Thiruvananthapuram, India | AFP | Violence erupted in southern India on Wednesday after two women defied traditionalists to enter one of Hinduism’s holiest temples for the first time since a landmark court ruling. Police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon as protests and clashes between rival groups erupted …
Read More »Queen warns of ‘tribalism’ in Christmas address
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Queen Elizabeth II warned of religious “tribalism” in a Christmas message on Tuesday delivered against a backdrop of Britain bickering over its impending exit from the EU. The 92-year-old monarch’s tone reflected a sombre mood sweeping the island nation as it ponders the perils …
Read More »Pope vows Church will ‘never again’ ignore abuse accusations
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis vowed Friday that the Catholic Church will never again treat abuse allegations without “seriousness and promptness”, calling on abusers to hand themselves in to police. “The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case,” the pope …
Read More »Pope says Xmas not about consumerism
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis said Wednesday that Christmas cannot just be about swapping presents and indulging in a massive consumer binge, urging the faithful to remember its original purpose to mark Christ’s birth. “The advertising machine tells us we have to exchange more and more …
Read More »Pope accepts US bishop’s resignation over ‘misconduct’ with minor
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Alexander Salazar over his “misconduct” with a minor, the Vatican said Wednesday. The case is the latest in a litany of child sexual abuse scandals to have rocked the Roman Catholic Church …
Read More »Jesuits release list of 89 US priests accused of sex abuse
Chicago, United States | AFP | Jesuit authorities for 20 US states on Monday released the names of 89 priests with credible allegations of child sexual abuse dating as far back as 1950. The disclosures by the Jesuit provinces of Maryland and USA Midwest are the latest chapter in the …
Read More »Ethiopian police arrest ‘doomsday prophet’ for sowing panic
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Police in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara regional state have arrested a “doomsday prophet” who caused widespread panic over claims his village would be wiped out on Monday, state media reported. The state-owned Amhara Mass Media Agency (AMMA) reported that the prophet had told his followers …
Read More »FDC urges religious leaders to preach against bad governance during Xmas
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has said religious leaders should not shy from preaching about critical issues of governance during Christmas festival summons. Harold Kaija, the party deputy secretary general told journalists during a weekly party press conference at the party headquarters in Najjanankumbi …
Read More »Fact-check: have 60,000 Christians been killed in central Nigeria since 2001?
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A video uploaded to Facebook by one of US president Donald Trump’s lawyers claims that 60,000 Christians have been killed by nomadic Muslim herdsmen in central Nigeria since 2001. The claim has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on Facebook but AFP has found …
Read More »Israel top court grants Netanyahu government more time to pass key law
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s supreme court on Sunday extended a deadline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to pass a law related to military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, a measure that could potentially provoke early elections. The court agreed to extend the deadline, which was on Sunday, until January …
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