As I have mentioned in a previous posting, there are many different sorts of martyrdom–in the broad sense of bearing witness, at a high or ultimate cost, to an awkward truth or passionately embraced cause. Independence movements, environmental campaigns, investigative journalism, humanitarian missions to war zones. They all draw inspiration from sons and daughters who perished in Read more
New Testament scholars have spent an impressive amount of energy on the study of the historical Jesus and much of it in the last few decades has revolved around his Jewishness. Christian reawakening to the Jewishness of Jesus began in the late nineteenth century but received greater attention as Christians devoted increased attention to Jews Read more
The Vatican has officially declared its intention to defeat the Church of England – not in a theological re-match nearly 500 years after they split, but on the cricket pitch The challenge was launched at the baptism of the St. Peter’s Cricket Club. Vatican officials said the league will be composed of teams of priests Read more
Pope Francis reaffirmed the commitment of the Catholic Church to ecumenical unity at a meeting with several dozen representatives of Christian churches and other world religions who had attended his inauguration. “For my part, I wish to assure, in the wake of my predecessors, the firm wish to continue on the path of ecumenical dialogue,” Read more
The latest meeting of the Anglican Roman Catholic Conference of Aotearoa New Zealand (ARCCANZ) took “Receptive Ecumenism” as it’s theme. The Receptive ecumenism process encourages each participant to openly put forward and discuss the most serious problems they are working through. Unlike earlier Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue which has focussed on doctrine, receptive ecumenism starts from Read more
Avoiding a direct confrontation with the Vatican, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the United States has opted for dialogue with the archbishop appointed to supervise a reform of the group. The decision to enter into a “conversation” with Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle was announced at the end of the LCWR’s annual assembly Read more
Labelling the situation in Syria as “Desperate”, Archbishop El-Sayeh of Antioch has called for negotiations in order to prevent War. As conflict between the Syrian government supporters and opponents is being compared to last year’s fight for control of Libia, the archbishop is pleading for an end to all violence. “Everybody is suffering in Syria Read more
“Because I said so” doesn’t cut it in social media, a fact regretted by parents and leaders who for ages have resorted to the phrase when exasperated with the petulant “But …” and plaintive “Why?” “The social media phenomenon offers both challenge and opportunity for the church. Social media reaches people – millions are on Read more
Dialogue rather than arms is the solution to global conflict according to the official representative of Vatican politics, Archbishop Edumnd Farhat. Farhat, speaking at the International conference on the global Fight against Terrorism in Theran insisted that charity, dialogue and pardon were the ways forward. “There is no word for terrorism in my religion, Christianity,” Farhat Read more
Tripoli’s Roman Catholic bishop, Giovanni Martinelli along with other Christian leaders has called on the international community not to give arms to the Libyan rebels. “The risk of providing weapons to rebels in Benghazi is a way of not ending the war, [but] rather a way to lengthening it.” “We hope that in our small Read more