Summary includes reports on – Archbishop of Canterbury to address RC bishops; Bishops face losing their seats in the Lords after 700 years; Bible society is unable to hand out Bibles bearing the Olympics logo at London 2012; Churches demand UN action to halt Syria violence
Archbishop of Canterbury to address RC bishops
Episcopal Cafe – Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has been asked by Pope Benedict XVI to speak to the 2012 Synod of Bishops, which will meet at the Vatican in October.
The subject is “the New Evangelization” and the consideration of associated lineamenta published to help guide the work of bishops.
According to one report,
This Synod will have a significant influence in the work of the new agency formed by the Pope [in 2010] for evangelization, the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization headed by Archbishop Rino Fisichella.
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/archbishop_of_canterbury/archbishop_of_canterbury_to_ad.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+episcopalcafe+%28Episcopal+Cafe%29
Bishops face losing their seats in the Lords after 700 years because they ‘no longer reflect multicultural Britain’
Mailonline – Bishops look set to lose their seats in the House of Lords after 700 years following the intervention of an influential group of MPs and peers. The joint committee on Lords Reform is poised to decide that the 26 bishops who sit in the Upper House should be expelled, because they no longer reflect multicultural Britain. Nick Clegg, who is in charge of House of Lords reform, is understood to be behind the proposals.
But opponents – who include many on the Conservative backbenches – will see the move as another assault on Christianity by militant secularists. The position of the bishops in the Lords dates back to Parliament’s beginnings in the thirteenth century. The Lords Spiritual, as they are known, represent the Church of England, which is the established church. No other church, including the Scottish Presbyterians or the Catholics, have seats in the Lords – and no other religion is automatically represented.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2115139/Bishops-face-losing-seats-Lords-700-years.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Bible society is unable to hand out Bibles bearing the Olympics logo at London 2012
Telegraph – Under the Communist regime in China, the Bible Society was able to hand out copies of the Good Book with the Olympic logo emblazoned on the front cover at the 2008 games. At London 2012, however, it has been ruled out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9144128/Bible-society-is-unable-to-hand-out-Bibles-bearing-the-Olympics-logo-at-London-2012.html
Churches demand UN action to halt Syria violence
Christian Today – Baptist Union of Great Britain Methodist Church and United Reformed want the UN Security Council to pass a resolution demanding an immediate halt to the killing in Syria
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/churches.demand.un.action.to.halt.syria.violence/29472.htm