OPEN BOOK – PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY: DISCIPLINED, HOPEFUL INTEGRITY
BRUCE C WEARNE continues his look at how, in II Timothy, Paul encourages Timothy despite “afflictions, hardship, sorrow and distractions”…
Pope demands ‘concrete’ response to abuse crisis at Vatican summit
Vatican CityRNS Pope Francis on Thursday opened a highly anticipated four-day meeting on his church’s ongoing sex abuse crisis by calling on the assembled bishops and other Catholic leaders to “hear the cry of the little ones who plead for justice” and be “concrete.” “The holy People of God look to us, and expect from us […]
Church of England’s synod takes on Brexit divisions as zero hour approaches
LondonRNS The Church of England’s most senior leaders are expected to rebuke Britain’s political leaders over their handling of Brexit at the church’s General Synod this week. In a special motion at synod, just weeks before the Brexit deadline, the archbishops of Canterbury and York will urge politicians to do more to heal divisions in […]
Family ties thwart Cambodia’s efforts to tackle bride trafficking to China
Thomson Reuters Foundation A rising number of Cambodian women are being sold as brides in China but complaints and convictions are on the decline with many victims refusing to speak out because their families are colluding with trafficking rings, a regional police chief said. Thousands of Cambodian women have gone to China in recent years […]
Christian women’s prayer meeting broken up in India – report
A Christian women’s prayer meeting was disrupted in India on Sunday when a mob of Hindu hardliners verbally abused them and threatened to attack them if they meet again for prayer, sources have told religious freedom advocacy CSW. About 30 women were at the meeting held in a pastor’s home in Vairichettipalayam village in Tamil Nadu […]
Should aid work stop when militants move in?
Thomson Reuters Foundation When jihadists on motorbikes surrounded a village in Mali’s Toubakoro commune last October, a US aid group helping local farmers improve their incomes found itself in a bind. After their one staff member left the area for security reasons, reporting on the project’s progress to its British government funder was going to […]
Climate change an ‘imminent’ security threat, risk experts say
The Hague, The NetherlandsThomson Reuters Foundation Climate change threats – from worsening water shortages in Iraq and Pakistan to harsher hurricanes in the Caribbean – are a growing security risk and require concerted action to ensure they don’t spark new violence, security experts warned Tuesday. “Climate change is not about something in the far and […]
OPTIMISTIC OR HOPEFUL?
In a recent interview in the UK, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spoke of the difference between optimism and hope, saying he was “never optimistic”, but “always hopeful”. PICTURE: Pablo Heimplatz/Unsplash “Optimism is a part of your personality or not…Optimism is human-created…” he said. “Hope rests on the faithfulness of God in Christ. And […]
FILM: TIM TEBOW MAKES THE CHRISTIAN MOVIE HE’S ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE
HEATHER ADAMS, of Religion News Service, speaks with former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow about his new film, Run the Race…
Gross human rights violations continue in South Sudan amid renewed fighting, says UN report
Gross human rights violations continue to take place amid renewed fighting in South Sudan, according to a new UN report. In its third report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan found that the ongoing violence and human rights violations, including rape and sexual violence, may […]