Church

Ukraine's parliament approves ban on Moscow-linked religious groups

Ukraine's parliament has banned the activities of religious groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church or any other faith group supporting Russia's invasion a measure widely seen as targeting a Ukrainian religious body, despite its claim to independence from Moscow. The bill creates the legal tools for the government to ban the activities of any religious group deemed to be too closely connected to Russia or to support its invasion of Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada approved the bill on Tuesday with 265 affirmative votes and only 29 opposed. The explicit ban on the Russian Orthodox Church is seen as aimed at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which historically has been tied to the Russian church. The UOC has proclaimed its loyalty to Ukraine and insists that it has broken from the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church. But the Ukrainian government says it remains canonically tied to the Russian church and its Moscow-based patriarch, who has depicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine as

Pope Francis apologises after being quoted using vulgar term about gays

Pope Francis apologised Tuesday after he was quoted using a vulgar term about gays to reaffirm the Catholic Church's ban on gay priests. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement acknowledging the media storm that erupted about Francis' comments, which were delivered behind closed doors to Italian bishops on May 20. Italian media on Monday had quoted unnamed Italian bishops in reporting that Francis jokingly used the term faggotness while speaking in Italian during the encounter. He had used the term in reaffirming the Vatican's ban on allowing gay men to enter seminaries and be ordained priests.

Turkey opens another former church from Byzantine-era as mosque

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighbouring Greece. Turkey formally converted The Church of St. Saviour in Chora, known as Kariye in Turkish, into a mosque in 2020, soon after it similarly turned Istanbul's landmark Haghia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer. Both conversions drew praise from Muslim faithful but criticism from Greece and other countries who had urged Turkey to protect the important Byzantine-era monuments. Both are listed as UN World Heritage Sites. Like Haghia Sophia, which was a church for centuries and then a mosque for centuries more, the Chora had operated as a museum for decades before it was ordered turned into a mosque. The Chora's formal launch as a mosque, however, was delayed as the structure then underwent restoration. Erdogan on Monday remotely presided over a ceremony .

Elon Musk loses Australia court hearing over Sydney knife attack posts

In a hearing Monday night in Sydney, the Federal Court of Australia ordered X must hide all recordings of a terrorist attack at a church in the city on April 15 until Wednesday

World would be different place without Black churches, says Joe Biden

President Joe Biden on Sunday extolled the existence of Black churches, saying the world would be a different place if they were not around to show people the power of faith during dark times. The Democratic president spoke at St. John Baptist Church on the final day of a two-day visit to South Carolina designed to rally Black voters before the party's primary on Feb. 3. Biden visited a predominantly Black barbershop and spoke at a state Democratic Party dinner after he flew in on Saturday. He capped the visit Sunday by addressing worshippers at separate churches. The president is trying to spread the message that he's loyal to South Carolina, which saved his campaign in 2020, and that he's determined to win back Black voters here and elsewhere who were central to putting him in office but are less enthused about him this time around. A practising Roman Catholic who attends Mass every Sunday, Biden praised Black churches in his appearance before the Baptist congregation, saying the

Alabama can proceed with US' first execution by nitrogen gas: US top court

The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Alabama can proceed with using nitrogen gas to put a man to death, refusing to block what would be the nation's first execution by a new method since 1982. The state says the method will be humane, but critics call it cruel and experimental. The decision clears the way for the state to carry out the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith a 58-year-old convicted killer whose 2022 lethal injection was called off at the last minute because authorities couldn't connect an IV line this time by using nitrogen gas. Smith's attorneys had waged an unsuccessful legal battle to halt the execution, arguing that Alabama was trying to make him the test subject for an experimental execution method. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who along with two other liberal justices dissented, wrote: "Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its 'guinea pig' to test a method of execution never attempted before. The world is ...

Karnataka HC grants 2-week parole to convict in church blast case

A convict serving life imprisonment in the church blast case has been granted parole by the High Court of Karnataka for two weeks. The detenue, Mohammed Akhil, is one of the convicts in the July 2000 church blast case in Bengaluru. Twenty four accused belonging to the Deendar Anjuman sect were found guilty of the blasts that were triggered in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. Akhil was one of the 13 handed a life sentence. Mubeen Unnissa Begum, wife of Akhil, had filed the petition, which was heard by Justice M Nagaprasanna. "The convict, as of today, has undergone 23 years of imprisonment without remission and has not been granted parole throughout 23 years. The wife of the convict is now before this court seeking enlargement of her husband on parole on the score that she is suffering from ailments and, therefore, pleads that the presence of her husband is very much required in the family as other family members are also aged and suffering from ailments," the court noted in its ..

Security beefed up around Delhi churches, metro stations after Kerala blast

Security was beefed-up around churches and at metro stations in the national capital in the wake of the Kerala convention centre blast on Sunday. A senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said security has been tightened across main markets, churches, metro stations, bus stands, railway stations, and other public places. "Teams have been informed to put barricades on the border area from Uttar Pradesh Side and Haryana side. Police in civil dress, riders and PCRs have been asked to stay on alert and not to ignore any information they receive," the officer said. "We are already keeping strict vigil in overcrowded markets. Extra platoon deployment has already been done considering the festival season," the person said. On Sunday, a blast ripped through a convention centre in Kerala's Kalamassery, killing a woman and wounding 36 others. The blast occurred during the convention of the Jehovah's Witnesses -- a Christian religious group that originated in the United States of Ame

11 dead after Mexico church roof collapses; no more people believed buried

The roof of a church collapsed in northern Mexico during a Mass on Sunday, killing at least nine people and injuring around 50, authorities said as searchers probed in the wreckage late into the night looking for survivors and other victims. Approximately 30 parishioners were believed to have been trapped in the rubble when the roof caved in, officials said. Searchers crawled under the roof slabs and officials brought in dogs to help search for possible survivors. The Tamaulipas state police said about 100 people were in the church at the time of the collapse. The state security spokesman's office said late Sunday that nine people had been confirmed dead from the collapse, which it described as likely being caused by a structural failure. Tamaulipas state police said units of the National Guard, the state police and state civil defense office and the Red Cross were involved in the operation. The Mexican Council of Bishops issued a statement saying that we join in prayer at the tra

Supreme Court committee orders protection of religious buildings in Manipur

386 religious structures have been vandalised over the course of the ongoing unrest, including 254 churches and 132 temples

Mob attacks on churches and homes in Pak set off by false implication: Cops

Last month's mob attacks on churches and homes of Christians in eastern Pakistan erupted after three Christians threw the pages of Islam's holy book outside the house of two others to falsely implicate them in a blasphemy case due to a personal dispute, police said Monday. The three detained suspects confessed to conspiring and throwing Quran pages outside Raja Amir's house, three police officials said. Amir and his brother had been arrested after they were accused by Muslims of desecrating the Quran. The suspected mastermind was Pervez Kodu, who thought Amir had an affair with his wife and knew Muslims would target Amir if Kodu had thrown the pages outside his house to give the impression Amir had desecrated the holy book, three police officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the record. They said the three men now face charges of causing violence and falsely implicating Amir and his brother in a blasphemy .

Pak police arresst 60 more people in connection with mob attack on churches

Pakistani authorities have arrested 60 more people in connection with the unprecedented mob attack on 21 churches in Punjab province, taking the total number of suspects under detention to more than 200, a top police official said on Wednesday. A mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and several houses of Christians last week over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjab's provincial capital Lahore. A Christian cemetery and the office of the local assistant commissioner were also vandalised. Police had arrested 145 suspects subsequently. "We have arrested some 60 more suspects after which the number of total arrested crossed 200 in the Jaranwala incident. The arrests have been made through video footage," Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar said on Wednesday. Talking to reporters, he said the police would present all kinds of evidence before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to get them convicted. "We will set an example throu

Pakistan police arrest suspects involved in attack on Christian homes

Pakistani police have arrested two prime suspects involved in the unprecedented attacks on 21 churches and nearly three dozen homes of the minority Christian community over blasphemy allegations, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said. He praised the efforts of the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police, saying both of them played a key role in ensuring the arrests of the key suspects. An enraged mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and 35 homes of Christians on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjab's provincial capital Lahore. "Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala Incident both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts...," Naqvi posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. In a separate post on Friday, he wrote that mosques across Pakistan's Punjab province will have Friday sermons ...

Churches vandalised in Pak's Punjab province over blasphemy allegations

Following the allegations of blasphemy, the mob vandalised and destroyed a Church in Punjab province's Faisalabad district

Youth programme, meeting church leaders on PM's calendar for Kerala visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Kerala on Monday for a two-day visit during which he will be attending several programmes, including the flagging off of the Vande Bharat Express train here, a meeting with senior priests of the Christian community and a youth event. The BJP in Kerala is aiming to use the PM's visit as a springboard for its outreach campaign aimed at bringing youth and minorities into its fold. On Monday, after a road show in the port city of Kochi, the PM would be attending a youth programme -- Yuvam 2023 -- there, which the BJP hopes would be a game changer in Kerala politics. However, the most politically significant event would be the Prime Minister's meeting with the church leaders in the evening at Kochi. The meeting comes in the wake of the saffron party's outreach campaign -- Sneha Yatra -- as part of which leaders of the BJP in Kerala visited Christian and Muslim leaders and the homes of people of these minority communities on the festive occasio

'Atonement for past deeds' of Sangh Parivar: Kerala CM on PM's church visit

"Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were seen visiting all the churches in Kerala. So there is no harm here. There is no harm in taking a different position," he added

Former Pope Benedict XVI, whose resignation shook the Catholics, dies at 95

Benedict XVI passed away on Saturday at 9:34 AM in his residence, the official Vatican News agency said on Twitter

Pope Francis wrote resignation note in case of health impediment

Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published on Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties. Speaking to the Spanish newspaper ABC, Francis said he gave the note to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who then was the Vatican secretary of state. The pontiff added that he presumes that the prelate currently in that Vatican No. 2 role, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, now has the written instruction. Francis, who turned 86 on Saturday, had surgery in 2021 to repair a bowel narrowing and has been hobbled by knee pain that for months saw him use a wheelchair. Lately, he has increasingly used a cane instead of the wheelchair to get around in public. Asked what happens if health issues or an accident suddenly leaves a pope unable to do his job, and whether there should be a rule for such instances, Francis replied, In practice there is already a rule. I have already signed my renunciation," .

Japan minister resigns after row over ties with Unification Church

Public criticism of the minister had grown as new information surfaced about his ties with the group

Japan PM Kishida apologizes for party's church links, will cut ties

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says his ruling party will cut ties with the Unification Church following a widening scandal trigged by former leader Shinzo Abe's assassination last month. Widespread cozy ties between members of Kishida governing Liberal Democratic Party and the church have surfaced since Abe was shot to death while giving a campaign speech in July. The suspect arrested at the scene allegedly told police he killed Abe because of his apparent link to the church. Dozens of LDP members have since acknowledged their ties to the church and related organisations. Kishida shuffled his Cabinet earlier in August to purge seven ministers linked to the groups, but more ministers and their aides have since admitted their ties. Kishida also apologised over the loss of public trust in politics because of the scandal and his lack of explanation for hosting a state funeral for Abe.