US antisemitic incidents hit record high in 2023 amid war in Gaza, report says
Reuters The number of antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment in the US hit a record high in 2023 as anti-Jewish sentiment spiked after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a report released this week. The Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tallied 8,873 antisemitic incidents in 2023, a 140 per cent […]
Police charge 23-year-old with hate crime at historically Black US church
United StatesRNS A 23-year-old man has been charged with trespassing and burglary after an investigation of vandalism estimated at more than $US100,000 at a church in the US state of Maryland. Jarren Alexander was taken into custody on Wednesday after an incident earlier in the month at Fowler United Methodist Church in Annapolis, police said. […]
Church under pressure: Holy Land Christians say attacks rising in far-right Israel
ISABEL DEBRE, of Associated Press, reports from Jerusalem…
Poland marches defend John Paul II from abuse cover-up claim
Warsaw, Poland AP Thousands of Poles joined marches Sunday in defence of the late pope, St John Paul II, following a TV documentary that alleged he covered up child sex abuse involving clergy in his native Poland before his election as pontiff. The marches took place in Warsaw and other cities on the 18th anniversary of John […]
Israeli police arrest two suspects in Protestant cemetery vandalism
JerusalemReuters Israeli police said on Friday they arrested two people suspected of vandalising a Protestant cemetery in Jerusalem earlier this week. Police said in a statement that extensive damage had been caused to gravestones at the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery, calling it an “act of intentional vandalism and defacement”. Archbishop Hosam Naoum inspects a vandalised […]
After $US2 million New York church robbery, houses of worship evaluate theft risk
RNS When Rev Frank Tumino, pastor of St Augustine, walked into his Catholic church in the Park Slope neighbourhood of Brooklyn on the last Saturday in May, he found physical and spiritual wreckage: Angels that had decorated the front of the building were decapitated, Communion wafers were scattered across the altar and, most shocking, an […]
Essay: Remembering 6th January on its ‘anniversary’ is not enough
In an article published on Religion News Service, CHERYL TOWNSEND GILKES, a professor of African American studies and sociology, pastor and author, says the frightening realities exposed on that day should have our constant attention…
Attacks target US Catholics: Bishops seek answers in vandalism of churches and symbols
ALEJANDRA MOLINA, of Religion News Service, reports on the rising number of incidents targeting Catholic churches in the US…
Church vandalism in Washington DC exposes divisions over faith and politics
Washington DC, USAP Vandalism at four downtown Washington churches after rallies in support of President Donald Trump is exposing rifts among people of faith as the nation confronts bitter post-election political divisions. Among the damaged houses of worship were two historically Black churches where people ripped down Black Lives Matter banners, with video posted to […]
Unrest flares in US cities despite arrest of Minneapolis policeman
Minneapolis, USReuters The white former Minneapolis police officer shown in video footage using his knee to pin an unarmed black man’s neck to the street was charged with murder on Friday in the man’s death, an incident that has unleashed four nights of violent protests. Derek Chauvin, who was dismissed from the police department with […]