Sudan – peace & food crisis; Anglican Family Network; ARCIC communique; Niger malnutrition crisis growing; Syrian Christians live in uneasy alliance with Bashar Assad; Dutch criticize Mormon baptism-by-proxy of royals; France will have new denomination with Protestant merger; Record numbers visit Holy Land
Episcopal and Catholic bishops ready to “do all in their power” to realise an end to war in Sudan
ACNS – Episcopal and Catholic bishops from South Sudan have said that together they “stand committed to do all in [their] power” to realise an end to war between Sudan and South Sudan.
Following a three-day meeting in Yei, South Sudan, lead by Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro and Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, the 14 bishops issued a ‘Message of Peace’ which laid out their hopes and plans for an end to conflict.
Referencing the famous Martin Luther King speech, the bishop’s said: “We dream of two nations which are democratic and free, where people of all religions, all ethnic groups, all cultures and all languages enjoy equal human rights based on citizenship. We dream of two nations at peace with each other, co-operating to make the best use of their God-given resources, promoting free interaction between their citizens, living side by side in solidarity and mutual respect, celebrating their shared history and forgiving any wrongs they may have done to each other.
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/5/14/ACNS5106
Food shortages reaching crisis point in Southern Sudan
Christian Today – The United Nations launched an urgent appeal on Tuesday calling for emergency assistance for the millions of Southern Sudanese who are facing staggering levels of food insecurity
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/food.shortages.reaching.crisis.point.in.southern.sudan/29885.htm
Anglican Communion Family Network targets birth registration, invites input
ACNS – The International Anglican Family Network is inviting members of the Anglican Communion to share their thoughts and stories as part of an initiative to actively promote birth registration.
http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/5/10/ACNS5103
Communiqué from the meeting of ARCIC III in Hong Kong
ACNS – The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission has completed the second meeting of its new phase (ARCIC III), at the Mission to Seafarers in Kowloon, Hong Kong (3-10 May 2012).
The Commission, chaired by the Most Revd David Moxon (Anglican Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses) and the Most Revd Bernard Longley (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham) comprises nineteen theologians from a wide range of backgrounds across the world. According to the mandate given to it by the two Communions, the Commission is addressing interrelated issues: the Church as Communion, local and universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church come to discern right ethical teaching. The Commission has also been mandated to present the documents of ARCIC II for reception by the relevant authorities of both communions. Accordingly, the Commission is reviewing responses already received in order to prepare some elucidations, together with commentaries, which will enable the material of ARCIC II to be studied at all levels of the churches’ life.
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/5/10/ACNS5104
Niger malnutrition crisis growing
BBC – Months of warnings have failed to stop a major malnutrition crisis in Niger, affecting more than six million people, Save the Children says.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18111384
Syrian Christians live in uneasy alliance with Bashar Assad
ENI – Hani Sarhan is a Christian who says none of his relatives works with Bashar Assad’s regime or has anything to do with it. “But what we heard from (the protesters) at the beginning of this revolution saying, ‘Christians to Beirut, Alawites to the coffin,’ started us thinking about the real aim of this revolution,” he said. “So from this point of view, fearing for my life, I declared my support for President Assad.”
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5664
Indonesian authorities restrict places of worship after Muslim protests
ENI – Indonesian authorities have closed and sealed off 17 Christian places of worship in the Aceh Singkil district in the past two weeks after Muslim protests on 30 April.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5660
Dutch criticize Mormon baptism-by-proxy of royals
ENI – There is public criticism in the Netherlands of the Mormon practice of baptism by proxy after a Dutch newspaper revealed 9 May that several members of the royal family were posthumously “baptized” into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as the Mormon church.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5657
France will have new denomination with Protestant merger
ENI – After years of preparation, a new Christian denomination will be formed this week in France when two synods meet in the eastern town of Belfort, a location historically important in the growth of Protestantism.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5665
Record numbers visit Holy Land
Christian Today – Tourism to Israel continues its upward trend as record numbers of tourists flocked to the Holy Land in April. A record 354,000 tourists arrived in Israel last month, representing a 12% increase over the last previous record April, set in 2010. Over one million tourists have traveled to Israel during the first four months of 2012, representing a 19% increase over 2011 figures for the same period, and a 12% increase over the same period in 2010, the last record year for tourism. Easter and Passover both fell in the month of April in 2012 and in 2011.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/record.numbers.visit.holy.land/29865.htm