Since his owner died two months ago, Tommy the dog has not missed a single mass in the small church in southern Italy where his mistress’s funeral was held, When the bells of the Santa Maria Assunta church begin to toll each afternoon in San Donaci near Brindisi, the 12-year-old German Shepherd sets off from Read more
In the town of Saltillo, Mexico, priest Humberto Alvarez offers an unusual mass on Sunday mornings. He wears a special robe emblazoned with superheroes and he blesses his congregation with holy water from a large water pistol. And for those who don’t prefer any updates to their religious practice, Alvarez returns to traditionalism for the day’s Read more
A giant rosary has been made by school pupils in Bellshill, Scotland, to mark the launch of a new prayer campaign. The rosary measures around four feet in diameter and is complete with tennis ball-sized beads and a two-feet crucifix. The colourful creation was made by staff and pupils at Cardinal Newman High School as Read more
In Corpus Christi, Texas, next to the Golden Arches — literally on the other side of its wood-plank fence, within a french fry’s throw — there’s a new kind of drive-thru. Cars start to line up as church members pray with motorists as they arrive at the prayer service. To be sure, the new prayer Read more
Churches struggling to muster a full choir and organist for Sunday services have found salvation in an unlikely source – karaoke. A new range of electronic “hymnals”, adapting music systems for ecclesiastical purposes, have proved an unexpected hit with priests and vicars. Controlled from a small screen in the pulpit or lectern, it provides backing Read more
In Nigeria, a pastor pulled a gun on the the church accountant during a serious disagreement over money. It has been alleged that the pastor ordered the church accountant to hand over church monies to him for execution of a project and he refused. The refusal of the accountant angered the pastor who engaged him in a Read more
At the Waitangi Day celebration on Wednesday, for many the morning’s highlight was provided by Hohepa Rudolph who hails from the small town of Pawarenga in the far North. Rudolph gently mocked his hometown during the ceremony. “God took six days to create the earth,” he said. “He rested on the seventh and then woke up on Read more
A church in a small village in Sussex has recorded an album that’s flying off the shelves – and it’s all thanks to a revolutionary new, old sound. A CD recorded in the local church may have hit on the hot new sound the beleaguered recording industry’s been searching for. It is a recorded CD of Read more
All the familiar scenes associated with the holy family today – creches and church pageants, postage stamps and holiday cards, are missing an obvious element of the mother-child connection that modern Christians are apparently happy to do without: a breast-feeding infant. Continue reading
Matthew tells us that when “Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” Read more: