The Obama administration’s latest “compromise” over a federal mandate requiring employers to cover contraceptive services in health care plans is still not acceptable to the United States Catholic bishops. The mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services requires coverage for sterilisation and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortions. Under the latest HHS Read more
The head of the Vatican’s police force has told members of Interpol that valuable artworks in Catholic churches are often poorly protected from thieves. Domenico Giani, said many of these artworks are difficult to protect because they are in isolated church buildings where no anti-theft measures are employed, or in churches that are basically abandoned Read more
Several Protestant clergy and Catholic priests in Pakistan have called on their churches to consider relaxing attitudes towards Christian polygamists, or risk a drop in Church membership. Their concerns follow the strong impact of Islamic society on religious minority families. Continue reading
Christian churches are “failing to connect” with the changing face of Auckland’s ethnic population, according to a study by Massey University. The study – Changing Patterns of Auckland Religion – found that membership of all mainstream Christian denominations, except Catholicism, have fallen to a historic low in New Zealand’s largest city. In contrast, religions like Islam, Read more
Proposals to reduce New Zealand’s unacceptably high child poverty rates need to be urgently debated and discussed, say the leaders of the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Assemblies of God Churches. “The crucial issues that result in child poverty need to be discussed by New Zealand’s political leaders and the wider community as a Read more
Every morning and night, in a ritual dating back hundreds of years, two Muslim families control the opening and closing of the place in Jerusalem where Jesus rose from the dead. The Joudeh and Nuseibeh families, one generation after another, got the job of holding the keys and opening the door to Christianity’s most sacred Read more
In the Gifford Lectures given last month, Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, reflected on the notion of silence. Mark Vernon considers that “The lectures present a lively history of silence in the church, and left me with a clear sense that this is a history that affects us all Read more
Following on from a new translation of the Mass in English, Vatican Insider reports the Congregation for Divine Worship will establish a new team to regulate church architecture and promote singing in the liturgy. The team will be tasked to put a stop to garage-style churches and boldly shaped structures and, it is reported, will have Read more
What is it with New Zealand churches? Not to be outdone by the All Saints Anglican community in Invercargill, who are proudly flying an All Black flag, one of Auckland’s most talked-about Christian establishments, St Matthew-in-the-City, has gone the whole hog. Fearlessly “progressive” – trendy, in other words – it tells those interested in going along not to expect anything so passé as a Bible study group. What it can promise is unstinting support for the All Blacks. Outside, on a huge billboard, is a poster featuring a ghostly David Kirk, captain of this country’s one and only World Cup-winning side, and the instruction “Pray like it’s 1987”. One other thing: St Matthew-in-the-City produces a publication entitled OMG (the text generation will get it). The subject for debate in the current issue is: “Has religion come to this?” Quite.
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Islamic mosques are being built more often in France than Roman Catholic churches, and there are now more practicing Muslims in the country than practicing Catholics, reports the human rights activist, moderate Muslim and expert investigative reporting group, the Hudson Institute. There are nearly 150 mosques now under construction in France, and by contrast only 20 Read more