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…
ESSAY: WHAT CATHOLIC CHURCH RECORDS TELL US ABOUT AMERICA’S EARLIEST BLACK HISTORY
In an article first published on The Conversation, JANE LANDERS, professor of history at Vanderbilt University in the US, says Catholic records show black history in the US started much earlier than previously thought…
EGYPT: COPTIC ABBOT’S MURDER POINTS TO STRAINS OVER ECUMENISM
JACOB WIRTSCHAFTER and MINA NADER, writing for Religion News Service, report…
Indian state’s ‘anti-conversion law’ to be repealed
World Watch Monitor Christian groups have welcomed a surprise announcement by a nationalist chief minister of a state in north-east India that he will ensure that a law preventing conversions from one faith to another is repealed. Pema Khandu, a Buddhist who heads the nationalist BJP-led state government in Arunachal Pradesh, told an audience of […]
Ethiopian pastor dies after he was attacked by crocodile
An Ethiopian pastor has been killed in a crocodile attack during a baptism, according to reports. The BBC reports that the Protestant pastor, identified as Docho Eshete, was conducting a mass baptism of 80 people at the southern end of Lake Abaya near the town of Arba Minch on Sunday when a crocodile leapt from the […]
50,000 Catholics baptised in China in 2017
World Watch Monitor Catholic church in Beijing PICTURE: World Watch Monitor Almost 50,000 Catholic baptisms were recorded in mainland China last year, reports Catholic news agency Fides. The 48,556 recorded baptisms “reflect the vitality and the missionary dynamism of a community that fully lives faith”, Fides said, adding that the actual number of people baptised may […]
Kazakhstan deports missionary for conducting baptisms
World Watch Monitor Kazakhstan has ordered the expulsion of a Canadian citizen for conducting “illegal missionary activity” by holding baptisms in hot springs near the country’s commercial capital, Almaty. Hae Taik Kim, a Canadian citizen who leads a church in New York, was also fined 226,900 Tenge ($US680) – about two months’ average wage. A […]
After two drown in Tanzania, Christians re-examine safety of river baptisms
RNS Two adult men drowned while being baptized in the Ungwasi River in the Rombo District of northern Tanzania. GRAPHIC: Google It’s a rite that dates to the time of Jesus, who was dunked in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. But Christians in East Africa are now taking stock of their faith’s central […]
World Council of Churches says Catholic and Coptic Orthodox churches’ baptism agreement a “sign of hope”
The World Council of Churches has welcomed the signing of an agreement under which the Catholic Church and Coptic Orthodox Church will recognise each other’s baptisms as a “sign of hope”. Roman Catholic Pope Francis and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II signed the agreement on Friday during Pope Francis’ two day visit to Egypt. The agreement […]
OPEN BOOK – HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: DISCIPLES OF APOLLOS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST BAPTISED
BRUCE C WEARNE, in his examination of Acts, looks at how believers came to receive the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” in Ephesus…