Lifestory: Finding spirituality on Earth’s “most secular” continent
ELAINE KREBS reflects on the shared bond of faith she experienced in Antartica…
Bulgarians, Greeks celebrate Epiphany with traditional rituals
Sofia, Bulgaria/Athens, Greece AP Thousands of young men are plunging into rivers and lakes across Bulgaria to retrieve crucifixes, in an old ritual marking the feast of Epiphany. By tradition, a crucifix is cast into the waters of a lake or river, and it is believed that the person who retrieves it will be freed […]
Greg Zanis, who honoured US shooting victims by building 26,000 crosses, dies
United States RNS Few knew him by name, but many saw his signature handiwork on the sides of the road or in media images from scenes of tragedy — squat, white wooden crosses with the names of gun victims scrawled in black ink. Greg Zanis estimated he made more than 26,000 such memorials, iconic testaments […]
In the US, Faith Not Fear crosses bring cheer – and critics
RNS Inspired by a family in Georgia, a Christian movement to erect crosses decorated with Christmas lights during the pandemic has taken off nationally as a symbol of positivity and prayer. As part of a grassroots initiative people are calling both Faith Over Fear and Faith Not Fear, lit-up crosses are appearing in frontyards from Kentucky to Louisiana to Ohio. […]
Iranian church closed, cross torn down
World Watch Monitor An Assyrian church in northwestern Iran has been closed down and the cross removed from its tower, reports advocacy organisation Article 18. A “large number” of agents from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and EIKO, an organisation presided over by the Supreme Leader, reportedly stormed the 100-year-old-church on 9th May, changed all the locks, […]
Cutting of burial cross in public cemetery in Indonesia “against constitution” say church leaders
World Watch Monitor The removal of a cross on the grave of a Catholic before he could be buried in an Indonesian public cemetery has been condemned by the country’s church leaders, reports the Catholic news agency UCAN. Albertus Slamet Sugihardi died in the village of Purbayan, in the province of Central Java. His funeral was […]
GERMANY: FENDING OFF THE RISING RIGHT, BAVARIAN LEADER PUTS CROSSES IN STATE OFFICES
TOM HENEGAN, of Religion News Service, reports on the controversy surrounding moves in the German state of Bavaria to install crosses on all government buildings…
ESSAY: SACRILEGIOUS SYMBOLS STRIKE AT THE HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
Bishop SURIEL, the Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Melbourne, on why the use of inverted red crosses in Hobart’s Dark Mofo festival, against the backdrop of ongoing persecution of Christians around the world, is deeply offensive…
Chinese clampdown reaches Christians in Henan
World Watch Monitor Local authorities in China’s east-central Henan Province have removed a number of crosses from churches closed a church-run kindergarten and asked Christian residents in one city to register. The “two or three” crosses that have been forcibly removed from churches were located in Yichuan county, and were taken down because they were […]
China’s Communist Party increases control over religious affairs
World Watch Monitor China’s Communist Party has disbanded its Religious Affairs Bureau to bring religion under the control of the party’s Central Committee, in what some observers see as a further tightening of the belt. The State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) is to be absorbed by the United Front Work Department, an organ of […]