The Neocatechumenal Way is helping people who have experienced difficult times living as Catholics in the the Malaysian state of Sabah. “When Islamisation increased during the 1970s, people began to ask ‘What next?’ Many were in difficult financial positions. They were desperate.” “They once had everything and enjoyed everything and suddenly there was nothing,” said Read more
Results from a research project in New Zealand suggest that, in that country, communities of religious non-Muslims are a key resource for bridging the Muslim acceptance gap. The researchers were interested in the drivers of prejudice and tolerance towards Muslims, says Associate Professor Sibley, a member of the research team. “New Zealand is an incredibly diverse, Read more
Last Thursday, Human Rights Watch Australia published a report explaining that, despite two years of processing, very few detainees have left Australia’s Manus Island detention centre. The report is a fresh reminder that forced integration can throw up some wicked dilemmas, whether it is in Nauru or Australia’s other offshore resettlement facility on Manus Island, Read more
Islam is growing rapidly in Papua New Guinea, converts finding Muslim customs have more in common with their traditions than Christianity. Catholic priest Franco Zocca, based at the Melanesian Institute research centre in Goroka, said Islamic leaders explained to him that “Islamic beliefs and practices are more compatible than Christianity with traditional Melanesian values”, especially Read more
In what may be a world first a religious group representing Christian and Jewish communities has expanded to include Muslims in an effort to foster friendship and dialogue between religions. The group celebrated its relaunch as the Wellington Abrahamic Council of Jews, Christians and Muslims at Parliament on Tuesday night. Council Christian co-chair Reverend Jenny Read more
JAKARTA: A mob of 600 Islamic hardliners threw plastic bags filled with urine at an Indonesian Christians who were celebrating the ascension of Christ, a lawyer said on Friday. The attack, during which stones and dirt were also hurled, occurred on Thursday as around 100 Christians prepared to hold a service at a church in Read more
The ongoing protests by a Muslim extremist fringe has led to the closure of three Christian places of worship in the province of Aceh, the only province in Indonesia where Shariah (Islamic law) is enacted. According to the radical movement the churches were illegal and they have demanded – under threat – the intervention of Read more
Many Muslims in Egypt are proud of their country’s heritage of religious pluralism. “So headlines like “Islam’s war on the Cross”, as in one British newspaper this week, fail to do justice to the complexities – and to the goodwill – on both sides,” according to the editorial in the London Tablet. “Egypt has long been an Read more