Tensions and bombings in Sudan; Lodon rally for Pakistani Christian prisoner; Assisi call for greater inter-faith dialogue; US nuns dismiss Vatican criticism; Report points to decline in belief; Sixteen Amish deny hair attacks
Archbishop of Sudan appeals for peace as tensions rise between neighbouring countries
ACNS – The Anglican archbishop who was instrumental in delivering peace to Sudan has raised the spectre of full-blown war and appealed for restraint from the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan.
http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/4/24/ACNS5092
End the fighting, UN tells Sudan and South Sudan
Church Times –
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=127409
Sudan: Islamic Fundamentalists Attack Church in Sudanese Capital and Set It On Fire
ACNS – An Islamic fundamentalist group in Sudan made an attempt to bring down a church in the capital Khartoum and eventually managed to set it on fire.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/4/23/Sudan-Islamic-Fundamentalists-Attack-Church-in-Sudanese-Capital-and-Set-It-On-Fire
Peace rally to mark 3rd anniversary of Asia Bibis imprisonment
Christian Today – A peace rally and concert is to be held outside the Pakistani embassy in London to mark the third anniversary of the imprisonment of Asia Bibi
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/peace.rally.to.mark.3rd.anniversary.of.asia.bibis.imprisonment/29727.htm
Conference speakers call for increased dialogue between faiths
ENI – On the opening day of an ecumenical conference in Assisi, the Umbrian hill town known as the home of Saint Francis, speakers discussed the need to increase interaction between faiths and cultures in order to nurture worldwide harmony.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5609
Vatican to curtail nation’s largest org of Catholic women religious
Episcopal Cafe – The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has overhauled the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, many news sources are reporting.
From AP:
An American archbishop was appointed to oversee reform of the [LCWR], which will include rewriting the group’s statutes, reviewing all its plans and programs — including approving speakers — and ensuring the organization properly follows Catholic prayer and ritual.
….
The report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the organization faced a “grave” doctrinal crisis, in which issues of “crucial importance” to the church, such as abortion and euthanasia, have been ignored. Vatican officials also castigated the group for making some public statements that “disagree with or challenge positions taken by the bishops,” who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”
The archbishop in question is Peter Sartain of Seattle, freerepublic.com reports.
Safe to say this fresh scrutiny will be applied in particular to LCWR’s relationship to Catholic social justice lobby NETWORK, an organization that has been vocal in its support of the Obama administration’s healthcare initiative. The LCWR itself has taken a set of positions all on its own, however, that clearly alienate it from more traditionally held teaching.
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/ethics/vatican_to_curtail_nations_lar.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+episcopalcafe+%28Episcopal+Cafe%29
US nuns dismiss Vatican criticism
BBC – The leader of a group of US nuns the Vatican accuses of flouting Church teaching and espousing radical feminist views flatly rejects the charges.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17794961
Religious belief highest in developing and Catholic countries
ENI – Belief in God is slowly declining in most countries around the world, according to a new poll, but the truest of the true believers can still be found in developing countries and Catholic societies.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5610
Report points to decline in belief
Christian Today – A new report from the University of Chicago has shed light on the growth of atheism in Europe
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/report.points.to.decline.in.belief/29724.htm
Sixteen Amish deny hair attacks
BBC – Sixteen Amish women and men charged with beard- and haircutting attacks against fellow Amish plead not guilty in an Ohio court.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17780659
U.S. Justice Department says hate crime charges OK in Amish beard-cutting attacks
RNB – Lawyers for the group claim the government’s case should be dismissed because they say the 2009 Hate Crimes Prevention Act should not apply to a dispute within a religion.
Justice Department lawyers answer the defendants “were properly indicted under the act” and that the law “represents a proper exercise of Congressional authority to enact legislation” to prosecute crimes motivated by bias.