Category Archives: Christianity

C of E must welcome gay people or face questions in parliament, says MP

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Labour’s Ben Bradshaw says church is ‘actively pursuing a campaign of discrimination’ against lesbian and gay people

The Church of England must move swiftly to welcome lesbian and gay people and embrace same-sex marriage or face mounting questions in parliament about its role as the established church of the country, a senior MP has said.

The church was “actively pursuing a campaign of discrimination” against lesbian and gay people that was incompatible with its role as a church for England, said Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter and a former secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

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Pope urges Italians to help migrants as far right tipped to win election

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Francis said migrants and refugees should be able to ‘live in peace and with dignity’ at open-air mass in Matera

Pope Francis has urged Italians to help migrants as voting proceeded in a general election widely expected to bring an anti-immigration rightwing coalition into power.

Speaking at the end of an open-air mass in the southern Italian city of Matera, the pope recalled that Sunday coincided with the Catholic church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “Migrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated,” he told the assembled faithful.

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Church of England bars Desmond Tutu’s daughter from officiating at funeral

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Church says same-sex marriage means Mpho Tutu van Furth cannot preside over godfather’s service

The daughter of the late Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu has been barred by the Church of England from officiating at her godfather’s funeral in a Shropshire church because she is married to a woman.

Mpho Tutu van Furth, an ordained priest in the Anglican church, was invited to preside over the funeral of Martin Kenyon, who died last week at the age of 92. The C of E said its actions were “in line with the House of Bishops current guidance on same-sex marriage”.

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Bolsonaro tries red scare tactics in Brazil election by raising spectre of Nicaragua

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Brazil’s far-right president claims that leftwing rival Lula will repress clergy like Ortega but so far with little apparent success

More than 4,000km and an ideological abyss separate the capitals of Nicaragua and Brazil, where an acrimonious race for the presidency is under way.

But the Central American country has found itself at the centre of Brazil’s election debate as its far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro seeks to weaponise Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian crackdown on the Catholic church to attack his leftist challenger, the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

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Irish teacher jailed for breaching court order to stay away from school

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Enoch Burke, who had also refused to refer to pupil as ‘they’, spent 11 days in prison

A school teacher in Ireland who refused to call a transgender pupil by the pronoun “they” has spent 11 days in prison for ignoring a court order to stay away from the school.

Enoch Burke failed to obtain a court injunction on Wednesday that would have paved his release and return to school, leaving him in Mountjoy prison in Dublin.

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Christians in the US could be a minority group by 2070, study finds

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All four of the Pew Research Center’s scenarios showed the Christian share of the population shrinking and the number of non-believers rising

Christians in the US may become a minority group by 2070 if recent trends continue, according to data released by the Pew Research Center.

To predict how the US religious landscape will change over the next 50 years, the center posed several questions: “What if Christians keep leaving religion at the same rate observed in recent years? What if the pace of religious switching continues to accelerate? What if switching were to stop, but other demographic trends – such as migration, births and deaths – were to continue at current rates?”

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Doug Mastriano prayed for Trump to ‘seize the power’ before Capitol attack

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The Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s governor spoke during a video call hosted by a Christian nationalist group member

A week before the Capitol attack, on a video call organised by a member of a Christian nationalist group, a Pennsylvania state senator who is the Republican candidate for governor in the battleground state prayed that supporters of Donald Trump would “seize the power” on 6 January 2021.

Doug Mastriano attended the pro-Trump rally in Washington that day, after which supporters, told by Trump to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat, stormed Congress in an attempt to stop certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

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‘We need your help’: Bishops plead with UK to aid drought-ravaged Horn of Africa

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Open letter from 44 Anglican leaders contrasts ‘generous’ British response to Ukraine with ‘dire need’ still unmet in their countries

Dozens of bishops from drought-ravaged east Africa have appealed to the UK government to urgently get more funding to those in need, warning that Britain’s rapid response to the Ukraine crisis must not come at the expense of lives elsewhere.

As the worst drought for four decades tightens its grip on Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, with millions facing acute hunger, the group of 44 Anglican bishops criticised the international community for not paying attention to early warnings or backing up rhetoric with sufficient funds.

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Justin Welby says it is ‘very difficult’ to hold church together over sexuality

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Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledges consensus is near-impossible after public criticism over declaration against gay sex

The archbishop of Canterbury has acknowledged the near-impossibility of a divided global Anglican church reaching a consensus on issues of sexuality, after he faced sharp criticism for affirming a 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin.

Addressing more than 650 bishops from around the world at the once-a-decade Lambeth conference, Justin Welby said: “We are not at liberty to choose who are our brothers and sisters … We should seek with passion the visible unity of the church. But that is very difficult, for so often it will lead to criticism in our society.”

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New Irish adoption law opens wounds as 900 register to trace birth families

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Octogenarian and child of five among adopted children or parents applying for unrestricted access to early years data

An 81-year-old, adopted as a child, and a 74-year-old mother who gave up her baby for adoption, are among 900 people who have registered to trace their parents or children after landmark legislation was passed in Ireland.

The public response to the new laws, which came into force on 1 July, is opening decades-old wounds for children and parents who were separated at birth, some sent to the UK or the US, during the past 100 years.

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Justin Welby ‘affirms validity’ of 1998 gay sex is sin declaration

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Archbishop indicates he will not seek to punish churches that allow same-sex marriage in balancing act

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the global Anglican church, has sought to mollify conservative bishops around the world by “affirming the validity” of a 1998 declaration that gay sex is a sin.

He told more than 650 bishops attending the once-a-decade Lambeth conference that, for “a large majority” of conservative Anglicans, questioning biblical teaching was “unthinkable”.

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Spiritual union: why Gulf migrants are turning to evangelical Christianity

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Pentecostalism is quietly thriving, with pastors saying churches are helping low-paid workers in crisis

Evangelical Christianity is quietly flourishing among migrant groups in the Gulf as churches provide low-paid workers facing horrific abuse with aid in times of crisis, according to pastors and parishioners across the region.

About 30 million migrant workers live in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – the muscle transforming oil-based economies into glittering 21st-century metropolises.

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‘Imprudent’ priest uses inflatable mattress as altar during mass in sea

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Father Mattia Bernasconi apologises for any offence after failing to find shade while on camp in Italy with high school students

A priest who celebrated mass in the sea using an inflatable mattress as an altar has been placed under investigation by Italian authorities.

Father Mattia Bernasconi, 36, from the archdiocese of Milan, said he had planned to hold Sunday’s ceremony among the trees by the beach in Crotone, southern Italy, after he had been helping with a week-long summer camp for high school students organised by Libera, an anti-mafia organisation.

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Pope Francis ‘begs forgiveness’ over abuse at church schools in Canada

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Pontiff apologises on visit to country over ‘catastrophic’ historical mistreatment of Indigenous children

Pope Francis has apologised for the “disastrous error” and “evil” of Canada’s church-run residential schools, asking survivors of the system that abused tens of thousands of children for forgiveness as he toured the country on a “pilgrimage of penance”.

The pontiff’s widely anticipated apology came during a Monday morning visit to the community of Maskwacis, Alberta – the first formal event of his one-week tour after landing in the western province on Sunday.

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Pope in Canada to apologise for abuse of Indigenous children in church schools

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‘This is a trip of penance,’ says Pope Francis, ahead of mass to be held during five-day trip

Pope Francis landed in Canada on Sunday to kick off a five-day trip that will centre around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that Indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools.

“This is a trip of penance. Let’s say that is its spirit,” the pope told reporters after his flight took off from Rome.

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Irish people adopted abroad as children to get full access to their records

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Campaign launched to reach those sent overseas during years of hostility towards unmarried mothers

Irish people who were sent to Britain, the US and elsewhere for adoption when they were children as a result of decades-long Catholic hostility towards unmarried mothers will be entitled to unrestricted access to their birth certificates and other official records in Ireland for the first time thanks to a new law.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland, which has been charged with managing the scheme, has launched a campaign to reach adults who were adopted, formally or informally, overseas. It believes about 100,000 people will be affected by the new Birth Information and Tracing Act. The new law relates to all those born to parents within Ireland and adopted at home or abroad since the foundation of the state 100 years ago.

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Pope Francis orders online release of second world war-era ‘Jewish’ files

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Vatican archive of 2,700 cases of requests for help by Jewish people renews debate on Pope Pius XII legacy

Pope Francis has ordered the online publication of 170 volumes of files relating to Jewish people from the recently opened Pope Pius XII archives, amid renewed debate about the legacy of the second world war-era pope.

The archive of 2,700 cases “gathers the requests for help sent to Pope Pius XII by Jewish people … after the beginning of Nazi and fascist persecution”, said the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, Paul Richard Gallagher, in a statement.

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Christians in Oxford asked to commit to protecting environment

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The addition to baptism and confirmation ceremonies thought to be first of its kind in UK

Christians being confirmed or baptised in the Oxford diocese will henceforth be asked to commit to protecting the environment as part of the church’s formal liturgy.

The addition to the ceremonies is supported by the Right Rev Steven Croft, bishop of Oxford, and asks people being baptised or confirmed to “strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the Earth”.

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Roger Stone and Michael Flynn under fire over rallies ‘distorting Christianity’

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Prominent Christian leaders accuse Trump allies of spreading misinformation about 2020 election and Covid, while distorting Christian teachings at ReAwaken America events

A growing number of prominent Christian leaders are sounding alarms about threats to democracy posed by ReAwaken America rallies where Donald Trump loyalists Michael Flynn and Roger Stone and rightwing pastors have spread misinformation about the 2020 elections and Covid-19 vaccines, and distorted Christian teachings.

The falsehoods pushed at ReAwaken gatherings have prompted some Christian leaders to warn that America’s political and spiritual health is threatened by a toxic mix of Christian nationalism, lies about Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, and ahistorical views of the nation’s founding principle of the separation of church and state.

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UN refugee chief accuses Truss of ‘untrue’ statements on Rwanda policy

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Filippo Grandi says foreign secretary is wrong to claim critics had not offered alternatives

Liz Truss has been accused by the UN’s refugee chief of making “untrue” statements after claiming that critics of the UK government’s Rwandan removals policy have failed to come up with alternative policies.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said the foreign secretary was wrong because the UN had offered “many, many suggestions” instead of sending people to the east African state, which he said “violates the fundamental principles of refugees”.

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