Tag Archives: Religion

Paris, France | AFP | Remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that he wanted to repair church-state ties caused uproar Tuesday, sparking charges he was tampering with France’s longstanding secular tradition. The Catholic Church and the state were for centuries virtually indistinguishable in France but the 1789 Revolution and 19th …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Kidnappers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have freed a priest in exchange for a ransom but three other people abducted in the troubled region have been killed, sources said Friday. Father Celestin Ngango was taken away by armed men on Sunday shortly after …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The kidnappers of a Catholic priest abducted in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo at the weekend are demanding $500,000 for his release, the church said on Tuesday. Father Celestin Ngango was taken away by armed men on Sunday shortly after he had celebrated Easter …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Hundreds of pilgrims filed into Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre — believed to be the site of Jesus’s resurrection — for Easter celebrations on Sunday. Western Christians marked Easter on Sunday, while eastern Orthodox Christians do so on April 8. The eastern Orthodox marked …

po Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis celebrated Easter mass under tight security and a sunny sky on Sunday in front of tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in a flower-bedecked St Peter’s Square. Under a longstanding tradition, the Netherlands donated some 50,000 tulips, daffodils, roses and …

Rome, Italy | AFP | Pope Francis on Friday said he was “ashamed” that younger generations would inherit a world “fractured by divisions and wars”. Speaking in Rome at the end of the traditional Good Friday Stations of the Cross procession, the pontiff said the world was “devoured by egotism …

Rome, Italy | AFP | Pope Francis washed prisoners’ feet at a Rome jail on Thursday, including two Muslims, an Orthodox Christian and a Buddhist, once again choosing to celebrate Holy Thursday among Italy’s incarcerated. “Everyone always has the opportunity to change life and one cannot judge,” said Francis to …

Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Pope Francis has declined to apologize for the abuse of indigenous Canadians at church-run boarding schools, drawing a polite rebuke Wednesday from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In an open letter, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote: “After carefully considering the request and extensive dialogue with …

Are religious people happier than non-religious people? Kampala, Uganda | KAYONDO HUBERT NGAMABA | What makes people happy? This question can be difficult to answer. Happiness has been discussed throughout history. Philosophers, thinkers and activists, such as Aristippus, Aristotle, Zhuangzi, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Jeremy Benthan and Bertrand Russell, have considered happiness …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured after lightning struck a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Rwanda, a local official said Sunday. Fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the Nyaruguru district in the Southern Province on …