Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew tests positive for COVID-19
Istanbul, TurkeyAP Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is displaying mild symptoms, the Istanbul-based Patriarchate said Friday. A Patriarchate statement said that “his general condition is good.” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the official delegation of the Orthodox Christian Church speak to reporters following their […]
Look beyond the lights and remember the poor, Pope says on Christmas Eve
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis, leading the world’s Roman Catholics into Christmas, said on Friday that people who are indifferent to the poor offend God, urging all to “look beyond all the lights and decorations” and remember the neediest. Francis, ushering in the ninth Christmas of his pontificate, celebrated a solemn vigil Mass in St Peter’s […]
COVID puts a damper on Christmas Eve again around the world
AP From Bethlehem and Frankfurt to London and Boston, the surging coronavirus put a damper on Christmas Eve for a second year, forcing churches to cancel or scale back services and disrupting travel plans and family gatherings. Drummers and bagpipers marched through Bethlehem – the town where Christians believe Jesus was born – to smaller […]
Two more Tiananmen monuments removed from Hong Kong university campuses
Hong Kong, ChinaReuters Two more Hong Kong universities on Friday removed public monuments to the 1989 Tiananmen protests in Beijing, following on the heels of the dismantling of a sculpture marking victims of the crackdown at another university earlier this week. A “Goddess of Democracy” statue holding aloft a flame at Hong Kong’s Chinese University […]
May you have a blessed Christmas in Christ!
Christmas greetings from Sight…
Cheetah cubs threatened by pet trade, global warming in Somaliland
Nairobi, KenyaReuters The two starving cheetah cubs squeak and tug at their string leashes in the white dust of Somaliland as a government vet pushes needles through the fluffy fur to drip-feed them liquid and nutrients. Just around five months old, the baby cheetahs are dehydrated, stunted and so lacking in the calcium they would […]
US authorises some transactions with Taliban to keep aid flowing to Afghanistan
Washington DC, USReuters The United States formally exempted on Wednesday US and UN officials doing permitted business with the Taliban from US sanctions to try to maintain the flow of aid to Afghanistan as it sinks deeper into a humanitarian crisis. It was unclear, however, whether the move would pave the way for proposed UN […]
Muted Christmas joy in La Palma evacuees’ caravan as volcano falls silent
La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Reuters Dacil Batista felt little Christmas cheer while trimming a plastic fir tree by the caravan where she, her family and pets have been living since the volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma forced them from their home. “No matter how low you feel, at this time […]
In France, politics not peace trims “green” Christmas trees
Paris, FranceReuters The town hall in the 12th arrondissement of Paris is lit up for the festive season but the traditional Christmas tree in the public square is absent. In its place stands a tree-shaped sculpture made of recycled wood. The municipality’s choice is in line with a trend across France and beyond to favour […]
COVID and Christmas: Wary of Omicron, US churches shift services online
JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, reports on how Omicron has changed the Christmas plans of some US churches…