Nelson Mandela’s famous shirts, belongings up for auction
New York City, USReuters The family of late South African President Nelson Mandela is selling the anti-apartheid leader’s personal belongings to help pay for a memorial garden being built in his honour. Among the roughly 100 items are the colourful patterned Madiba shirts he wore on formal occasions, including to meet Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in […]
Soundbite – The TCM Update: for KING & COUNTRY announce new album, Hillsong Worship’s ‘Never Walk Alone’ and accolades for Crowder
Hillsong Worship. Listen to this week’s TCM Update…
Southern Baptist leader resigns amid abuse review division
Nashville, Tennessee, USAP A top Southern Baptist Convention administrator is resigning after weeks of internal division over how best to handle an investigation into the denomination’s response to sexual abuse reports. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC’s executive committee, announced his departure Thursday in a statement critical of recent decisions related to the […]
Snapshot: The ruins of Persepolis, Iran
See HASAN ALMASI’s image…
It’s official: Rumoured October meeting between Biden and Pope Francis is confirmed
Washington DC, USRNS The White House announced on Thursday that President Joe Biden will meet with Pope Francis at the end of the month, confirming a long-rumoured summit between the pontiff and the second Catholic US president. In a statement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the President and first lady Jill Biden have […]
In the US, Menlo Church investigation finds no direct evidence or disclosures of sexual abuse
RNS A third-party investigation at one of Northern California’s most prominent megachurches that consumed its congregation and former pastor’s fractious family ended this week with a report that found no evidence the pastor’s adult child had acted on his confessed attraction to minors. “After interviewing 104 witnesses and reviewing or analyzing more than 500,000 documents, […]
US donates 17 million J&J doses to African Union
Washington DC, US Reuters President Joe Biden told visiting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday that the United States will make a one-time donation of more than 17 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the African Union, the White House said. “We are hopeful this donation will help AU countries build vaccination […]
Sydney Catholic Archbishop says proposed euthanasia laws “state-sanctioned killing”
Sydney, Australia A Private Members Bill to allow voluntary assisted dying in the Australian state of New South Wales is little more than “state-sanctioned killing”, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher says. The bill, which has 28 co-sponsors, was introduced into state parliament on Thursday by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who also presented a […]
Eliminating inefficiencies: Africa’s farmers click with digital tools to boost crops
NITA BHALLA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how digital technology is transforming the way people are working on the land…
Attendance hemorrhaging at small and midsize US congregations – study
RNS A new survey of 15,278 religious congregations across the United States confirms trends sociologists have documented for several decades: Congregational life across the country is shrinking. The most recent round of the Faith Communities Today survey, or FACT, found a median decline in attendance of seven per cent between 2015 and 2020. PICTURE: Gabriella […]