SIGHT-SEEING: FASTING FROM FOOD, FEEDING FROM THE BIBLE DURING LENT
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published by Religion News Service, looks at different ways to observe Lent this year…
On Ash Wednesday, Pope says wealth is “dust in the wind”
RomeReuters Pope Francis told Catholics on Wednesday that success, power and material possessions are fleeting and will disappear “like dust in the wind” as he marked the start of the penitential Christian season of Lent. Francis led a traditional procession between two churches on Rome’s Aventine Hill and later said Mass during which he had ashes rubbed […]
West African court faults Nigerian Government for failing to stop killings in Benue State
Morning Star News The Nigerian Government failed to protect people massacred by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in predominantly Christian areas of Benue state in 2016 and should prosecute those responsible, a West African court has ruled. The Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice on 26th February ordered the government to investigate the attacks that killed […]
New report highlights world water crisis and calls for action on solutions
More than half a million people die each year of diarrhea caused by unsafe drinking water with 2.1 billion people still without access to safely managed drinking water. They are among the findings of a new report from Gospel for Asia highlighting the “worldwide water crisis” that they warn could get worse. The report, Dying […]
STRANGESIGHTS: LIGHTSABER DUELLING RECOGNISED; SAVING MIKE; AND, A DOG RESCUE (WITH A DIFFERENCE)…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Missing ingredient in healing cities after disaster? Culture
Thomson Reuters Foundation In Bosnia, after the war in the 1990s, residents put rebuilding a 400-year-old bridge ahead of fixing their own roofs. In Nepal, repairing the nation’s historic sites brought people together after 2015’s devastating earthquakes. Those are critical lessons, according to a report released on Monday by the World Bank and the United […]
“Dire” conditions at Syria camp as thousands flee Islamic State
Thomson Reuters Foundation An influx of thousands of people fleeing Islamic State has created “dire” conditions at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, the aid agencies working there said on Tuesday. About 15,000 people have arrived at the camp in the last week alone as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces lay siege to the last […]
MARRIAGE: NEW AUSTRALIAN COURSE AIMS TO KEEP COUPLES ON TRACK AMID THE UPS AND DOWNS
DAVID ADAMS speaks with Rev Dr Keith and Sarah Condie, creators of a new marriage enrichment course released by Australia’s Anglican Deaconess Ministries…
A virtual reality tour of solitary confinement helps US religious groups rally for a ban
RNS At a one-day conference on torture later this week, Rev Ron Stief, a United Church of Christ minister, will display his latest educational tool to dramatise what it’s like to live in solitary confinement. Stief, executive director of the US National Religious Campaign Against Torture, will encourage participants at a daylong gathering to put […]
ESSAY: FOUR THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ASH WEDNESDAY
In an article first published on The Conversation, WILLIAM JOHNSTON, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton in the US, looks at some Ash Wednesday traditions…