Ecumenicalnews
- American megachurches become more multiracial: studyAmerican megachurches are more racially and ethnically diverse than ever with more than half of them now having multiracial congregations, a new study from the Hartford Institute for Religious Research has found.
- Pope Francis changes canon law, officially giving women more access to altarPope Francis has formally changed the Code of Canon Law to allow in practice the access of lay women to serve at the altar in the Catholic Church.
- Indian police ban Christian community from holding religious servicesIt's only a small village, but police in India's southern Karnataka state have placed a ban on 5 Christian families from gathering for worship services.
- Church leaders worldwide and in US condemn Washington Capitol violenceViolence mounted in Washington, DC on the day many Orthodox Christians celebrating Christmas Washington erupted into violence over the U.S. presidential election after a speech by President Donald Trump that said his election defeat was a fraud. Ecumenical and evangelical groups joined in condemning the insurrection.
- Most Britons say their country is Christian, but participation is low: surveyDespite a national decline in religious observance, slightly over half of Britons continue to see the United Kingdom as a Christian country, but religiousness is low, a new study has found and it is very low in the 16-24 age group.
- Barr, Barret, Biden, Bryant, Fauchi – top 5 US Catholic 2020 newsmakers -- also high in national headlinesThree of them grabbed headlines often in the latter part of the year -- Amy Coney Barrett, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Anthony Fauci – and they were among the top Catholic newsmakers in 2020 named by a prominent Catholic review. America, the Jesuit Review said that the year that has just passed by was […]
- Christianity and Trumpism collide at Liberty University; student leaders say Gospel comes firstThe president and vice president of the Liberty University's student body are speaking out about a center created by former University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. and an ardent Donald Trump supporter, Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and talk-show host.
- Belarus allows Catholic leader to return from Poland after forced exileBelarusian authorities allowed the Catholic archbishop of Minsk to return home for Christmas after lifting a four-month ban on him entering the country during the ongoing protesting against government actions.
- Pope Francis calls for just COVID-19 vaccine allocation, in Christmas messageAfter testing negative for COVID-10 this week, Pope Francis gave his traditional Christmas message urging political and business leaders not to allow market forces to overtake the priority of making COVID-19 vaccines available to all.
- Archaeologists in Israel unearth ritual bath from Jesus' time, at GethsemaneA 2,000-year-old ritual bath dating to the time of Jesus has been discovered by Israeli archaeologists at Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed just before his crucifixion.
Countercurrents
- Navalny in Moscow, and the Empire intonesThe old tone is now set again. There’s Navalny, a Russian opposition politician the Empire finds useful, and there’s concern by Mr. Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor of US President-elect Joe Biden. Alexey Navalny was detained in a Moscow airport upon his return from Germany on January 17, 2021. Mr. Sullivan has demanded Russia […]
- Condemn Land Grab & State Excesses for ‘Green Energy’ Project in Assam: Release All Arrested Farmers of ‘Mikir Bamuni’NAPM condemns the police-state atrocities against Karbi and adivasi farmers of ‘Mikir Bamuni Grant’, protesting the ‘questionable purchase’ of their cultivable land in the name of ‘Green Energy’. Stop arrests, police persecution and intimidation, violence against women & villagers: Release all arrested farmers immediately . Govt of Assam must recognize the tenancy rights of farmers […]
- Demolition of settlements in the Prime Minister’s own constituency, Varanasi is condemnableThe Modi government has been selling the dream of a ‘Smart City’ to the citizens for years now and has spent thousands of crores on this scheme across the country. In the ranking released by the Government of India in September 2020, Varanasi held the ‘first place’ in the country. It is claimed that ‘world […]
- Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan: Muslims for Composite Indian NationalismAs per the recent communiqué from Chief Minister of Haryana M.L. Khattar’s, the Government of Haryana has decided to change the name of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Hospital in Faridabad to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hospital. So far we have witnessed the name changes by present ruling dispensation aplenty. Most of these changes involved the changing […]
- Politics of the Plate: An account of Adivasi Culinary Aesthetic in Rural Southwest BengalMy encounter with tribal cuisine has been rather fresh. Till very recently, not only was I unaware of the enviable variety of the tribal palate, its nutritional value and ecological ethos too were beyond my comprehension. It should be made clear in the offing that my tryst with tribal gastronomy is limited to my area […]
- 74 Million White Supremacist, Authoritarian-Law & Order Americans JiltedWith the Inauguration of Joseph Biden as the 46th President of the United States, ex-President Donald Trump will already have skulked out of Washington D.C. to his Mar-a-Largo golf club in Florida, all but tarred and feathered and run-out-on-a-rail, after having become the only American President in history to be impeached twice. Yet the reality […]
- COVID In the Stone AgeA few months back, I tried to imagine what set us up for such a worldwide disaster as COVID 19? I mean, if it started with fruit bats as most experts think, people have been hunting them for THOUSANDS of years! What has changed? Imagine, let’s say, in the year 1000 A.D., Hunter A goes […]
- Great Caution is Needed to Prevent Farming Getting Trapped in Unsustainable SystemsGovernments in many countries grapple with the challenge of retaining the support of farmers who are considered important in electoral politics. At the same time several of these governments work under the impact of powerful business interests. From the narrow point of view of these governments the skill is in somehow managing to keep both […]
- The Government that Honors Dr. Martin Luther King with a National Holiday Killed HimA Review of The Plot to Kill King by William Pepper Very few Americans are aware of the truth behind the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Few books have been written about it, unlike other significant assassinations, especially JFK’s. For almost fifty years there has been a media blackout supported by government deception […]
- Let the farmers lead the movement1 Each system has its own underlying dynamics which propel it forwards and also aid in its preservation and perpetuation. In India, the advancement of neo-liberalist/finance capitalist system through privatization/corporatization, which is being linked to the phenomenon of neo-imperialism, is also no exception. Since 1991, the neo-liberalist/finance capitalist system has been at the heart of […]
LA CIVILTÀ CATTOLICA
- The Complete Works of Karl RahnerThe Complete Works of Karl Rahner “Rahner is dead, and soon his thought will also be buried.”[1] The first part of the sentence we quote is an observation, the second an error. This drastic judgment was expressed in a letter by Hans Urs von Balthasar to the editor of a magazine on the occasion of […]
- ‘Crisis’: The key word for the reform of the Church‘Crisis’: The key word for the reform of the Church If there is one word that sums up in a nutshell what the world is experiencing, it is “crisis.” In his Christmas greetings speech to the Roman Curia, Pope Francis employed it no fewer than 46 times. “This Christmas,” he said, “is the Christmas of […]
- The Economics of Covid-19: From globalization to localizationThe Economics of Covid-19: From globalization to localization What to do after Covid-19? “After Covid-19 it will all be different.” We often hear these words. However, people have different opinions about how it will be different, just as people evaluate differently how things were before. How will we act after Covid-19? The answer depends on […]
- Mission of the Church and Proper Economic AdministrationMission of the Church and Proper Economic Administration Once again, in light of some widely reported decisions taken by the Holy Father, many people are questioning and discussing the economic resources available to Vatican institutions and their proper administration in the service of the Church’s mission.[1] This article intends to place recent events in a […]
- Progress and CollapseProgress and Collapse Among the Enlightenment’s legacy there is an idea that spanned the centuries and penetrated deeply into the mentality of people in the West. It is the idea of progress, the idea of moving toward our cultural, moral and material best, especially thanks to the successes of science and technology. This idea shaped […]
- Desacralized Myths: Crisis of narrative and narrative of crisisDesacralized Myths: Crisis of narrative and narrative of crisis The discomfort of fragmentation A peculiar characteristic of today’s so-called “Postmodern” era is the absence of global narratives. This is the basic hypothesis of the famous book by Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, published in 1979. Lyotard pointed out that, from a […]
- The Economy of Francesco and Young PeopleThe Economy of Francesco and Young People Pope Francis invited young economists from around the world to meet and reflect on how to “change the current economy and give a soul to the economy of tomorrow.” He invited to participate in this broad, shared discernment, all those who today are beginning to study and practice […]
- Juan Carlos Scannone and the Theology of the PeopleJuan Carlos Scannone and the Theology of the People Juan Carlos Scannone, an Argentine Jesuit born in 1931 and who died in November 2019, was a one of the great figures of the Church in Argentina and Latin America. He was also very aware of the problems of the universal Church. He obtained a doctorate […]
- The Emotions and Affections of Jesus: An analysis of the Synoptic GospelsThe Emotions and Affections of Jesus: An analysis of the Synoptic Gospels In Umberto Eco’s novel The Name of the Rose, the blind monk Jorge of Burgos, quoting John Chrysostom, argues that “Christ never laughed.” Such a strong statement seems not only to categorically exclude the possibility that Jesus of Nazareth could laugh, but also […]
- The Spirituality of DyingThe Spirituality of Dying “For we are as tree trunks in the snow. In appearance they lie smoothly and a little push should be enough to set them rolling. No, that’s not the case, for they are firmly wedded to the ground. But see, even that is only seemingly the case.”[1] This is from a […]
Palestine Updates
- Israeli Apartheid in Covid TimesPalestine Update 439 Comment Israeli Apartheid in Covid Times Human Rights Watch has observed that Israel is legally obliged to provide Covid-19 vaccines to the more than 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Reports suggest that Israel has already vaccinated well over 20 per cent of its citizens. That includes Jewish […]
- Apartheid is too mild a conceptApartheid is too mild a concept for the way Israel deals with Palestinians under its control when they show any level of resistance. Three days ago, The Guardian published a daring admission by the director of B’Tselem, the largest human rights organization in Israel, of the Apartheid reality that runs throughout Israel and all of the Palestinian […]
- This is ApartheidNew position paper by the Israeli Information Center For Human Rights In The Occupied Territories (B’Tselem): More than 14 million people, roughly half of them Jews and the other half Palestinians live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea under a single rule. The common perception in public, political, legal and media discourse […]
- 60 Israeli teens sign public letter objecting to military service over Israel’s policies of apartheid, neoliberalism, and denial of the NakbaPalestine Update 438 60 Israeli teens sign public letter objecting to military service over Israel’s policies of apartheid, neoliberalism, and denial of the Nakba A letter signed by 60 Israeli senior year high school students in which they refused their compulsory enlistment in the Israeli military is now public…It is historical and novel in that for the […]
- Decolonising Israel, liberating Palestine: The roadmap to a one-state democracyIf in order to start the process of decolonisation you have to first understand how colonisation happened, Pluto Press’s new release from Jeff Halper is a good place to start on Israel and Palestine. The book, Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism and the Case for One Democratic State, as outlined in the forward by […]
- Palestine Update Nr. 434, Patriarch Sabbah: Die Palästinenser schreien nach Gerechtigkeit 25.12.20Palestine Update Nr. 434, Patriarch Sabbah: Die Palästinenser schreien nach Gerechtigkeit 25.12.20 Patriarch Sabbah: Die Palästinenser schreien nach Gerechtigkeit. Wie lange können Christen sie ignorieren? (Bild: Porträt Michel Sabbah) Die Militärbesetzung Israels in Palästina dauert in ihr 53. Jahr. Im Besonderen leiden die Palästinenser in Gaza unter einer herzlosen Belagerung. Die Administration der Vereinigten Staaten […]
- Palestine Update Nr. 431 – Juden rund um den Globus applaudieren arabischen Akademikern … 14.12.20Palestine Update Nr. 431 – Juden rund um den Globus applaudieren arabischen Akademikern … 14.12.20 NZ: Alternative jüdische Stimmen stoßen zu internationalen Gruppen unterstützen palästinensische und arabische Aussagen über Antisemitismus „Alternative Jewish Voices“ freut sich, sich internationalen jüdischen Aktivisten für Gerechtigkeit anzuschließen und applaudieren einer kürzlich von 122 palästinensischen und arabischen Akademikern, Schriftstellern und Intellektuellen […]
- Al-Mizan denounces the occupation state’s decision to deny Palestinian detainees the vaccine against Coronavirus and calls on the international community to intervene urgentlyThe Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights denounces and considers extremely dangerous the decision of the Israeli Minister of Internal Security issued on 12/24/2020, directed to the Director General of the Israel Prisons Authority, which requires the start of providing vaccinations to workers in the administration of the Israeli Prison Authority, without including Palestinian detainees. It […]
- The confusions of Israeli politicsPalestine Update 437 Comment The confusions of Israeli politics Israel’s political character is suddenly moving into a new kind of political opportunism. The spate of ‘normalizations’ with countries with which it had no formal relationships came thick and fast. But it must be said that these Arab countries have, for a while, had some tacit […]
- Seeking justice in the New YearPalestine Update 436 Comment Seeking justice in the New Year I pondered a bit before deciding that I would not start this newsletter with the much-clichéd “Happy New Year”. It simply does not feel that way in most parts of the world. Covid, conflicts, economic racism and oppression, battles of caste, colour, and ethnicity clearly […]
Christian Conference of Asia
- GS Statement and Letter (2016-2019)(1). Statement Condemning the Police Firing against Farmers in Kidapawan, Mindanao in the Philippines (2). GS Keynote Address In Search of a New Vision for Christian Mission in Asia_March 2016 (3). GS Letter to Suicide bomb attack against innocent people in Pakistan (29 March 2016) (4). Report of the CCA General-Secretary-18 July 2016(5). Statement on […]
- Sudhir Adhikari, Bangladesh Ecumenical Leader Passes AwaySudhir Adhikari, a prominent ecumenical leader in Bangladesh passed away this morning (21 September) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Born in Barisal, Bangladesh in a traditional Baptist Christian family, Sudhir Adhikari was a scientist by profession and worked with the government of Pakistan and Bangladesh for several years. As a devoted lay member of the Bangladesh Baptist […]