A new mass abduction of students from a school in the English-speaking area of Cameroon has been carried out by guerrillas demanding independence from the rest of the country. On 16 February, unidentified gunmen came into the campus of Saint Augustine’s College, in the northwest region, and 170 students, two college security guards, one teacher Read more
World
Vatican admits it has rules for priests who father children
Thursday, February 21st, 2019
The Vatican’s rules for priests who father children will not be made public. Alessandro Gisotti, a Vatican spokesman, says a 2017 document synthesised a decade’s worth of procedures and that its “fundamental principle” was the “protection of the child”. The document is for internal use only. Gisotti explains the rules say a priest who fathered Read more
Israel summit scrapped in row over Holocaust
Thursday, February 21st, 2019
This week’s summit between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of four Central and Eastern European nations has been abandoned following a row about the Holocaust. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki pulled out of the summit scheduled for Monday and Tuesday after Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli cabinet accused Poland of Read more
Pope lifts sanctions on suspended priest
Thursday, February 21st, 2019
Pope Francis has lifted sanctions imposed on Fr Ernesto Cardenal of Nicaragua in 1984. On Monday, Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, the Vatican nuncio in Nicaragua, said Pope Francis had “granted with benevolence the absolution of all canonical censures” imposed on Cardenal. Cardenal (94) was suspended from his priestly ministry and duties by St John Paul II Read more
Call to stop Australia’s weapons exports to Saudi
Thursday, February 21st, 2019
International children’s rights organisation, Save the Children, is demanding the Australian government immediately stop exporting weapons to Saudi Arabia. It says 85,000 children have died in the Yemen conflict since 2015. Last August the United Nations (UN) found actions taken by the Saudi- and UAE-led coalition in Yemen might amount to war crimes. They include Read more
British military intelligence behind Catholic school massacre plot
Thursday, February 21st, 2019
A former policeman says British military intelligence was behind a plot to attack a Catholic primary school during the Northern Ireland conflict (also called the Troubles). In a new feature-length television documentary, Unquiet Graves: The Story Of The Glenanne Gang, it was revealed gunmen from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) were to carry out the Read more
Christian millennials think evangelising others is wrong
Thursday, February 21st, 2019Evangelising others is wrong, say 47 percent of Christian millennials. A study conducted by the Barna Group found Christian millennials think it is especially wrong to share their personal beliefs with someone of a different faith “in hopes they will share the same faith.” Read more
Church wants tax case to go to Supreme Court
Thursday, February 21st, 2019The case against 20 clergy of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa for failing to file tax returns may be heading to the Supreme Court after a motion by the defence this week. Read more
Pacific slave trade – island countries are a source and destination
Thursday, February 21st, 2019The Pacific Immigration Development Community is concerned about the increasing slave trade in the region. It says human trafficking to the point of slavery is increasingly common in industries like logging, mining and fishing. Read more
Sex abuser Theodore McCarrick defrocked
Monday, February 18th, 2019
Former cardinal and convicted sex abuser Theodore McCarrick has been laicised by Pope Francis and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). McCarrick is a former cardinal and archbishop emeritus of Washington and was a powerful figure in ecclesiastical, diplomatic and political circles in the US and around the world. The 88-year old Read more