As Tokyo’s governor takes to the media to talk about the wickedness of the Japanese people, religious groups in the country do the hard work of caring for the suffering. Scenes of destruction and human suffering in Japan have elicited worldwide support—both material and spiritual. But amid global calls for prayer and other religious responses, Read more
We all like our iPhone’s, Mac’s, iPads, our cameras, MP3 players but the factory we these wonderfully creative devices have been manufactured has been a place of suicide for 17 people. Suicide at Foxconn Shenzhen plant where Apple and many other companies have their manufacturing plants has thankfully seems to be a thing of the Read more
The NSW Greens “have called for the closing of loopholes in the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act that allow businesses owned by religious groups to discriminate against students, employees and clients if they hold something about them that conflicts with their beliefs”. Currently, the churches have “exemptions” from the provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act. Bishop Julian Porteous Auxiliary Read more
On a sunny afternoon in this quiet city in northern Iraq, a young veiled Muslim woman from Baghdad kneels to pray—at a Catholic church. The church keeper, a woman also from Baghdad, enters the sanctuary and welcomes the visitor. “Don’t worry, pray in your own way,” she tells the visitor. The Muslim woman removes her Read more
In a wretched corner of the Manila Bay waterfront, 300 families scratch a subsistence out of making charcoal. Now even that living is threatened. For nearly 10 years the workers of Ulingan squatter community in Tondo on Manila Bay have earnt a scant income making charcoal. To most people their working and living conditions would Read more
For many Catholics, the Devil has faded from view, apart from when he is referred to during the making and renewal of baptismal vows. Many were surprised when the Pope recently referred to ‘the enemy’ in a speech. So what happened to Satan and all his works? Pope Benedict was recently rebuked in the liberal Read more
There are many things still unclear about why Lesley-Anne Knight, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, has been unexpectedly prevented from applying for a second term of office. President of Caritas, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez de Maradiaga of Honduras, voiced his “incomprehension” at the decision.
So why are we so fixated on fasting, abstaining, giving stuff up? We often we hear that it’s more important do something positive. Strange, isn’t it, that the feeling still sticks that Lent is really about giving up stuff?
A Chinese woman has been sentenced to one year of “re-education” in a Chinese labor camp for sending a single tweet.