UK churches mark Holocaust Memorial Day
Norwich, UK Cathedrals and churches round the UK are marking Holocaust Memorial Day, held on 27th January, with talks and events focusing on the role of ordinary people in genocide, and how ordinary people can play a bigger role in challenging prejudice. Holocaust Memorial Day is an international Day of Remembrance, marking the date when […]
The Explainer: Calls for Pope Benedict’s sainthood make canonising popes seem like the norm – but it’s a long and politically fraught process
In an article first published on The Conversation, JOANNE M PIERCE, of the College of the Holy Cross, looks at the process of canonisation in the Catholic Church – particularly as it relates to past popes…
South Sudan’s displaced hope Pope’s visit will bring peace
Juba, South Sudan Reuters After spending nearly a decade in a camp for the displaced in South Sudan’s Juba, Mayen Galuak hopes that Pope Francis’ visit to the capital city next week will inspire political leaders to finally restore peace, allowing him to go home. The 44-year-old entered the United Nations camp, just a few […]
Spain church machete attack suspect was 25-year-old Moroccan, police confirm
Madrid, Spain Reuters The suspect in a machete attack on two churches in southern Spain in which one clergyman was killed and another seriously injured is a 25-year-old Moroccan man who was due to be deported from the country, police said on Thursday. The suspect was arrested on Wednesday evening after a man wielding a […]
Israeli troops kill seven Palestinian gunmen, two civilians in Jenin clash, Palestinians say
Jenin, West Bank Reuters Israeli commandos killed seven gunmen and two civilians in a raid on a flashpoint town in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian officials said, stirring fear of further flare-ups after the largest single death toll in years of fighting. The Palestinian Authority said it was ending its security coordination with […]
Russia unleashes missiles, drones at Ukraine after Kyiv secures tanks, 11 dead
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukrainian civilians raced for cover on Thursday as Russia fired a barrage of missiles and drones across the country, killing at least 11 people, according to officials, a day after Kyiv won Western pledges of battlefield tanks to combat Moscow’s invasion. The German and American announcements they would send dozens of tanks […]
EU wants to send more people back to Africa, Middle East, Asia
Stockholm, Sweden Reuters European Union migration ministers meet on Thursday to discuss visa restrictions and better coordination inside the bloc to be able to send more people with no right to asylum in Europe back to their home countries including Iraq. Three years after the 27-nation EU agreed to restrict visas for countries deemed failing […]
US National Prayer Breakfast breaks from ‘The Family’ with new organisation
Washington DC, US RNS The National Prayer Breakfast is under new management, distancing the decades-old event from the secretive organisation that founded it after years of controversy and a scandal that showed the yearly gathering in the nation’s capital is vulnerable to espionage. According to a statement sent to reporters by former Arkansas Senator Mark […]
Quickfacts – Pope Francis heads to Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan
Rome, Italy RNS Embarking next week on his 40th apostolic visit abroad, Pope Francis hopes to bring “a word of peace” and consolation during his long-awaited visit to Congo and South Sudan, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. However, a recent surge in violence in Congo has raised concerns about the Pope’s safety when he touches […]
UNESCO grants Odesa’s historic centre World Heritage in Danger status
Paris, France Reuters The United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO, said on Wednesday that it had designated the historic centre of Odesa, a strategic port city on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a World Heritage in Danger site. The status, awarded by a UNESCO panel meeting in Paris, is designed to help protect Odesa’s cultural heritage, which […]