Anglicans in Bathurst, Australia, sign a covenant with local Roman Catholics; Africa sees some of the biggest falls ever in infant mortality; Egypt Copts imprisoned over unrest; Korean churches plan peace train ahead of 2013 gathering; ‘Pope’s butler’ quizzed on leaks; USA Monsignor On Trial For Covering Up Sex Abuse
Anglicans in Bathurst, Australia, sign a covenant with local Roman Catholics
ACNS – Clergy from across the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst and their counterparts from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst will gather in Bathurst on Thursday May 24 to witness the signing of a covenant between the two denominational groups.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/5/21/Anglicans-in-Bathurst-Australia-sign-a-covenant-with-local-Roman-Catholics
Africa sees some of the biggest falls ever in infant mortality
The Economist – 16 of the 20 African countries which have had detailed surveys of living conditions since 2005 reported falls in their child-mortality rates (this rate is the number of deaths of children under five per 1,000 live births). Twelve had falls of over 4.4% a year, which is the rate of decline that is needed to meet the millennium development goal (MDG) of cutting by two-thirds the child-mortality rate between 1990 and 2015 (see chart). Three countries—Senegal, Rwanda and Kenya—have seen falls of more than 8% a year, almost twice the MDG rate and enough to halve child mortality in about a decade. These three now have the same level of child mortality as India, one of the most successful economies in the world during the past decade.
… Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist, recently claimed that a big drop in child mortality in his Millennium Villages Project (a group of African villages that his Earth Institute of Columbia University, New York, is helping) is the result of large increases in aid to villagers. In fact, argues Mr Demombynes, the mortality decline in these villages was no better than in the countries as a whole.
The broad moral of the story is different: aid does not seem to have been the decisive factor in cutting child mortality. No single thing was. But better policies, better government, new technology and other benefits are starting to bear fruit. “This will be startling news for anyone who still thinks Africa is mired in unending poverty and death,” says Mr Clemens. But “that Africa is slipping quickly away.””No single thing was.”
http://www.economist.com/node/21555571
Egypt Copts imprisoned over unrest
Christian Today – A local court in Egypt has reportedly sentenced 12 Coptic Christians to life and acquitted eight Muslims involved in clashes last year that left two people dead
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/egypt.copts.imprisoned.over.unrest/29913.htm
Korean churches plan peace train ahead of 2013 gathering
ENI – Korean churches are developing plans for a “peace train” that would travel from Berlin through Moscow and Beijing to Busan, South Korea in time for the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) global assembly in October 2013.
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5683
‘Pope’s butler’ quizzed on leaks
BBC – The Vatican says it has detained a person – said by sources to be the Pope’s butler – on suspicion of leaking confidential documents to the Italian media.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18209956
USA Monsignor On Trial For Covering Up Sex Abuse
NPR – Monsignor William Lynn, the highest ranking Catholic official to be criminally tried for covering up child sex abuse by priests, faced fierce questioning in a Philadelphia courtroom on Thursday. Lynn handled the sex abuse claims when he was secretary for clergy for more than a decade.
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/24/153634903/pa-monsignor-on-trial-for-covering-up-sex-abuse?ft=1&f=1016