Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has warned against relativistic ideas of religious truth as being “lethal to faith”. The retired pontiff sent a written message of 1800 words to Rome’s Pontifical Urbanian University, where a lecture hall was recently dedicated to him. “The risen Lord instructed his apostles, and through them his disciples in all ages, Read more
Celebrities, gang members, homeless people and religious leaders have equal importance in artist Stuart Robertson’s global work Peace in 10,000 Hands. His vision is to create a lasting conversation about peace by photographing a white rose in the hands of 10,000 people from all over the world. The photographs will eventually become part of an Read more
Pope Francis says the international community would be justified in stopping Islamist militants in Iraq, but no single nation should decide how to do this. On his plane flying back from Korea, the Pope had an hour long conversation with journalists. Francis was asked if he approved of US strikes against ISIS insurgents who have recently Read more
Auckland’s Catholic and Anglican bishops have called on Israel to return to its pre-1967 borders in accordance with United Nations’ requests. In a joint statement, Catholic Bishop Patrick Dunn and Anglican Bishop Ross Bay said such an act by Israel would be “a pre-requisite for dialogue to establish a lasting and just settlement in the Read more
A Global Day of Prayer for Peace is being organised for August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration. The international pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need and Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Rafael Sako of Iraq appealed to all people of good will to join in. A statement from Aid to the Church in Read more
A common house of worship featuring a mosque, a synagogue and a Christian church is being planned for Berlin. Berlin Rabbi Tovia Ben Chorin, Imam Kadir Sanci and Pastor Gregor Hohberg hope their dream can become a reality. The trio hope Christians, Jews and Muslims will soon study and pray together. The city has already Read more
Germany’s Catholic bishops have acknowledged that churches share responsibility for “war-mongering” in the build up to the First World War. In a statement, the bishops said the Great War’s dimensions were “shocking”. The conflict from 1914 to 1918 left 16 million dead and 21 million wounded. The centenary of the outbreak of the war was Read more
Pope Benedict XV was archbishop of Bologna, Italy, in June 1914 when the pistol shots of a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo murdered Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, and echoed throughout the world. On Aug. 20, 1914, with World War I less than a month old, Pope Pius X died, and on Sept. Read more
Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders in Wellington have issued a joint statement regarding the current conflict in Gaza and Israel. “We call upon all of the parties involved in the current conflict in Gaza and Israel to cease hostilities, and sit down at the negotiating table and do the hard work necessary to obtain a Read more
Muslims, Jews and Christians throughout the world have fasted from sunrise to sundown on one day, in the interests of peace in Israel and Palestine. July 15 was designated as an appropriate occasion as it fell on significant fasting days in Jewish and Muslim religious calendars. It was the 17th of the month of Tammuz Read more