Archbishop of Canterbury says Henry Ndukuba’s comments that homosexuality should be ‘expunged’ are unacceptable
The archbishop of Canterbury has issued a rare public condemnation of a fellow Anglican primate who described homosexuality as a “deadly virus” which should be “radically expunged and excised”.
Justin Welby, who is the leader of the global Anglican church, said the comments made by Henry Ndukuba, the archbishop of Nigeria, were unacceptable and dehumanising.
Continue reading...Are Muslim women being asked to change too much of themselves in order to fit in?
“Modest fashion” has been a defining style for the past decade. The trend for oversize silhouettes and loose layers has united fashion fans, religious and secular, and has been in part an attempt by western brands to buy into the lucrative market of Muslim consumers. This shift has also seen the headscarf become increasingly acceptable, even covetable, in western fashion, with Nike, Uniqlo, Liberty, Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce & Gabbana among the brands selling scarves overtly tailored for use as hijabs in recent years.
Islamic dress, however, remains a lightning rod for controversy. Hijab bans are continually discussed in France while Switzerland is to hold a referendum on burqas this week, even as governments around the world encourage the use of face masks. China, too, has persecuted women for wearing the hijab.
Continue reading...Orthodox church says entry ‘praises the fatalistic submission of humans to the devil’s authority’
The Orthodox Church of Cyprus has called for the withdrawal of the country’s controversial entry into this year’s Eurovision song contest titled “El Diablo,” charging that the song makes an international mockery of country’s moral foundations by advocating “our surrender to the devil and promoting his worship”.
The Holy Synod, the church’s highest decision-making body, said in a statement that the song “essentially praises the fatalistic submission of humans to the devil’s authority” and urged the state broadcaster to replace it with one that “expresses our history, culture, traditions and our claims.”
Continue reading...Pope emeritus says some who are unhappy with successor Pope Francis have refused to believe he willingly stepped down
Former pope Benedict has chided conservative Roman Catholics who have not accepted his decision to resign, calling them “fanatical” and reminding them there is only one pope and it is Francis.
Benedict, now 93, became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength to govern the 1.3 billion-member church.
Continue reading...Visit from Pope Francis will start in Baghdad on Friday and is his first trip abroad in 15 months
Despite the twin threats of Covid-19 and terrorism, the first ever papal visit to Iraq is due to begin on Friday, during which Francis will meet beleaguered Christian communities and one of the world’s most influential Muslim leaders.
For 84-year-old Pope Francis, it will be his first trip abroad for 15 months as the pandemic has curtailed his movements. New Covid restrictions came into effect in Iraq last week, with overnight curfews and a full three-day lockdown at weekends, as daily recorded cases doubled in less than a week.
Continue reading...Stephen Cottrell says the nation has learned to live with wrongs when it should be trying to change them
Britain needs to reset its compass in a political climate in which “we’ve learned to accommodate things that we know are wrong”, the archbishop of York has said.
Stephen Cottrell, who was enthroned in October, told the Observer: “Our compass has slipped; we’ve allowed ourselves to believe that things can’t change, that this is just the way the world is. Politics has, I think, shrunk. There’s a loss of vision about what the world could be like.”
Continue reading...In a new book, Francis says he expects to die in Rome, not his native Argentina, either as ‘active or emeritus’ pope
Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, still the Catholic pontiff, without returning to spend his final days in his native Argentina, according to a new book titled The Health of Popes.
In an interview granted to Argentinian journalist and physician Nelson Castro at the Vatican in February 2019, the pope said he thinks about death, but does not fear it.
Continue reading...Israel has set a curfew to limit festivities for the Jewish holiday when revellers don costumes and party into the night. Similarly muted celebrations have taken place around the world
Continue reading...Unanimous decision by highest court hailed a step towards acceptance of LGBT+ people
A Malaysian man has won a landmark court challenge against an Islamic ban on sex “against the order of nature”, raising hopes for greater acceptance of gay rights in the mostly Muslim country.
In a unanimous decision, Malaysia’s top court ruled on Thursday that the Islamic provision used against the man was unconstitutional and authorities had no power to enact the law.
Continue reading...Work is under way to see whether an abandoned 14th-century building is part of the legacy of the country’s exiled Jews
The rambling, 14th-century building that sits off a narrow alley in the historic heart of Utrera, its patio walls furred with moss and its inner ones painted pugnacious shades of purple and orange, has led a long and varied existence.
Over the centuries, it has served the Andalucían city as a hospital, a home for abandoned children, a restaurant and, in its final incarnation, a bar.
Continue reading...Founder says community centre in Accra was closed pre-emptively to protect its staff
A community centre for LGBTQ+ people in Ghana has been closed, following a wave of protest against the rights of sexual minorities in the country.
In recent weeks government ministers and religious groups had demanded the closure of the centre, intended to be a safe space for LGBTQ+ people to meet and find support. Yet since the opening in January of the centre in the capital, Accra, many people have received death threats and online abuse.
Continue reading...Church court had objected to loving tribute to Margaret Keane for fear of arousing political ‘passions’
A grieving family has won its battle to erect a gravestone with an inscription in Irish after overturning a church court ban issued on the grounds that it might arouse political “passions”.
The family of Margaret Keane, a Coventry dinner lady who died aged 73 in 2018, now hope a Celtic cross bearing the words “In ár gcroíthe go deo” – “in our hearts forever” – will be in place on her grave in the grounds of St Giles church in Exhall, near Nuneaton, in time for St Patrick’s Day on 17 March.
Continue reading...Fleeing to Kyrgyzstan in the 1960s, communities established mosques and villages but the local leaders, or dzhigit-beshchis, are a dying breed
Dzhigit-beshchi is the name Uighur people in Kyrgyzstan give to the leader they elect for their mahallah – or community. Usually it’s a respected person, mostly an elderly man.
Pushed out of China during the repressions of the 1960s, tens of thousands of Uighurs went to the former Soviet Union when these ageing leaders were just young men. Sticking closely to relatives and acquaintances who had come to Soviet cities and villages in previous waves, they built mosques and mahallahs, each with its own dzhigit-beshchi.
Continue reading...Allegations against Wasim Jaffer of favouritism raise fears that anti-Muslim sentiment is infecting the game
It is often described as India’s greatest unifier, a sport that – at least on the field – has been insulated from the religious schisms that have long divided the country.
But in recent weeks cricket’s position as one of the final bastions of a secular India has come under attack, as the anti-Muslim sentiment that has been on the rise in India under the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) reared its head in an ugly cricketing scandal.
Continue reading...Planned update to Burgos Cathedral prompts online petition signed by more than 31,000 people
Plans to mark the 800th anniversary of Burgos’s magnificent gothic cathedral with three enormous new bronze doors have ushered in an unholy row, with Unesco advising against the project and critics attacking the €1.2m portals as an “artistic outrage”.
Cathedral authorities in the northern Spanish city say the new doors, designed by the renowned, award-winning artist Antonio López, are a work of contemporary art that will complement “a monument already rendered in five artistic styles that are the fruit of each stage of its eight centuries”. They also point out that the current wooden doors are old and in a poor state of repair.
Continue reading...Comments on singer’s Instagram account say wearing likeness of god is cultural appropriation
The singer Rihanna has angered the Hindu community with a “disrespectful” Instagram picture in which she wears a diamond-studded pendant featuring the Hindu god Ganesha.
Commenters on her Instagram account have called the wearing of the likeness of the god around her neck cultural appropriation.
Continue reading...The first day of Lent looked a little different this year as Christians took part in the holy day
Continue reading...Rollback in women’s rights could spark backlash as Palestinians plan elections later in the year
A Hamas-run Islamic court in the Gaza Strip has ruled that women require the permission of a male guardian to travel, further restricting movement in and out of the territory that has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since the militant group seized power.
The rollback in women’s rights could spark a backlash in Gaza at a time when the Palestinians plan to hold elections later this year. It could also solidify Hamas’s support among its conservative base at a time when it faces criticism over living conditions in the territory it has ruled since 2007.
Continue reading...Willie B Smith III’s lethal injection was called off after the US supreme court says state cannot proceed without pastor present
An Alabama inmate won a reprieve from a planned lethal injection after the US supreme court said the state must allow his personal pastor in the death chamber.
Thursday’s scheduled execution of Willie B Smith III was called off by Alabama officials after the justices maintained an injunction issued by the 11th US circuit court of appeals, saying he could not be executed without his pastor present in chamber.
Continue reading...Religious Twitter brings together nuns, monks, bishops and rabbis too and it may have something to teach us
There is a Rumi poem – it is my favourite. “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,” writes the 13th-century mystic, “there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
I feel this way about religious Twitter.
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