A recently build Seventh Day Adventist Church on Anuta Island, in the Temotu Province of Solomon Islands, has been demolished by angry locals. According to Pastor Irving Vagha, who holds the portfolios of Adventist Volunteer Services and Global Mission for SIM, Anuta’s Anglican priest together with a large group of supporters demolished the church. Anuta Read more
A concert including the Islamic call to prayer has been turned away from Nelson’s cathedral after its dean said it “was not Christian”. The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace is a contemporary anti-war composition, dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis and is based on the Catholic Mass, and includes texts from other religious Read more
A group of Indonesian Islamic extremists have attacked and disrupted a scout camp organised by a Protestant group in Yogyakarta, central Java. According to the extremists, the Protestant group was not authorised to organise any public activity, especially, they claimed, since Ramadan had begun on 18 June, and public activities that violate the sacred nature Read more
Catholics object to mockery of their religion, such as encasing a statue of the Virgin Mary in a condom, but show no signs of resorting to barbarism, said Tim Pankhurst, former editor of the Dominion Post. “The leader of the world’s Roman Catholics makes his point about inequality and injustice by washing poor people’s feet,” Read more
Auckland neighbours are involved in a religious battle after a giant 6.4m statue of Hindu god Shiva was erected in a backyard. Ravin Chandar installed the 30-tonne statue for him and his family to pray to, but that’s irked his Catholic neighbour, Bryce Watts. Erecting the giant statue was something Chandar “had to do”. “That 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
The Government is considering exempting kirpans from civil aviation rules – allowing them to be carried on board planes rather than stowed away with luggage. Parliament’s first Sikh MP says there needs to be legislation around ceremonial daggers so it’s clear they are not weapons and are safe to be worn. National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi Read more
A Christian has been inaugurated as governor of Jakarta. This is the first time such a thing has happened for 50 years. There have been weeks of protests against it from Islamic hardliners. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is also the first person from the country’s tiny ethnic Chinese minority to become leader of Jakarta. He was sworn in Read more
Muslim leaders have reported a spike in racial abuse aimed mostly at women and children, many walking to and from school. In his address on Wednesday the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, stressed that of those few individuals on a security watch list none are representative of New Zealand’s Muslim community as a Read more
Moslem leaders have expressed disappointment about the backlash they are experiencing as a result of the activity of Moslem extremists. While they are disheartened by this they say the situation is not as bad in New Zealand as it is in other places. The constant association with radicals is disheartening, says the President of the Read more