SIGHT-SEEING: CELEBRATING HOLIDAYS – AND EVERY DAY
Late US Catholic priest and theologian HENRI NOUWEN writes, in an excerpt from his book, ‘Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in An Age of Anxiety’, about the importance of celebration…
George Clements, Chicago priest known for adopting sons, dies at 87
Chicago, USRNS Rev George Clements, a civil rights activist whose life was turned into a made-for-TV movie after he became the first Catholic priest to adopt a child, died on Monday at age 87. Clements reportedly had suffered a stroke and heart attack within the last month. In a 22nd January, 1990, file photo, Dick […]
Global temperature rises could bring “destructive” effects, UN says
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Global temperatures could rise sharply this century with “wide-ranging and destructive” consequences after greenhouse gas emissions hit record levels last year, international climate experts warned on Tuesday. The head of the World Meteorological Organization said global temperatures could rise by three to five degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels this century – more than […]
Facial recognition at Indian cafe chain sparks calls for data protection law
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The use of facial recognition technology at a popular Indian cafe chain that triggered a backlash among customers, led to calls from human rights advocates on Monday for the government to speed up the introduction of laws to protect privacy. Customers at Chaayos took to social media during the last week […]
BOOKS: EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY AND THE “JERUSALEM OF CHINA”
DAVID ADAMS reads the latest in Paul Hattaway’s series on the history of Christianity in China…
Female comic superhero fights India’s sex traffickers, challenges stigma
Mumbai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation A female superhero will use her powers to fight sex crimes in India and the stigma that trafficking survivors face, in the third instalment of a comic series due to be released this week. Priya, a rape survivor-turned superhero who flies around on a tiger, fought her abusers and helped acid […]
World Council of Churches calls for an end to statelessness amid flurry of statements
The World Council of Churches has called for an end to statelessness around the world, noting data showing that more than 75 per cent of the world’s millions of stateless people are from minority groups. The WCC’s executive committee issued a statement this week as it meets in Bossey, Switzerland, in which it pointed out […]
MORALITY
I’ve been enjoying Larry Siedentop’s book, Inventing the Individual. One thing he covers is social order. PICTURE: John Simitopoulos/Unsplash Once social order – peace – was kept through brute force and submission. Those in power used brute force to keep the peace, and everyone had their place in society, submitting to someone. It works, if you […]
OUTREACH: HOW A HEART FOR SURFERS LED A BRITISH PASTOR TO WALK AN 800 KILOMETRE PILGRIM TRAIL IN EUROPE – WITH A SURFBOARD ON HIS BACK
DAVID ADAMS speaks with British pastor Richard Ellerington about his call to minister among the surfing community around the world – and how that led to him to be the first person to walk an 800 kilometre pilgrim trail carrying a surfboard…
Mental health, the environment are key concerns for young Australians, Mission Australia survey finds
Mental health remains the top concern for young people in Australia for the third year in a row but the environment is also increasingly a major issue for them, according to Mission Australia’s latest annual youth survey. The survey, which was completed by 25,126 people aged 15-to-19-years-old, found that 36.2 per cent of respondants indicated […]