Category Archives: Religion

‘Like a poll tax’: Church of England should stop charging couples for weddings, say vicars

Posted on by

Call for high fees to be scrapped as church marriages fall by half in England and Wales between 1999 and 2019

High fees are putting church weddings beyond the reach of many couples and should be scrapped or set at a nominal amount, according to clergy in one of the most deprived areas of England.

Marriage fees, which can be as high as £641, are a contributory factor to the decline in church weddings, they claim. A proposal to be debated this week at the Church of England’s ruling body, the General Synod, calls for fees to be abolished or reduced to a minimal amount “in order to demonstrate the church’s commitment to marriage and pastoral care”.

Continue reading...

Thousands suffer heat stress on hajj pilgrimage as temperatures reach 48C

Posted on by

People struggling in the swelter was a common sight, especially after day-long outdoor prayers at Mount Arafat

More than 2,000 people suffered heat stress during the hajj pilgrimage, Saudi officials said on Thursday, after temperatures soared to 48C (118F).

Over 1.8 million Muslim worshippers performed the days-long hajj, mostly held outdoors at the height of the Saudi desert summer. Many elderly were among the pilgrims after a Covid-era maximum age limit was scrapped.

Continue reading...

Iraq protesters breach Sweden’s embassy over Qur’an burning

Posted on by

Followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr enter mission’s compound to denounce incident outside Stockholm mosque

Iraqi protesters have breached Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, angered by a Qur’an burning outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked condemnation across the Muslim world.

A crowd of supporters of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr stayed inside the compound for about 15 minutes, then left as security forces deployed, an AFP photographer said.

Continue reading...

C of E divests of fossil fuels as oil and gas firms ditch climate pledges

Posted on by

Church pension and endowment funds shed holdings after U-turns by BP and Shell

The Church of England is divesting from fossil fuels in its multibillion pound endowment and pension funds over climate concerns and recent U-turns by oil and gas companies.

The church said it was abandoning oil and gas companies and all firms primarily engaged in the exploration, production and refining of oil or gas by the end of 2023, unless they were in genuine alignment with a 1.5C reduction pathway.

Continue reading...

Temple visits rise in China as jobless young people seek spiritual assistance

Posted on by

Number of visitors up 367% at start of year with about half born after 1990, according to travel websites

In the search for a job in a gloomy economy, many young people in China are hoping for divine intervention.

According to data released by the Chinese travel platform Qunar, the number of visitors to temple scenic spots increased by 367% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2022.

Continue reading...

Advocate for separate Sikh state in India shot dead in Canada

Posted on by

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of temple in British Columbia, found fatally injured in car park

A campaigner for a Sikh nation to be carved out of India’s Punjab state who was wanted by Indian authorities has been shot dead in Canada, police have said.

Federal police said a man was found in his pickup truck in the car park of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia, at about 8.30pm on Sunday, with apparent gunshot wounds.

Continue reading...

Sudan paramilitary group boasts of detaining Islamists

Posted on by

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces, wants to frame Islamist opponents as a threat

Hundreds of Islamist leaders and activists in Sudan have been detained by the Rapid Support Forces in a wave of repression targeting the paramilitary group’s political opponents.

The arrests began before the outbreak of fighting in April between the RSF and forces loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto military leader, but have intensified since.

Continue reading...

Kenya cult death toll passes 300, with more exhumations planned

Posted on by

More than 600 people still missing, authorities say, amid reports pastor ordered followers to starve themselves


The death toll linked to a Kenyan pastor accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus has passed 300, with the figure expected to increase as more exhumations are planned.

Authorities say the dead were members of the Good News international church, led by Paul Mackenzie, who is accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves and their children to death so they could go to heaven before the end of the world.

Continue reading...

Pope advised not to give Sunday blessing from hospital balcony

Posted on by

Prayer will instead be said in his suite after chief surgeon says Francis should avoid strain on abdomen

Pope Francis’s recovery from surgery is going well but doctors have advised him not to deliver his Sunday blessing from a hospital balcony to avoid strain on his abdomen, his surgeon said.

Briefing reporters at the Gemelli hospital on Saturday, chief surgeon Sergio Alfieri also said the 86-year-old had agreed with doctors to stay there for at least all of next week.

Continue reading...

Justin Welby criticises Ugandan church’s backing for anti-gay law

Posted on by

Archbishop of Canterbury expresses dismay over church’s support for Ugandan law enacted last month

The archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican church in Uganda to reconsider its vociferous support for the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ law, which imposes the death penalty for certain homosexual acts.

Justin Welby said there was no justification for supporting the legislation, in a move that highlights deep divisions within the global Anglican church on LGBTQ+ issues.

Continue reading...

Virgin Mary apparitions ‘not always real’, says Pope Francis

Posted on by

Pontiff appears to reference a woman who drew pilgrims to a statue near Rome she claimed shed tears of blood

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary are “not always real”, Pope Francis has said, in what appears to be an indirect reference to a woman who drew thousands of pilgrims to a town near Rome to pray before a statue that she claimed shed tears of blood.

“Don’t look there,” the pontiff said during an interview with Rai 1 on Sunday when asked about apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

Continue reading...

Utah school district that banned Bible considers removing Book of Mormon

Posted on by

Davis school district says it will assess text after complaint for ‘pornographic or indecent materials’ under law passed last year

A school district in Utah that last week banned the Bible from school libraries is now being asked to consider a further title for removal: the Book of Mormon.

The Davis school district, which serves Davis county, north of Salt Lake City, said it was considering a new complaint demanding the removal of the foundational text of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Continue reading...

Home Office could forcibly separate non-cohabiting couple before their wedding

Posted on by

Youssef Mikhaiel is at risk of forced removal to Egypt before he marries Sarah Bradley

A couple planning to marry soon could be forcibly separated by the Home Office because they are not cohabiting before their wedding.

Sarah Bradley, 29, a British digital marketing teacher, and Youssef Mikhaiel, 28, an Egyptian man who graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in aeronautical engineering, met in February 2022 through a Christian dating app.

Continue reading...

NSW lawyers call for reform of ‘disgraceful’ tactic churches use to block abuse claims

Posted on by

Critics say the seeking of permanent stays in cases where perpetrators have died amount to ‘another layer of abuse’ for survivors and a failure of moral leadership

The Australian Lawyers Alliance is preparing to meet with the New South Wales attorney general to lobby for reform against the “disgraceful” tactics employed by churches and other institutions to prevent abuse survivors from pursuing justice.

A Guardian investigation – based on interviews with 13 lawyers, analysis of court records, and discussions with survivors and their advocates – found earlier this year that churches and other institutions are now routinely seeking permanent stays in cases where perpetrators have died, arguing they cannot possibly receive a fair trial.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Nick Cave speaks out against boycotting songs because of creators’ actions

Posted on by

Australian musician told Hay festival we should not ‘eradicate the best of these people in order to punish the worst of them’

Nick Cave has said that boycotting songs because of the actions of the artist “is not a very good way to go about things”.

The Australian singer-songwriter told the Hay festival: “Making art – especially making music – it prevents you from becoming the worst aspects of your character, and that’s why I very much think we need to be very, very careful about the music we don’t think people should listen to any more because of what the artist who has made that music may have been like,” the Australian singer-songwriter said.

Continue reading...

Malawi’s Rastafarian children return to school after ban on dreadlocks is lifted

Posted on by

Schools told to honour court order as families seek compensation and training for pupils who missed education because of their hair

About 1,200 Rastafarian children in Malawi are expected to return to state schools over the next month after being banned for a decade because of their hair.

After a landmark decision at the high court in March, letters have now been sent out to about 7,000 schools telling headteachers that the exclusion of children with dreadlocks from the classroom has been ruled as unconstitutional.

Continue reading...

Rebekah Vardy says she was sexually abused in Jehovah’s Witness childhood

Posted on by

Footballer’s wife tells how she was ‘shamed’ and ‘blamed’ as she recalls the trauma of her early years for TV documentary

Rebekah Vardy has said she was sexually abused while growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, an ordeal her former community failed to protect her from.

Vardy, 41, opened up about her upbringing in a Channel 4 documentary titled Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Me, which will air on 16 May.

Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury’s attack on illegal migration bill ‘wrong on both counts’, says minister – as it happened

Posted on by

Justin Welby says bill is ‘morally unacceptable’ and rules on protection of refugees are not ‘inconvenient obstructions’. This live blog is closed

In the House of Lords peers are just starting to debate the second reading of the illegal migration bill.

Simon Murray, aka Lord Murray of Blidworth, is opening the debate. He is a lawyer who was made a Home Office minister, and a peer, when Liz Truss was PM.

We now face a perfect storm of factors driving more people into homelessness while giving us fewer good options to help them when they do. These factors include soaring private rents (above the benefit cap), private landlords leaving the sector, a national shortage of affordable housing, and a backlog of court cases after Covid-relating housing support was removed. At the same time, we have a cost-of-living crisis which is reducing real-term incomes and putting further strain on relationships.

Continue reading...

Archbishop of Canterbury to criticise small boats bill in House of Lords

Posted on by

Justin Welby to join peers condemning measures that seek to criminalise people seeking refuge in UK

The archbishop of Canterbury will make a rare intervention in the House of Lords to join dozens of peers condemning the government’s flagship asylum bill.

Justin Welby will argue against measures championed by Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman that seek to criminalise people seeking refuge in the UK if they arrive on small boats.

Continue reading...

Iran hangs two men for blasphemy as executions rise amid unrest

Posted on by

Deaths take number of prisoners executed to at least 203 since start of this year, says human rights group

Iran has hanged two men convicted of blasphemy, according to authorities, carrying out rare death sentences for the crime as the number of executions soars across the Islamic Republic after months of unrest.

The country remains one of the world’s top executioners, having put to death at least 203 prisoners so far this year, according to the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. But executions for blasphemy remain rare, as in previous cases the sentences have been reduced by authorities.

Continue reading...