia in early March, news reports said.

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

24th April, 2009

FAITHS, RIGHTS GROUPS LAMENT RACISM CONFERENCE'S SHUNNING OF DALITS

There is an untouchable word that appears nowhere in the declaration of the UN conference in Geneva reviewing progress on fighting racism. It is Dalit, the self-designation of a South Asian group traditionally regarded as untouchable or of the lowest caste. "Caste discrimination is one of the most important issues being left out of this conference," said Peter Prove of the Lutheran World Federation. The Australian human rights lawyer has worked with the Geneva-based LWF for many years towards eliminating discrimination against Dalits.

     PETER KENNY, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

16th April, 2009

CUBA'S CATHOLIC CHURCH SEEKS DIALOGUE AND CHANGE

At a time of shake up in Cuba's ruling elite, and with international pressure mounting to break the long impasse in relations with the United States, the Roman Catholic Church on the island is urging a "national dialogue". "Each Catholic, each Christian, each baptised person that makes up the Church has the same expectations as any other person," the recently-elected president of the Cuban Catholic bishops' conference said at the end of March. In an interview with Palabra Nueva, the newspaper of the Havana archdiocese, Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago de Cuba described changes in Cuba as "necessary", and said, "The Church is part of the people."

     A report from Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

3rd April, 2009

CHURCH GROUPS REJECT "RUTHLESS" MILITARY ACTIONS IN MADAGASCAR

A delegation from two global church groups to Madagascar has called for international pressure to secure democracy in the island nation following the military-supported ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana. The delegation urged the African Union and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community to assume, "their rightful place in ensuring justice, establishing peace and effecting democracy in Madagascar as a matter of urgency".

     A report from Ecumenical News International...  | more... |

29th March, 2009

IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, RAPE LEAVES A TERRIFYING TRAIL

Nifa fled from the fields near her village after she heard the sounds of the screaming and commotion. By the time she reached Kiwanja and her mother’s tearful embrace, she had already been raped by soldiers on a dirt road. Compounding the ordeal, her father died in the assault. “We want women and girls to talk about the sexual violence,” says Esther Ntoto, who serves with her husband Camille as field coordinators for Light of Africa Network.

     MARK ELLIS reports...  | more... |

19th March, 2009

THOUSANDS OF NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS RECEIVE FOOD AND SECRET TRAINING

Thousands of North Korean Christians have received food and Christian education from a major Western organisation, despite fresh attempts by North Korea's leadership to crackdown on foreign aid. Netherlands-based advocacy group Open Doors said it gave Biblical training to over 4,000 Christians from the world's most isolated nation in 2008, about 10 times more than in 2007 when "440 North Koreans received Christian education".

     ERIC LEIJENAAR and STEFAN J. BOS report...  | more... |

11th March, 2009

RIGHT TO LIFE ADVOCATES CRITICISE OBAMA ON STEM CELL RESEARCH

"Right to Life" advocates have criticised US President Barack Obama's decision to reverse policies of the administration of George W. Bush that limited federal funding for stem cell research. "It is a sad day when the federal government will fund research that exploits living members of the human species as raw material for research," Douglas Johnson, a spokesperson for the National Right to Life Committee, said in a statement. He was speaking about Obama's decision to overturn policies of the previous administration and to expand stem cell research, announced at a 9th March ceremony at the White House.

     CHRIS ERLINGER reports...  | more... |

5th March, 2009

CHRISTIANS ANXIOUS AS GUINEA-BISSAU'S PRESIDENT IS KILLED

Minority Christians and missionaries were among those anxiously looking to the future of Guinea-Bissau as officials confirmed that President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed, hours after the West African nation's armed forces chief died in a bomb blast. It was not immediately clear whether a coup was under way, but automatic gunfire and heavier explosions were heard in Guinea-Bissau's capital, Bissau, early Monday, 2nd March, before a tense calm returned.

     STEFAN J. BOS reports...  | more... |

24th February, 2009

AID AGENCY WARNS OF 'TSUNAMI SCALE' LONG-TERM NEED IN SRI LANKA

A Christian aid agency has warned of ‘tsunami scale’ long-term need in Sri Lanka.

     Tearfund is working with partner agencies in Sri Lanka to help many of the 250,000 civilians caught up in the island’s increasingly bloody civil war. Recent weeks have seen an intensification of fighting between government forces and those of the Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebel group in the north of the country.

     Key rebel strongholds have fallen to advancing government forces but many civilians have been caught in the crossfire, despite the creation of ‘safe zones’.

     A report from Ekklesia...  | more... |

13th February, 2009

MERCY SHIPS REACHES OUT TO BENIN, AMONG THE WORLD'S POOREST NATIONS

The world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, arrived in Cotounou, Benin, this week to begin 10 months of specialized partnership with the nation’s Ministry of Health.

     The hospital ship’s “Operation Access” screening team left Cotonou for two provincial capitals in North Benin shortly after docking with the goal of increasing access to health care services offered by the ship throughout the nation equitably. Posters and public service announcements were sent out ahead of the team appealing for family members to bring those with particular ailments to the North Benin screening sites this week.

     PETER WOODING reports...  | more... |

2nd February, 2009

CHURCHES URGE REVAMP OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM AT WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

The global economic crisis offers an opportunity to create a more just financial system, a representative of the World Council of Churches has said during the World Social Forum in Brazil.

     "If we miss this point again we are going to repeat history with another crisis," Rogate Mshana, the church grouping's programme executive for poverty, wealth and ecology, told Ecumenical News International during the 27th January to 1st February event, a global gathering addressing exploitative globalisation.

     STEPHEN BROWN, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

13th January, 2009

CHURCH GROUPS WARN ABOUT 'COLLAPSE' OF SUDAN PEACE PACT

Church agencies and analysts have warned that an agreement signed four years ago to put an end to a two-decade long civil war in Sudan is threatened with breakdown, thereby endangering the already fragile Horn of Africa region.

     The pact, called the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed on 9th January 2005, ended a 22-year civil war between Sudan’s central government and the Southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army.

     "Without swift, decisive action by the international community there is a danger that the peace agreement will collapse and violence will escalate in Sudan," Gerrit Noltensmeier, the special representative for Sudan of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) said in a statement to mark the anniversary of the signing of the pact.

     STEPHEN BROWN, of Ecumenical News International, reports...  | more... |

PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS SERVING IN THE MIDST OF CONFLICT

Pakistani Christian communities confronted with the presence of the Taliban and Al-Qaida serve their Muslim neighbors in an unfriendly environment. Christians in the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan find themselves in the midst of a complex conflict involving regional and global powers. With Pakistani government security forces fighting Taliban from within the country and Al-Qaida militants from beyond it, the border to Afghanistan is not much more than a demarcation line on the map. In the mountainous landscape extremists can roam freely. Add in cross border strikes from US military based in Afghanistan and it is hard to know who is who in the very tense situation.

HENRIK HANSSON, of the World Council of Churches, reports... | more... |

CHURCH LEADER WANTS CHRISTIANS TO CELEBRATE EASTER ON SAME DAY

Lebanon-based Armenian Orthodox leader Aram I has at a Vatican meeting with Pope Benedict XVI proposed that the world's churches set a common date for Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. "There are no special doctrinal problems to achieve this goal, but only problems of the calendar," Aram, who heads the Catholicosate of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, told journalists in Rome at the end of his 23rd to 27th November visit to Rome.

     LUIGI SANDRI reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

MIDDLE EAST: EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS FROM IRAQ CONTINUES

Words of encouragement from local, regional and international church leaders, who want Christian institutions to remain in Iraq, have not been able to stem a tide of Iraqi refugees from leaving their country in the face of violence.

The family of 60-year-old Basil Mati Koriya Kaktoma and his wife, Ekram Ishak Buni Safar, aged 55, have lived in Syria since July 2006. Refugees such as these are adamant they will never return to their homeland given their experience of threats, physical abuse and, in the case of Kaktoma, a week-long abduction by Muslim gunmen Kaktoma believes targeted him because he is Christian.

     CHRIS HERLINGER reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

20 YEARS OF WORLD AIDS DAY IS TIME FOR FAITHS TO "TAKE STOCK"

Faith leaders "should shout from the rooftops that AIDS is not a punishment from God but a medical condition which is preventable", the former leader of South Africa's Anglican church, Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, has told the World Aids Campaign. Archbishop Ndungane was speaking in an interview for the Amsterdam and Cape Town-based World Aids Campaign, founded by UNAIDS, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the marking of 1st December as World AIDS Day. The campaign says World AIDS Day is a time of "global solidarity for a pandemic that has led to over 25 million deaths, with an estimated 33 million people currently living with HIV worldwide".

     PETER KENNY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

GLOBAL CHRISTIAN LEADERS CENSURE AFRICA FOR ZIMBABWE FAILURE

Leaders of global Christian organizations have criticised African leaders for their failure to address a "growing humanitarian catastrophe" in Zimbabwe and for their failure to question the "illegitimacy of the current government" there. In a statement on 14th November they called on" the Zanu-PF party [of Robert Mugabe] and the MDC [the Movement for Democratic Change] to form a government based on the will of the voters, true equity and in the interest of real and durable political progress, socio-economic transformation and national healing".

     PETER KENNY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE SAYS WORLD'S GREAT CHALLENGES ALSO BRING "GREAT OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVANGELICAL ENGAGEMENT"

More than 500 senior evangelical leaders gathering in Pattaya, Thailand, wrapped up their General Assembly in late October, after five days of intensive discussion to plan the way forward in world evangelisation. Delegates agreed upon six major resolutions setting out an evangelical response to religious liberty, HIV and Aids, poverty, peacemaking, creation care and the global financial crisis. "The worldwide financial turmoil is, at its root, evidence of what happens when too many are captivated by greed and put their faith in, and entrust their security and future aspirations to, a system animated by the maximization of wealth. Many legitimately feel betrayed," read the resolution on the global financial crisis.

     MICHAEL IRELAND reports for Assist News... | more... |

CHRISTIAN AID GROUPS FEAR CATASTROPE IN CONGO

Christian emergency response organizations have expressed alarm at a deteriorating situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Northern Kivu province and about brutalities innocent civilians are facing in a potential humanitarian catastrophe. The Geneva-based ACT International (Action by Churches Together) said in a statement on 30th October that it had accounts from aid workers of looted shops and dead bodies on the pavements in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

    A report from Ecumenical News International... | more... |

RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL CONSECRATED IN HAVANA

In the latest signs of warming relations between Russia and Cuba, President Raul Castro has attended the consecration of Cuba's first Russian Orthodox church, and Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who led the Russian church's delegation from Moscow, met the ailing leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. Raul Castro, who became president in February 2008, when his brother's nearly half-century rule ended, was present at the consecration of the white, gold-domed Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana on 19th October.

   SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

INDIA VIOLENCE HIGHLIGHTS GLOBAL PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

The World Council of Churches' General Secretary, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, has said that "one of the greatest problems facing the world today is religious extremism" - and that all faiths must be fully engaged in tackling it.

      Rev Dr Kobia expressed his concern over the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in the eastern India state of Orissa during a visit to the national headquarters of the Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) in New Delhi, India.

    A report from Ekklesia... | more... |

WE STILL NEED TO "SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER" IN SOUTH AFRICA, SAYS TUTU

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has commended Christian communicators for support that helped liberate his country from minority white rule, and has appealed for their continued assistance in the post-apartheid era. "We are free today because you supported us," Tutu said at the opening in Cape Town of a 6th to 10th October congress of the World Association for Christian Communication, as he highlighted the role that the group had played in sustaining independent media during the apartheid era.

    STEPHEN BROWN reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

EUROPEAN CYCLISTS RIDE FOR PEACE THROUGH HOLY LAND

Eight cyclists from Europe have spent three weeks travelling through the Holy Land to highlight the need for a just and peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.

     The bicycle journey, the third of its kind, began on 14th August in the Jordanian capital of Amman, where the riders toured the city and visited a Palestinian refugee camp. They then spent the remainder of the trip, cycling through Arab communities near Nazareth and Haifa in northern Israel, and Palestinian communities in the occupied territories.

     JUDITH SUDILOVSKY reports from Jerusalem for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

PAKISTAN'S EMBATTLED CHRISTIANS AWAITING HELP FROM NEW PRESIDENT

The widower of Pakistan's assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was elected president on 6th September, raising hopes among the country's minority Christians who are reeling from several murders and attacks in recent months.

     Although he is officially Muslim, Asif Ali Zardari, attended Christian missionary schools and a top boarding school on the banks of the Indus River near the city of Hyderabad, according to official records.

     JAWAD MAZHAR and STEFAN J. BOS, of BosNewsLife, report... | more... |

IMMIGRATION - A BENEFIT OR A BURDEN?

One of the architects of the modern EU, Francois Mitterand, once said: "I'm afraid that when Europe's body is reunited it may lose its soul." Some people feel that is happening right now -- and that immigration is largely to blame.

     Immigration has been called the most potent political issue in Europe today. It can certainly be a very emotive one.

     On one side, there are people who argue for a very open handed approach to immigration. On the other are people who call for tighter immigration laws because, they claim, immigration may bring higher levels of crime or jeopardise traditional values.

    MAL FLETCHER takes a look at the often vexed issue of immigration... | more... |

ANGLICAN LEADER SAYS 'WIDE' CONSENSUS EXISTS TO HEAL DIVISIONS

Leaders of the Anglican Communion left for home from the Lambeth Conference earlier this month having heard Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams say there is "wide support" for measures to resolve a dispute over homosexuality that had threatened to tear apart the 77-million-strong grouping.

     "We may not have put an end to all our problems but the pieces are on the board," Archbishop Williams said in his final presidential address to the 670 or so bishops attending the 16th July to 3rd August gathering in Canterbury, England.

     TREVOR GRUNDY reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

REKINDLING HOPE, RENEWING THE TRADITION OF CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM COOPERATION IN SULAWESI

The concrete wall behind the altar of the Christian Church of Central Sulawesi in Palu, Indonesia still bears marks from two bullets just three inches to the right of a framed cross-stitch portrait of Jesus Christ.
     Four years ago, on 18th July, 2004, the two bullets were among those fired from an assassin’s automatic rifle which ended the life of Rev. Susianti Tinulele, who had just finished preaching during an evening worship service. Tinulele, 28, was one of a growing number of women pastors in Indonesia.

     MAURICE MALANES reports for the World Council of Churches... | more... |

LONDON'S GANGS - MORE SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES NEEDED

Earlier this month , yet another teenager died as a result of gang-related violence in London - the eighteenth this year.

      An Independent on Sunday investigation suggested that almost 14,000 people a year are injured in knife attacks. Some authorities believe the number may be much higher, because many people do not report their injuries for fear of reprisals.

     In his second article on the issue, MAL FLETCHER writes about the problem of youth violence in the UK...  | more... |

YOUTH VIOLENCE AND GANGS IN THE UK - A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE

Some authorities have called youth violence a public health issue, because it's like a virus that spreads from child to child.

     Last week , I stood outside the Damilola Taylor Centre in Peckham, London and pondered again how we could have come to a situation where, in some European cities, violence by and against teenagers has reached chronic proportions.

     MAL FLETCHER writes about the problem of youth violence in the UK...  | more... |

IN THE SHADOW OF THE DAM, LESOTHO COMMUNITIES LONG FOR WATER

The massive dams built by South Africa and Lesotho in the mountain kingdom's highlands have proven a success for the economies of both countries. The Christian Council of Lesotho is worried, however, that the residents displaced by the project are bypassed when it comes to the benefits.

     Malethibela Lits'esane, 35, gazes up to the mountains surrounding the village of Ha Makhalanyane in Lesotho, the kingdom encompassed by mighty South Africa. She longs for the life she once lived several miles beyond those mountains. Five years have passed since she and her husband Emmanuel, 36, were forced from their village of Lamapong Ha Koporala. When the Mohale dam was built, many of the people living in the surrounding area were resettled to other locations. Two of them were the Lits'esanes.

     CHRISTIAN JOHANNESSEN reports...  | more... |

ESSAY: BELARUS - "WE ARE RECLAMING OUR HISTORY AS A LAND OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM"

Belarus has been renowned for freedom of conscience for centuries. This is why religious freedom - which the current state authorities have been trying to restrict for the past decade - remains a key concern for Belarusian citizens.

     In the largest campaign of its kind since current President Aleksandr Lukashenko came to power in 1994, between April 2007 and February 2008 over 50,000 people signed a petition asking the Constitutional Court and other state organs to change the restrictive 2002 Religion Law. Moreover, according to those who collected signatures, every second person approached agreed to support the appeal. Petitioners signed even though the state arrested campaign activists and confiscated campaign material.

     In an article first published by Forum 18 News Service, ANTONI BOKUN, By Antoni Bokun, pastor of John the Baptist Pentecostal Church in Minsk, Belarus, describes how Belarusians' historical experience has taught them that "religious freedom elevates our nation, whereas religious un-freedom leads to the darkest and most tragic consequences"...  | more... |

US ABSENT AS 100 COUNTRIES MEET IN DUBLIN TO FINALISE GLOBAL CLUSTER BOMB BAN

Representatives of more than 100 governments gathered in Dublin, Ireland yesterday to begin writing the final text of a global treaty banning cluster bombs that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The Vatican, church groups and aid agencies amongst others have called for a ban for a number of years. However, the United States - historically, the world’s largest producer, stockpiler, and user of the deadly weapons - isn’t at the negotiations

     A report from Ekklesia... | more... |

INDIAN CHURCHES CONDEMN 'COMMERCIALISATION' OF FAITH

Indian church leaders attending a once-every-four-years meeting of the National Council of Churches in India in Shillong have spoken out against what they describe as the growing commercialisation of the Christian faith.

     "Churches too are caught in the trap of seeing people primarily as individual customers, and the Christian faith becomes a product to be marketed," lamented Bishop Dinesh Kumar Sahu, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in India, a grouping of Orthodox and Protestant churches.

ANTO AKKARA reports for Ecumenical News International... | more... |

WORLDVIEW SOUNDBITE: ZIMBABWE, AFGHANISTAN AND THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

4th May, 2008

   DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and the global food crisis... | more... | (13 mins/3 MB) (NOTE: Since this interview was recorded, official results for the presidential election in Zimbabwe have been released which put opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the lead but did not, according to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), give him an outright victory. The ZEC has said it will release a date for a run-off election soon. It is not yet clear whether the opposition party, which says it has already won an outright victory, will take part.)

PARAGUAY ENTERS NEW ERA AFTER 'BISHOP OF THE POOR' ELECTED PRESIDENT

The election of former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo as president of Paraguay is a further sign of a left-wing shift in Latin America, according to observers of the region's political scene.

     A report from Ecumenical News International... | more... |

CHURCH LEADERS BACK JUST PEACE FOR ALL AS ISRAEL'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES

As the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel approaches, Western church leaders are putting their names to a historic joint declaration, originated in Britain, calling for a just peace in Palestine/Israel. Desmond Tutu is among the growing number of signatories.

     A report from Ekklesia... | more... |

KENYAN CHURCH LEADERS ASK FORGIVENESS FOR MASSACRE

A group of pastors and evangelical Christians has said that church leaders of warring tribes have repented of post-election violence that left at least 1,000 people dead, although clashes continue in some areas despite a UN-backed peace deal. The Christian group 'Msafara' - Swahili for 'safari' - spoke after crossing Kenya last month in a caravan of vehicles, dubbed 'Wheels of Hope', to visit traumatised survivors and churches which were burned down in the clashes.

   Dr JOHN M. LINDNER of BosNewsLife, reports... | more... |

RUSSIAN CHURCH LEADER TELLS UN HUMAN RIGHTS NEED NORMS

An individual must have a right to be safeguarded against the propagation of violence, use of drugs and alcohol, gambling and sexual laxity, a senior Russian Orthodox Christian leader has said at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

     PETER KENNY, of Ecumenical News International, reports... | more... |

WORLDVIEW SOUNDBITE: TIBET AND KOSOVO

20th March, 2008

   The world's eyes have turned to Tibet in recent days following a Chinese Government crackdown in the wake of anti-Government riots. DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about the situation there - and the parallels that can be drawn with Kosovo following its recent declaration of independence... | more... | (12 mins/2.6 MB)

ARCHBISHOP FOUND DEAD IN IRAQ

A Chaldean Catholic archbishop kidnapped in Iraq last month was found dead Thursday, 13th March, church officials confirmed, and Pope Benedict XVI was quick to condemn the "inhuman act of violence." It came as in Baghdad a car bomb killed at least 18 people.

     STEFAN J. BOS and ERIC LEIJENAAR report... | more... |

ORISSA WIDOWS ATTEND CONFERENCE ON PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS IN INDIA

India's third national conference of persecuted Christians in India ended on Saturday 1st March, after emotionally charged testimonies of "survivors of victims of terror and persecution," organisers said.

     A report from BosNewsLife... | more... |

TENSIONS SURROUND QATAR'S FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH

A bitter debate is raging in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar over the construction of the first Christian church in this Muslim nation, which is scheduled to open next month.

      Conservative Muslims are furious, but the emir of Qatar, home of international broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has refused to prevent the church inauguration, in time for Easter.

     "If all goes well, we will celebrate Easter in our new church", confirmed the Doha-based Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary in a statement to Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) network.

     A report from BosNewsLife... | more... |

HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES WARN SECURITY IN AFGHANISTAN IS "UNDER THREAT"

The year has not begun well for Afghanistan, with suicide bombings, fears of a deteriorating security situation and reports of an increased presence by Taliban forces throughout the country.

"The threats are not always related to Taliban groups; often insecurity is related to local political conflicts. It is striking the number of police that are killed in attacks by criminals and insurgency groups," Paul Hicks, Afghanistan country representative for the US-based Catholic Relief Services, told Ecumenical News International.

     CHRIS HERLINGER reports for ENI... | more... |

7th February, 2008

   An attack by rebel forces on the Chadian capital of N'Djamena in early February has led hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. DAVID ADAMS speaks to Peter Weston, country program coordinator for Chad at World Vision Australia, about the situation and its implications... | more... | (13 mins/3.1MB)

31st December, 2007

    Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan last week. DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about the implications for the Asian nation, and its impact on what's been happening in Afghanistan as well as the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami... | more... | (15 mins/3.5MB)

21st December, 2007

GLOBAL CHURCH GROUPS URGE REPARATIONS TO ATONE FOR SLAVE TRADE

Many churches were actively involved in the transatlantic slave trade and they need to offer reparation to descendants of those enslaved, tortured and murdered by the trade, an international church conference has demanded.

     An Ecumenical News International report on the recent conference in Jamaica...   | more... |

31st October, 2007

Amid ongoing political turmoil and violence, tens of thousands of people in Somalia are once more in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

    DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about the current crisis in the African nation... | more... | (15 mins/3.4MB)

CHINESE BIBLES ROLL OF PRESS AT RECORD RATES

For decades, Chinese Communist authorities have tried to stamp it out completely. Yet the 50 millionth Bible rolled off the presses of China’s only officially sanctioned Bible-printer on Saturday, accompanied by public fanfare.

     Of course, this number of Bibles doesn’t take into account the many thousands of copies carried into the country by passionate smugglers over the years.

MAL FLETCHER writes about the growth in popularity of the Bible in China - despite official wariness...  | more... |

CHURCHES BUILD PEACE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Face-to-face with violence and death, Philippine churches help building peace in their Southeast Asian nation where an armed conflict continues to rage, especially in the countryside. Fuelling an intensified militarisation, the fight often takes a heavy toll on innocent civilians, including women and children.
      Along with human rights groups, the churches in the country have raised their voices against the violence and rampage of a four decades-long armed conflict. They also criticise the lack of access to land suffered by legions of farmers, in spite of a supposedly “comprehensive” government agrarian programme.

     MAURICE MALENES reports...  | more... |

MISSING UK CHILD BENEFITS DATA - AN ABUSE OF TRUST

Trust: how would we survive without it?

  Trust is central to every level of human relationships - from the most intimate personal relationships, to the more tenuous links between governments and their citizens.

     As the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary, the story of their long marriage provided a powerful testimony to the benefits of trust. They must have worked hard to build the trusting commitment they now enjoy, and their example feels inspirational in a world of so much divorce.

     MAL FLETCHER on what it means to lose trust...  | more... |

ESSAY: FINNISH SCHOOL SHOOTING - HELPING THE YOUNG FIND A 'FIRST LIFE' BECAUSE THEY LOSE THEMSELVES IN SECOND LIFE

The chilling murder last week of five students, a nurse and a volunteer teacher in a Finnish school should give us pause to think about the challenges facing Europe's young people.

     I have visited Finland many times over the past decade, meeting with church and community leaders and speaking to crowds, large and small, which included many teenagers.

     Violence, of course, is a very real possibility in any community, but having written about school shootings in the US, I never thought I’d be writing about such a thing in rural Finland.

     MAL FLETCHER reflects on the Finnish school shootings...  | more... |

MILLIONS TO JOIN IN PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH

Millions of Christians from across the globe will pause this weekend to pray for an estimated 200 million persecuted believers across the globe as part of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

     The day is one of the largest prayer events in the world and this year is expected to involve people from 130 different countries.

     The event was first held in 1996 and is coordinated internationally by the World Evangelical Fellowship which works in conjunction with a broad spectrum of churches and numerous other faith-based organisations including Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Christian Freedom International, The Voice of the Martyrs and the World Evangelical Alliance.

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

TORTURED ERITREAN GOSPEL SINGER GRANTED ASYLUM IN DENMARK

An Eritrean Christian Gospel singer who was tortured and detained without charge for two years in Eritrea has received asylum in Denmark.

     Helen Berhane, 32, was imprisoned for extended periods inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith in Jesus Christ, the singer and other Christians said.

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

'APPALLING' COST OF CONFLICT IN AFRICA EXPOSED IN OXFAM REPORT

The African economy is drained of as much as $US18 billion very year thanks to armed conflicts with as much as $US284 billion lost over the 15 years to 2005, according to new research released by Oxfam this week.

     The report - Africa’s Missing Billions - found that, on average, a war, civil war or insurgency shrinks an African economy by 15 per cent.

     “Armed violence is one of the greatest threats to development in Africa,” said Irungu Houghton, African policy advisor at Oxfam, who conducted the research with the backing of non-government organisations International Action Network on Small Arms and Saferworld. “The costs are shocking”.

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

ESSAY: THE MADELEINE McCANN  STORY - CONFUSING REALITY FOR REALITY TV

The McCanns: guilty or not guilty? If ever we needed proof that our culture has blurred the lines between reality and reality TV, this is it. A little girl has been missing for 150 days, apparently snatched from her bed while she slept.     Meanwhile, some media pundits and members of an overtaxed police force feed off - or fend off - each other, trying to protect their respective reputations. We don't yet know what happened to little Madeleine on that summer's night in a quiet corner of Portugal. Indeed, we don't honestly know whether her parents are guilty of any crime or not.

     MAL FLETCHER reflects on a case that has captured world attention...  | more... |

COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONCERNED ABOUT GROWING ANTI-SEMITISM

Europe's leading human rights body is campaigning against anti-Semitism amid concerns about an increase of anti-Jewish attacks and sentiments in several European countries. The Council of Europe (COE) this week hosted day-long 'All Different – All Equal' campaign events in French capital, Paris, the Ukrainian capital, Kiev and Poland's capital, Warsaw, which it says were "dedicated to Jewish culture, inter-religious dialogue, and the fight against anti-Semitism".

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

PERU - IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake hit at 6.40pm on 15th August, just as many people were making their way home after their day’s work. In the port city of Pisco, a nurse was at home, preparing a workshop for the next day when she felt the quake.

     “I didn’t understand what was going on but we were shaken from one side to the other,” she recalls. My children came to me and we held each other. We couldn’t move forward. Then there were like waves, you couldn’t stand up straight.”

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

CHINA URGED TO IMPROVE HUMAN RIGHTS AS OLYMPICS COUNTDOWN BEGINS

Amnesty International has urged Chinese authorities to take urgent measures to stop human rights violations or risk tarnishing the legacy of the Beijing Olympics.

     With a year to go until the Olympics, the organisation says that Beijing-based activists continue to face ‘house arrest’ while those in other parts of China are facing increased abuse. They have also expressed concern about China's use of the death penalty and an “ongoing crackdown on the media” which includes the imprisonment of journalists, forced dismissal of staff, publication closures and “pervasive internet censorship”.

     DAVID ADAMS reports ...  | more... |

Churches are the forefront of relief in Zimbabwe's spiralling decline...  | more... |

India's Dalit Christians could be granted more rights...  | more... |

Darfur and the 'responsibility to protect'...  | more... |

UN court clears Serbian Government of responsibility for "genocide"...  | more... |

Underground churches flourish in China despite "ceaseless" persecution, says watch group...  | more... |

Protestors call for freedom to express religious beliefs in Romania...  | more... |

Essay: Identifying Fiji's master of ceremonies...  | more... |

Iraq's Christians face uncertainty following Saddam's execution...  | more... |

Where to for Fiji?...  | more... |

Anti-Christian violence in Sri Lanka 'escalating' says human rights group...  | more... |

Ted Haggard - Lessons for Christian leaders... | more... |

Muslim complaints and the victim mentality... | more... |

Head of British Army questions 'multi-faith'... | more... |

Freedom or survival? The significance of the Pope's remarks for Arab Christians... | more... |

Sharing Christ through music in Belarus... | more... |

A 'total commitment' to eliminating HIV... | more... |

Groups demand release of Christians jailed for their faith in Eritrea... | more... |

"Alarming decline" in democracy in Eastern Europe's energy rich states, says study...  | more... |

The Global Day of Prayer...  | more... |

Report calls for a revamp of Australia's overseas aid priorities...  | more... |

Of course Rahman did not deserve death...  | more... |

'Usual suspects' top the list of greatest persecutors... | more... |

Danish cartoons - Abuse of two rights... | more... |

Saving Darfur from being 'the next Rwanda'... | more... |

Widespread torture in Burma documented in new report... | more... |

French riots - what can we learn?... | more... |

Asian earthquake toll continues to climb... | more... |

Fighting slavery in the new millennium... | more... |

Waking up to Zimbabwe's nightmare... | more... |

When a whisper becomes a roar... | more... |

Non means non... | more... |

Winds of change blow across Ukraine... | more... |

Of saints...and sinners... | more... |

Feeding the world... | more... |

Chaldo-Assyrian Christians' last hope in Iraq... | more... |

Why we remember Auschwitz... | more... |

Taking hold of an unprecedented global response... | more... |

Women must be at the heart of the fight against AIDS... | more... |

Reformation Day... | more... |

Coming to terms with America... | more... |

Where's the debate on addressing global poverty?... | more... |

Beslan shows once again the unacceptable face of terrorism... | more... |