Turkish court considers status of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia
Ankara, TurkeyAP A state attorney on Thursday recommended that Turkey’s highest administrative court reject a request that Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, which now serves as museum, be turned back into a mosque, state-run media reported. The 6th century structure was the Byzantine Empire’s main cathedral before it was changed into an imperial mosque following the […]
Church should admit history of abuse of women, male domination, says Pope
Reuters Pope Francis said on Tuesday the Catholic Church had to acknowledge a history of male domination and sexual abuse of women and children and repair its reputation among young people or risk becoming “a museum”. But, in a major document in which he mentioned an array of scandals and again admitted significant failings by […]
Israeli Christians protest artwork depicting Ronald McDonald as ‘McJesus’
RNS A work titled “McJesus,” depicting a crucified Ronald McDonald, at an art museum in Haifa has brought angry calls from local Christians to remove it – a result the artist said he approves. Last Friday, hundreds of Arab Christians demonstrated in front of the Haifa Museum of the Arts, demanding that it remove the […]
Museum tells story of Japan’s hidden Christians
World Watch Monitor A monument in Nagasaki for the 26 Catholics who were executed here for their faith in 1597. PICTURE: Thaths via Flickr; CC 2.0 A museum telling the story of Christian persecution in Japan has opened within the premises of Japan’s oldest standing church in Nagasaki. The facility, located in a former seminary and […]
US: IN THE CAPITOL’S SHADOW, MASSIVE MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE READIES FOR OPENING
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports from Washington, DC…