OPEN BOOK – PAUL’S SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY: AVOID CREEPY TYPES
BRUCE C WEARNE looks at what instructions Paul gives Timothy about avoiding those who stand “irrevocably opposed to the truth”…
Egypt legalises 156 churches with many more still waiting
World Watch Monitor Egypt legalised 156 more churches and service buildings on Tuesday, bringing the total of approved religious venues to 783, reports the Egypt Independent. Since 2016, more than 3,700 churches have applied for legal status under a new law that was designed to make it easier to establish and build churches in Egypt. A cabinet committee […]
French cardinal convicted of covering up sex abuse allegations
Reuters A high-ranking French Catholic cleric, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, was convicted on Thursday of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse in his diocese and said he would submit his resignation to Pope Francis. Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon and the highest-profile cleric to be caught up in the child sex abuse scandal inside the French Catholic Church, was […]
A SUSTAINABLE LIFE: CHANGE THE WAY YOU WASH YOUR HAIR TO HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT
In an article first published on The Conversation, DENISE BADEN, associate professor in business ethics at the University of Southampton in the UK, looks at the difference using less shampoo and washing your hair less often can make to your environmental impact…
Homeless Dubliners to give tours with a difference as tourism booms
DublinThomson Reuters Foundation Dublin’s Phoenix Park boasts the official residence of Ireland’s president, but for a while it was also home to Eddie Dooner who lived there in a tent with three dogs. Dooner, 27, plans to return to his old haunt soon, but this time he will be leading a party of tourists under […]
South Sudan religious leaders raise alarm over escalating conflict
As the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan gains ground, Christian and Muslim leaders have united to draw to attention to a growing conflict in Yei River state, which is displacing thousands while igniting a severe humanitarian challenge. Kiir’s government and a number of rebel factions signed […]
People with albinism protest in Malawi as attacks spike ahead of polls
Thomson Reuters Foundation Protesters took to the streets in Malawi’s capital on Wednesday to demand the government step up protection for people with albinism following a spate of murders and attacks driven by an underground trade in their body parts for black magic. The march comes amid fears that people with albinism could be at […]
MIDDLE EAST: CAN QATAR’S LOW-CARBON CITY SHOW A GREENER FUTURE?
Gas-rich Qatar emits more carbon dioxide per person than any country in the world but, as HEBA KANSO, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports, a new urban district is experimenting with lower-emission living…
Racial concerns prompt US Christian university to rename auditorium
Oklahoma City, USRNS A Christian university in Oklahoma is renaming its main auditorium – known for a half-century as Hardeman Auditorium – amid concerns over a racist statement attributed to the late namesake, NB Hardeman. The president of Oklahoma Christian University, which is associated with Churches of Christ, recently revealed to students that the assembly […]
ESSAY: HOW DENOMINATIONS SPLIT – LESSONS FOR METHODISTS FROM BAPTIST BATTLES OF THE 80s
In an article first published by Religion News Service, NANCY T AMMERMAN, professor of sociology of religion at Boston University, looks at lessons from the US Baptist experience amid talk of schism in the United Methodist Church…