Doctors caring for pontiff, 88, are assessing how Friday’s incident will affect his condition, says official
Pope Francis, who has been in hospital for two weeks with pneumonia in both lungs, has spent a peaceful night after suffering a breathing crisis, the Vatican said.
Francis, 88, had suffered an “isolated breathing crisis” that caused him to vomit and provoked a “sudden worsening” of his respiratory condition, the Vatican said.
Continue reading...Brahim Aouissaoui claimed the fatal stabbings at a church in southern French city were revenge on westerners
A Tunisian man who fatally stabbed three people in a terrorist attack at a church in Nice, almost decapitating one victim, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in France.
Brahim Aouissaoui, 25, had told the special court in Paris he had no recollection of the attack in October 2020. He later admitted he was taking revenge on “you [westerners] who kill Muslims every day”.
Continue reading...British Muslim Network aims to bring together experts to identify challenges the community faces to policymakers
Prominent British Muslims in politics, media, business and sport have come together to influence government policy on behalf of 4 million British Muslims.
The minister for faith Wajid Khan, the Tory MP and deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani, the former Conservative party chair Sayeeda Warsi, the broadcaster Mishal Husain, the ex-England cricketer Azeem Rafiq and the anti-racism group Hope Not Hate are backing the newly formed British Muslim Network (BMN).
Continue reading...Figures emerge as Kindoki Witch Boy film tells true story of Mardoche Yembi who underwent an exorcism as a child
Thousands of children in England have been accused of witchcraft over the past decade, according to new figures that come alongside a film released on Monday.
Faith-based abuse is a worldwide phenomenon but experts found 14,000 social work assessments linked to witchcraft accusations since 2015. In the year running to March 2024 alone, there were 2,180 assessments linked to witchcraft.
Children accused of witchcraft can call Childline on 0800 1111 or NSPCC on 0808 800 500.
Continue reading...Pontiff had fallen into critical condition, receiving high flows of oxygen and blood transfusions in hospital as he battles complex lung infection
Pope Francis had a “restful night” in hospital, the Vatican said on Sunday morning, after announcing on Saturday that he was in critical condition following a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis linked to pneumonia and a complex lung infection.
The 88-year-old pope received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe, it was announced on Saturday. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.
Continue reading...Chronic illness remains but pontiff, 88, is stable and in good humour, doctor says
Pope Francis, who is in hospital undergoing treatment for double pneumonia, is “not yet out of danger” and will remain in hospital for at least the whole of next week, one of his doctors has said.
Francis, 88, was stable but “the chronic illness remains”, Sergio Alfieri, a general surgeon at Rome’s Gemelli university hospital, told reporters on Friday.
Continue reading...Pontiff, 88, already in hospital when latest diagnosis made, as Vatican confirms medical situation is ‘complex’
Pope Francis has been diagnosed with double pneumonia after further tests showed a continuing “complex” medical situation, the Vatican said in a statement on Tuesday.
The pontiff, 88, underwent a chest X-ray, which “demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia that required further pharmacological therapy”.
Continue reading...Rush broke out as travellers scrambled to board trains in India’s capital to go to world’s largest religious gathering
At least 18 people have died in a crush at a railway station in India’s capital when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world’s largest religious gathering, officials have said.
The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters – including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another crush at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
Continue reading...Police say motive for killing of Hendricks, who ran a mosque for LGBTQ+ Muslims near Cape Town, is unknown
Muhsin Hendricks, considered the world’s “first openly gay imam”, has been shot dead near the southern city of Gqeberha, South African police have said.
The imam, who ran a mosque intended as a safe haven for gay and other marginalised Muslims, was in a car with another person on Saturday when a vehicle stopped in front of them and blocked their exit, police said.
Continue reading...Allegations of fraud against Gisella Cardia, who drew pilgrims by claiming statue wept tears of blood
A self-styled mystic who drew hundreds of pilgrims to a town near Rome by claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary wept tears of blood could face trial after a DNA test indicated the blood was hers.
Gisella Cardia, who also claimed that the statue was transmitting messages to her, was last year declared a fraud by the Roman Catholic church, which subsequently tightened its rules on supernatural phenomena.
Continue reading...Pontiff to receive treatment for bronchitis after having difficulty breathing during meeting
Pope Francis has cancelled his scheduled events over the next few days after being hospitalised, the Vatican said.
The pontiff, who has been suffering from bronchitis, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Friday after reportedly having breathing difficulties during one of his meetings.
Continue reading...Kristie Higgs was dismissed after sharing posts on plans to teach equalities programme at her son’s C of E school
A Christian school worker who was sacked after she shared Facebook posts raising concerns about lessons in LGBTQ+ relationships for primary schoolchildren has won her battle in the court of appeal.
Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her role as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s, a secondary school in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after an anonymous complaint from a parent at the school.
Continue reading...Clover Moore says police would have power to block peaceful demonstrations and warns against eroding civil rights
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Sydney’s mayor has warned that new laws proposed by the New South Wales government would give police powers to block peaceful protests at town hall – a regular site for demonstrations in the city.
The laws, introduced to parliament on Tuesday and carrying a maximum of two years in prison, are the first tranche of a suite of measures aimed at stemming antisemitism after a series of arson attacks and graffiti on synagogues and in Sydney’s suburban streets in recent months.
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Continue reading...Synod was asked to bring in alternatives for Eucharist, but says believers can still take part without consuming both
It’s the ancient ritual that unites millions of Christians in faith – but the Church of England is facing accusations that holy communion excludes non-drinkers or worshippers with dietary intolerances.
C of E guidance determines the type of bread and wine that can be consecrated as part of the Eucharist ritual, which symbolises Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, death and resurrection and commemorates the Last Supper.
Continue reading...Demoralised clergy speak of church in freefall and crisis of trust in run-up to governing body meeting
Mutiny may be in the air when the Church of England’s normally staid ruling body, the General Synod, meets for a five-day session next week.
The gathering of the 500-member church parliament follows a series of tumultuous events that have resulted in the unprecedented resignation of the archbishop of Canterbury, repeated calls for the archbishop of York to stand down, and the sudden departure of the bishop of Liverpool. Behind all are cases of abuse, alleged abuse and the church’s failure to deal with abuse.
Continue reading...Clergy abuse survivors and their supporters express pain over sports officials’ efforts to soften coverage of scandal
Survivors of Catholic clergy abuse and their supporters expressed disgust, pain and disbelief after the Guardian and WWL Louisiana’s investigation on Monday into hundreds of emails showing officials with the NFL’s Saints and NBA’s Pelicans aided New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archdiocese efforts to soften critical media coverage about the church’s management of a clerical molestation scandal.
Richard Windmann said it was “disturbing” to see the emails mention his decision to go public about his abuse as a child at the hands of a priest and janitor at Jesuit high school in New Orleans in the 1970s.
Continue reading...Gig at cathedral by metal band Plague of Angels would be ‘outright insult’ to their faith, say parishioners
First there was a silent disco at Canterbury Cathedral. Then there was the “rave in the nave” in Peterborough.
But York Minster is taking it one step further by hosting a controversial metal band in what parishioners have called an “outright insult” to their faith.
Continue reading...First full-scale replica of Frank’s attic annexe goes on show next week on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The first-ever full-scale replica of Anne Frank’s attic annex goes on show in New York next week, part of an ongoing effort to maintain awareness of – and combat – antisemitism in the midst of conflict in the Middle East and political tensions in the US.
Eighty years on from Frank’s death, aged 15, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, the exhibition at the Center for Jewish History in downtown Manhattan aims to introduce new audiences to one of the most famous victims of Adolf Hitler’s “final solution”.
Continue reading...Federal government appeals against law critics say disproportionately affects hijab-wearing Muslim women
Canada’s top court has agreed to hear a challenge to Quebec’s controversial secularism law, paving the way for a fierce debate over provincial powers and the fundamental rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
The supreme court signaled on Thursday that it would grant leave to appeal against the 2019 law which prohibits certain public workers in positions of authority – including judges, police officers, prison guards and teachers – from wearing religious symbols while at work. Other public workers such as bus drivers, doctors and social workers must only keep their faces uncovered.
Continue reading...Sodalitium of Christian Life ended after investigation found sexual and spiritual abuses and financial mismanagement
Pope Francis has taken the remarkable step of dissolving a Peruvian-based Catholic movement, the Sodalitium of Christian Life (SCV), after years of attempts at reform and a Vatican investigation. The investigation uncovered sexual abuses by its founder, financial mismanagement by its leaders and spiritual abuses by its top members.
The Sodalitium on Monday confirmed the dissolution, which was conveyed to an assembly of its members in Aparecida, Brazil at the weekend by the pope’s top legal adviser, Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda. In revealing the dissolution in a statement, the group lamented that news of Francis’s decision had been leaked by two members attending the assembly, who were “definitively expelled”.
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