Bible Society bookshops attacked in Egypt; NZ marks new cardboard cathedral; Challenge to the church from women religious in the USA; Archbishop of Uganda holds a GAFCON press conference
Bible Society bookshops attacked in Egypt
Two Bible Society bookshops have been attacked in southern Egypt.
The shops in Assiut and Minia were completely destroyed after being set on fire on Wednesday.
General Director of the Egyptian Bible Society, Ramez Atallah, said the attackers demolished the shops’ metal doors and windows before setting the books on fire.
He said other shops and cars in the cities had suffered similar violence.
The attacks happened amid an outbreak of violence across Egypt as security forces moved to disperse the supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
Mr Atallah said the attacks on the bookshops were an “attack against the state by a violent minority” and an “attempt to destabilise the nation”.
No one was injured in the attacks as staff had closed the stores in anticipation of violence.
Mr Atallah said: “One of the reasons why the government has been so reticent in dispersing the sit-ins was precisely because of the Muslim Brotherhood’s many threats of retaliation. So most Egyptians expected the violence.
“Nevertheless, it is heartbreaking to watch on TV this bloodshed between fellow-Egyptians unfolding before our eyes.”
The Egyptian Bible Society is asking for prayers: • That the government may manage to disperse the remaining sit-in with as few injuries and loss of life as possible. • That these sad incidents would not increase the alienation of the Muslim Brotherhood, but that they would somehow be re-integrated into Egyptian society. • For protection for all Christian properties across the nation. • For Christians to have a spirit of forgiveness and love towards those who are perceived as being our enemies.
NZ marks new cardboard cathedral
New Zealand’s city of Christchurch formally marks the completion of its new cardboard cathedral with a dedication service.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23698795
Challenge to the church from women religious in the USA
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) began its latest assembly in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday 13 August 2013.
Given the LCWR’s ongoing contentious relationship with the Vatican over issues such as life, marriage and sexuality, the assembly is certain to generate headlines.
In April 2012, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith revealed the findings of a four-year assessment of the conference that found “serious doctrinal problems” and the need for reform.
Letters from LCWR officers and presentations sponsored by the conference revealed themes that do not adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and an actual advocacy for positions on faith and morals that are not compatible with the Catholic faith, such as the female priesthood and homosexuality.
“When the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) meets for its annual assembly this week, the hot topic of discussion is sure to be whether the sisters will cooperate with a reform of the organisation ordered last year by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” Anne Carey observed.
Carey is recognised as a leading expert on women religious, the issues they face, and their relationship with the Catholic Church.
“Several ‘dialogue’ sessions have taken place over the past year between Archbishop J. Peter Sartain and officers of the LCWR, whose 1,300-plus members lead about 80 per cent of the Catholic sisters in this country, but there have been no signs of progress,” she added.
“Therefore, LCWR members entering their assembly this week will have to decide if they are willing to correct some doctrinal errors in their corporate policies, publications and programs or refuse to do so and risk losing their canonical status as a Vatican-approved conference of superiors of religious orders.”
Carey is a veteran journalist who specialises in bioethics and Catholic women religious, and whose work has been published widely in periodicals such as the National Catholic Register, Our Sunday Visitor, Crisis and Catholic World Report.
Her recent book, Sisters in Crisis Revisited, addresses the LCWR, the consequences of wayward leadership among women religious and reasons for the significant decline in the number of religious sisters in the United States.
It is also the only full and complete history of American Catholic women religious in existence.
Archbishop of Uganda holds a press conference
The Archbishop of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali held a press conference recently. Here are some reports from it:
From the GAFCON website: Ugandan primate calls for GAFCON support
The primate of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali has likened GAFCON/FCA (Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans) to the East African Revival and called for believers to back the Nairobi conference to be held in October.
In a major statement in Kampala, Archbishop Ntagali referred to the fact that exactly ten years ago an active homosexual, who was a divorced father of two children, was elected a Bishop in the Episcopal Church in America. “This unbiblical decision on the part of a church threw the entire global Anglican Communion into chaos” he said.
The chaos, the Archbishop said, shows no sign of improving.
“We have a new Archbishop of Canterbury who is born again and has a testimony. I have personally met him and I like him very much. But, the problems in the Communion are still there, and they don’t change just because there is a new global leader. In fact, ten years later, the crisis has deepened.”
From the Daily Monitor:
Homosexuality is tearing fabric of Anglican union, says Ntagali
Gay clergy don’t belong in Anglican church, archbishop says
…The archbishop said the Anglican Church is built on the doctrines of Biblical teaching which only recognize hetero-sexual relationships.
The Ugandan Anglican community takes exception of the decision by the England House of Bishops to allow gay bishops as part of the Anglican clergy, he said, and thus will have a Global Anglican Future Conference in Nairobi, Kenya this October to resolve the issues.
The Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) will be the second of its kind that brings together Archbishops around the world who oppose gay bishops. In 2008, the anti-gay Anglican Church leaders gathered in Jerusalem, Israel to reflect on the future of the church.
Archbishop Ntagali, with these remarks, is picking off from where his predecessor left off: Henry Luke Orombi was one of the main organizers of Gafcon 2008, and also made several pastoral trips to several countries to preach against gay clergy and gay marriage.