The world could soon see the first religion that attracts devotees with sacred texts created by artificial intelligence, the historian Yuval Noah Harari said. The Israeli scholar, known for the best-selling book Sapiens, told a science conference that AI systems such as ChatGPT have breached a new threshold because they are capable of using language Read more
News Shorts
Christchurch’s Anglican Dean on ‘difficult decision’ to step down to fund comfortable retirement
Monday, May 8th, 2023One of the country’s top church officials is looking for a new job, so he can afford a house. Christchurch’s Anglican Dean, Lawrence Kimberley lives rent-free in a clergy house – with a stipend of $50,000 a year. He’s held the job since 2015, but has now decided to pursue a new career, aged 61, Read more
Nearly half of world’s child brides are in South Asia
Monday, May 8th, 2023South Asia faces the daunting task of eliminating child marriages as the region is home to nearly half of the world’s child brides, says a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report. South Asian countries account for 290 million or 45 percent of the total of 640 million child brides globally, according to the report released Read more
Florida passes bathroom bill in latest wave of anti-trans legislation
Monday, May 8th, 2023Florida’s legislature Wednesday passed a bill that bans transgender people from using many bathrooms and changing areas that match their gender identity, on penalty of criminal trespass charges. The bill is the in a spate of anti-LGBTQ legislation that state lawmakers have taken up. A few Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in opposing House Bill Read more
Catholic universities must be missionary in spirit, pope says
Monday, May 8th, 2023Pope Francis said that Catholic universities must be outward-looking and prepare their students to engage with the world’s problems rather than teaching rigid ideas. “We need minds, hearts and hands that are up to the challenge of reality, not the narrowness of ideologies,” he told a delegation from the Organization of Catholic Universities of Latin Read more
Kyrgyz police fine Slovak nuns for reading at Mass
Thursday, May 4th, 2023Security officials in Kyrgyzstan have fined two Slovak nuns for violating the country’s laws after they read from Bible during a Sunday Mass. The officials visited St Nicholas Church in north-western Talas town on March 26 and imposed a fine of US$90 each on Sisters Daniela Činčilova and Eva Eliašová of the School Sisters of Read more
Damian Dempsey appointed new NZCBC Executive Director
Thursday, May 4th, 2023
Damian Dempsey has been appointed the new Executive Director of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference. Dempsey brings a strong justice and mission lens and executive management experience to the appointment. He was a member of the Society of Mary for 25 years, working in formation, education, and community development in New Zealand and in Read more
Chinese Christian arrested for Bible verses on Covid masks
Thursday, May 4th, 2023Police in Yunnan province of southwest China arrested a preacher of a Protestant house church for allegedly distributing Covid-19 masks inscribed with Bible verses. Preacher Chang Hao of a rural church in Zhenxiong county of Zhaotong City was arrested in the second week of April following a police raid, Bitter Winter reported on April 28, Read more
Iranian-born doctor endures 17-month wait for security checks in visa process
Thursday, May 4th, 2023Two doctors expecting a baby in August have been caught up in national security checks and face having to decide whether to emigrate. The orthopaedic house officer, who did not want his name used, was born in Iran and has dual Canadian citizenship as he moved there when he was 14. He and his New Read more