Taking to the pulpit Kirill told the people that spiritual danger justified his country's invasion of Ukraine.

Depicting the war in spiritual terms, he said, "We have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance."

An unnamed world power is posing a "test for the loyalty" of countries by demanding they hold gay pride parades to join a global club of nations with its own ideas of freedom and "excess consumption.

"Pride parades are designed to demonstrate that sin is one variation of human behaviour," he said.

President Putin's longtime ally told Ukranian and Russian Orthodox worshippers in a homily that Russia's "military operation" in Ukraine was about "which side of humanity God will be on": Russia's side, or Western countries that embrace more progressive values.

Despite his focus on sin, Kirill made no mention in his homily of Russia's widespread invasion and its bombardment of civilian targets.

Many Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and elsewhere are appalled by Kirill's stance.

For centuries the Moscow Patriarch claimed the ultimate loyalty of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, even though the latter retained ample autonomy.

Even as recently as three years ago, many priests, monks and faithful had remained loyal to him, even with the formation of a more nationalist, Kyiv-based Orthodox Church of Ukraine in 2018 and 2019.

Kirill's recent comments, however, have led many Ukrainian Orthodox bishops to authorise their priests not to commemorate him in prayers during public worship services.

This is a symbolically important statement in Orthodox tradition, which puts a premium on the faithful being in communion with their divinely ordained hierarchy.

Elsewhere, a Stockholm-based professor of ecclesiology, international relations and ecumenism says Kirill's comments show him to be in a "golden cage."

He said Kirill helped "supply the ideology" that Putin has used to justify Russian hegemony over the region. In return, the church has received strong government support.

While many Orthodox and other religious conservatives, including in Ukraine, share Kirill's stance on sexual ethics, Ukrainians and Ukrainian Orthodox are under attack, are suffering, and are afraid for the future for the nation," a US commentator says.

"None of that is reflected in the sermon. If rockets are falling on Kharkiv and Kyiv and the patriarch starts talking about gay parades, it seems like something is odd here."

Source

• Newsweek
• Religion News Service
• Image: Euronews

During a sermon last Sunday, posted online by his wife Hannah, Mr Tamaki implied that gay and lesbian clergy are a "contamination".

"To speak of any person as a source of ‘contamination' is unacceptable", says Archbishop Philip Richardson.

"And especially so for someone who seeks to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Richardson says that when the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Church gathered in England last year, they issued a communique, which says, in part:

"The Primates condemned homophobic prejudice and violence and resolved to work together to offer pastoral care and loving service irrespective of sexual orientation. This conviction arises out of our discipleship of Jesus Christ. The Primates reaffirmed their rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people.

"The Primates recognise that the Christian church and within it the Anglican Communion have often acted in a way towards people on the basis of their sexual orientation that has caused deep hurt. Where this has happened, they express their profound sorrow and affirm again that God's love for every human being is the same, regardless of their sexuality, and that the church should never by its actions give any other impression."

The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, The Rt Rev Ross Bay, has also responded with dismay at the Destiny leader's comments.

"The Anglican Church here values the contribution of gay and lesbian leaders across all aspects of church life, including those who are ordained", Bishop Ross said today.

"It is deeply disturbing that a church leader should regard such people as a contamination.

"Mr Tamaki is, of course, free to prevent LGBTQI people offering ministry in his own church.

"But to refer to them in this way is a denial of human dignity and encourages further stigmatisation and exclusion.

"The Gospel is about the love and reconciliation which we have been offered in Jesus Christ. Church leaders have a responsibility to model and preach this good news in ways that draw people together."

Source

• Nga Taonga
• Image: Stuff

The proposed Crimes Bill 2017 was presented after the Cook Islands Parliament established a committee to review public submissions about amending the Crimes Act.

Some religious leaders are opposing the change.

"If a person chooses to live a homosexual, bisexual, or transgender lifestyle, he or she is choosing a perversion of God's good design," claimed Tevai Matapo a senior church minister.

"The only hope for the abolition of the hatred and mistreatment of any group of people, including those engaged in sexual sin, is in submitting to God and being washed clean by Jesus Christ," he said.

The Te Tiare Association is the Cook Islands' only LGBTI group.

Valentino Wichman, who led the group's submission, has since called on the committee to make sure that there were no other parts of the new bill that would criminalise homosexuality.

"What people tend to forget is that there is a very real personal aspect to this argument of decriminalising homosexuality," Wichman explained in his submission.

"Everyone has a family member or friend that is lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transsexual, queer or intersex. There are real people affected behind this debate."

Vanuatu, Fiji, Palau and Nauru have have decriminalised homosexuality.

In Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu, anti-homosexuality law applies only to men.

Homosexuality is illegal in Solomon Islands for both men and women.

Source

• RNZ
• Eikon
• Image: Samoaplanet

A police spokesperson said on Thursday they had finished making inquiries into a video of Logan Robertson, pastor at Westcity Bible Church in Avondale, making "concerning comments" and would not be charging him with an offence. Continue reading

Robertson has no congregation or place of worship. Read More

The ninth man to lead the UN in its 71-year history has drawn opposition from gay rights and women's groups.

Guterres will replace Ban Ki-moon when he retires at the end of December.

The devout Catholic is against abortion, marriage equality and gay rights.

In 1995 he described homosexuality as "a mental disorder".

International gay rights organisations opposed Guterres's candidacy for the key position.

Gay activists in the US are calling on President Barack Obama to veto Guterres's appointment to the UN Security Council.

Australian women's groups are also speaking out about the appointment.

"It is outrageous that after 70 years, and vocal lobbying from women around the world saying that the next appointment must be a woman, that the UN is saying there is not a single woman on the planet capable of doing the job," Australia-based International Women's Development Agency chief Jo Hayter said.

"If we have a person sitting in this position who is not comfortable with women's choice, we have a leader from the past, not a visionary for the future."

International aid and development agencies are concerned the global push for women's rights and marriage equality could lose momentum under Guterres's leadership.

Portugal legalised abortion in 2007 after a national referendum.

State support for birth control was curtailed by the parliament in January this year.

Four women, including former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, were in the running for the top UN job that has never been given to a woman.

The former Portuguese prime minister and president held the post of the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015.

Source

• The New Daily
• Image: www.un.org

Tonga's homosexual and transgender community will be calling on government leaders to revise legislation in order to protect LGBTI people.

Tonga's Leiti Association has planned a national consultation with government leaders in December to petition for changes to the Criminal Offences Act.

The Act criminalises cross-dressing and sodomy, and can be punished with up to ten years in prison.

"This is going to be the first time that we actually invite people to come and sit around the table and talk with us and work together with us on such issues," said Henry Aho, the association's project officer.

During its periodic review by the Human Rights Council in 2013, Tonga requested that recommendations to decriminalise homosexuality be deferred for further consultation in the country.

Kefu said references in the Criminal Offences Act to consenting acts like sodomy would be looked at if the government decriminalised homosexuality.

But he believes decriminalisation will be strongly opposed by the public.

"So that matter is entirely in the hands of the political masters to consider the issue and make the ultimate decision and obviously they'll definitely refer it to the public."

"But knowing Tongan culture and the strength of Christian principles, there will be strong opposition to it. But it's a matter entirely for government to decide," he said."

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: radionz.co.nz

On Sept. 28, the local Shariah police known as Wilayatul Hisbah arrested the girls identified by age and initials as 18-year-old "AS" and 19-year-old "N" after police saw the girls embracing in a public place.

This arrest was in accordance with bylaws on the implementation of Shariah law in the fields of faith, worship and Islamic dissemination.

"In terms of human rights, the arrest is a violation," Father Paulus Christian Siswantoko, secretary of the Indonesian bishops' Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral for Migrant-Itinerant People, told ucanews.com.

"Everyone has the same dignity, whether they are gay or not. They are God's creation that must be protected," he said.

All religions, he added, "aim at protecting human dignity."

Siswantoko said that whether you accepted same-sex relations or not, attempts at intimidation violate the women's dignity.

"A right perspective on them being people with dignity and respect is needed. Never use intimidation in this kind of formation because it will disgrace human dignity," he said.

Sister Maria Resa of the Indonesian bishops' Secretariat of Gender and Women Empowerment said local customs in a conservative, autonomous area like Aceh often become a barrier.

"This is the difficulty. Thus, the local government has the authority to say no to anything violating human rights," she added.

Source

• ucanews.com
• Image: hrw.org

The Associated Press and Reuters reported that New Ways Ministry received VIP treatment and were given tickets to be in the front row of the audience.

The group said this contrasted with previous occasions when they were ignored by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

But according to a report in the Catholic News Agency, a pontifical household source said no requests are rejected for the free tickets for the "reparto speciale" in St Peter's Square.

Seats are available on a "first come, first served basis," and no chairs are specially reserved for any group of pilgrims, the source explained.

Another Vatican source said the group was treated the same as any other group of faithful in St Peter's Square.

Continue reading

Fifty members of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights, made a pilgrimage to Rome.

Their requests for VIP seats at the weekly audience were forwarded to Rome by the Vatican's ambassador to Washington and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

The group was invited to sit in the front row at the audience by Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the prefect of the papal household.

Sr Jeannine Gramick, the co-founder of New Ways Ministry, said their treatment was "a sign of movement that's due to the Francis effect".

"Pope Francis gives me hope," she told The Associated Press.

"To me, this is an example of the kind of willingness he has to welcome those on the fringes of the Church back to the centre of the Church."

The group's executive director, Francis DeBernardo, said New Ways Ministry had tried unsuccessfully under the previous two popes to get VIP seats for its Rome pilgrimages.

On their previous pilgrimages to Rome, they were ignored by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the pilgrims told media.

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he permanently prohibited the New Ways Ministry co-founders, Sister Jeannine Gramick, and the Rev. Robert Nugent, from ministering to gays.

In 1999, the CDF determined that New Ways didn't sufficiently adhere to Church teaching on the "intrinsic evil" of homosexual acts.

Rev. Nugent abided by the directive and died last year.

Sr Gramick has continued her ministry, changing religious orders to the Sisters of Loreto, and was at Wednesday's audience.

But the Vatican's list of attendees only identified the New Ways Ministry pilgrims as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto".

When a Vatican official read out the list of groups of pilgrims at the audience, he skipped over the group altogether.

Pope Francis didn't mention them, either.

"We didn't get the shout-out, but we were very, very close," Mr DeBernardo said.

As the Pope passed by, the group sang "All Are Welcome," a hymn symbolising their desire for a more inclusive Church.

Sources

• Associated Press
• Reuters
• Image: Reuters

It had been a year this month since marriage law was amended in New Zealand to allow same-sex marriage.

Fr Mark Chamberlain told the forum that Roman Catholics remain opposed to same-sex marriage.

"In the Catholic tradition, it is not possible for marriage to be widened beyond a man and a woman.

"That's something that's unthinkable for the Catholic tradition."

The Otago Daily Times reported that a questioner asked Fr Chamberlain why the Church was not shifting on gay marriage, when it is softening on other areas.

Fr Chamberlain said the Church was not changing.

Anglican Bishop Kelvin Wright of Dunedin said same-sex marriage was a "non-issue" for him, but opinions were divided in his church.

The Anglican Church is working on a way that people can disagree without being divided, he said.

The Presbyterian Church's Rev. Bruce Hamill said his church had a conservative stance on gay marriage, which should be rethought.

He said his own view was that people supporting gay rights were more in line with the thinking of Jesus.

Methodists had moved on after agonising over the issue, Rev. Greg Hughson said.

Forum organiser and Otago University Students' Association queer support officer Neil Ballantyne said that as a gay Christian, he found church attitudes disappointing.

It was not enough to be "middle of the road" on the issue, he said.

Churches must take a lead on the issue of gay rights, and should petition nations which actively discriminate against gay people, he argued.

The forum was jointly hosted by the University of Otago Centre for Theology and Public Issues and OUSA Queer Support.

Source

• Otago Daily Times
• Image: Neon Otago

Ruth Hunt has pledged to do more to win over "hearts and minds".

Announcing her priorities, Ms Hunt said she wanted to build on recent successes - including legal same-sex marriage - by helping change social attitudes.

"There has been a natural priority on powerful institutions, but now we have achieved full legal equality," she said.

"We now need to ensure society reflects the changes in our law.

"That means going right into our communities and seeing what matters in the lives of gay people across the country."

In previous work with Stonewall, Ms Hunt has been heavily involved in campaigns to secure marriage equality, give lesbians access to fertility treatment and end homophobic bullying in schools.

Last year, she criticised the Catholic Church for banning a London church from performing gay masses.

She called the ban a "real shame" for the safety of gay Catholics, but has frequently advocated better relationships with faith leaders.

Continue reading

An international Aids conference in Melbourne last week was told about the problematic results of such laws.

But men having sex with men remains illegal in more than one-third of all Pacific countries and territories.

Advocates argue such laws lead to discrimination and stigma against gay and transgender people and stop them from having HIV tests or treatment.

They also want community attitudes to shift and point to Samoa's acceptance of the Fa'afafine as an example.

In March last year, Samoa's government repealed a law which made it an offence for a male to impersonate a female.

But sex between men, regardless of consent, remains illegal.

Ken Moala, from the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network, says such laws are a relic of the colonial age.

He points to Papua New Guinea as having a particularly punitive law.

There, men having sex with men face up to 14 years in jail if caught.

Mr Moala said such laws lead to widespread stigma and discrimination.

This means Pacific nations are failing in trying to reach UNAid's vision of achieving "three zeroes" - zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination.

Such stigma prevents gay and transgender people from accessing vital HIV services, whether it be testing or treatment, he said.

"We have to be very careful in the Pacific because we are working within a traditional framework," Mr Moala noted.

"The idea is to advocate with politicians, with church leaders and with traditional leaders."

Source

• ABC
• Image: Jamaica Information Services

Archbishop John Nienstedt of Twin Cities, Minnesota, is being investigated by a prominent Minneapolis law firm hired by his archdiocese.

Archbishop Nienstedt authorised the investigation himself.

Numerous allegations have reportedly been received against Nienstedt, alleging he had a series of sexual relationships with priests, seminarians and other men.

Nienstedt said that the allegations are "absolutely and entirely false".

"The allegations do not involve minors or lay members of the faithful, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behaviour," he said.

The archbishop added that the allegations involve events that happened at least a decade ago.

Nienstedt came under fire last September for allegedly failing to report or discipline clergy suspected of molesting children.

This was after a canon lawyer he previously hired, Jennifer Haselberger, began leaking internal church documents that appeared to detail efforts to shield abusers.

Haselberger resigned her post in frustration last April.

Another top aide who subsequently quit had also told the archbishop he should resign.

The story about Nienstedt being investigated for alleged sexual impropriety was first published by the Commonweal journal.

Haselberger told Commonweal she understands investigators have received about 10 sworn statements alleging sexual impropriety by Nienstedt.

She added that "he also stands accused of retaliating against those who refused his advances or otherwise questioned his conduct".

Responding to Commonweal, Nienstedt dismissed the charges as a "personal attack against me due to my unwavering stance on issues consistent with church teaching, such as opposition to so-called same-sex marriage".

In 2012, Nienstedt campaigned hard against the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Minnesota, to no avail.

In December last year, Nienstedt was accused of touching a boy's behind while posing for a confirmation photo.

He denied this and took leave while a county prosecutor investigated, but no charges were brought and Nienstedt returned to his post fulltime in March.

Nienstedt often speaks on homosexuality, using controversial language or espousing unorthodox theories.

Homosexuality, he has written, "must be understood in the context of other human disorders: envy, malice, greed, etc."

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Wire
• Image: Star Tribune

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue called for a boycott of Guinness, Heineken and Sam Adams.

This was after the first two brewers withdrew sponsorship of New York's St Patrick's Day parade .

Sam Adams decided not to sponsor the Boston parade.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender groups were allowed to participate in the parades.

But they were not allowed to carry banners or signs identifying themselves or their cause.

"The parade has one cause: honouring St Patrick," Mr Donohue said.

"Those who disagree do not have to march - that's what diversity is all about."

He said concerns about diversity were misplaced.

He also called the New York parade "quintessentially Catholic", noting that it starts with a Mass.

"I urge Catholics, and all those who believe in tolerance, diversity, and the First Amendment, to join with me in boycotting these brews," he added.

Neither parade is organised by Catholic Church organisations.

The mayors of Boston and New York both boycotted the parades.

Mr Donohue said the beer companies, and the mayors, had been targeted by a "bullying campaign".

In a statement, Guinness said it would continue to work with community leaders to ensure parades have an inclusive policy.

"Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all," the statement continued.

"We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year's parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation," the company added.

The Ford Motor Company did not withdraw its parade sponsorship.

The Prime Minister of Ireland Enda Kenny took part in the parades in Boston and New York.

Sources:

• The Tablet
• Huffington Post
• Image: Food Republic

Support for government legislation criminalising homosexual acts and levying harsh penalties is widespread among Christians in Africa.

A Kenyan religious scholar said homosexuality is not new in Africa, but open promotion and marketing of it is.

Continue reading

But it is unclear whether MassEquality will be allowed to carry signs or use slogans.

Initially, one of the lead organisers of the parade, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, denied MassEquality permission to join the parade.

The latter had been trying for four years to get permission to join.

But this year the decision was reversed after political pressure, shifting a stance that has lasted for 20 years.

Boston's mayor Martin Walsh had threatened to boycott the parade over the exclusion.

He then attempted to broker a solution.

The Catholic Action League condemned the decision to allow the gay rights group into the parade.

It called on organisers to remove the name "St Patrick" from the parade, as it now has no meaningful connection to the Catholic saint.

The league, which operates separately from the Archdiocese of Boston, said "Catholic organisations should refuse to participate in a parade that hosts a group which demonises Catholic moral teachings as bigotry, hatred and prejudice".

"This decision is a milestone defeat for religious freedom, moral sanity, and what very little remains of Boston's once Catholic identity.

"As for the Archdiocese of Boston, its silence was as shameful as it was predictable," the league said in a statement.

MassEquality group director Karen Coredini said "that there is a conversation happening around allowing openly LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) people to march in this parade is historic".

The parade celebrates Boston's Irish heritage and honours war veterans.

Parade organisers said MassEquality helps LGBT veterans.

Sources

• Reuters
• Boston Globe
• LisaGraas.com
• Image: SouthBostontoday

"If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?" is the quote that earned the pontiff the title.

The holy father's made the statement during an interview with reporters in July on his way from Brazil to Rome.

The magazine cover features a photoshopped image of the pontiff with "NO H8" written on his cheek.

Pope Francis was selected ahead of nine leading personalities including Edie Windsor of the US Supreme Court's Defense of Marriage Act case, whom the magazine refers to as "a hero to LGBT Americans for taking the final punch in the fight against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act"

Further justifying its choice, the magazine said the fact Pope Francis leads over 1.2 billion Catholics all over the world, makes a difference.

For The Advocate, Francis's view on how the Catholic Church should approach LGBT people was best explained in his own words during an in-depth interview with America magazine in September.

"A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: 'Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person? We must always consider the person.""

The magazine notes that Pope Francis's stark change in rhetoric from his two predecessors, both who were at one time or another among The Advocate's annual Phobie Awards, makes what he's done in 2013 all the more daring.

Source: The Advocate

What did it mean? Was he changing church teaching? And how might it affect 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide?

Hundreds of news stories and thousands of blogs, tweets and commentaries later, most observers heard in Francis' statement a proposal to end to his predecessor's hard line on homosexuality. Pope Benedict XVI had barred men with "deep-seated homosexual" tendencies from seminaries, calling homosexuality an "objective disorder." But Francis said gays who sought to live faithfully — that is, celibate — were not to be judged or excluded from the church.

By looking to the individual's heart instead of his genitals, Francis demonstrated a commitment to those who are neglected, marginalized and disenfranchised, as he repeatedly has done during his four-month papal tenure. Yet there is one group more numerous than LGBTs in the church and significantly more neglected, disenfranchised and marginalized — for whom his ministrations fall short.

Who, you ask? Roman Catholic women.

During the same interview on the papal plane, Francis said, "Women in the church are more important than bishops and priests," just as "Mary is more important than the apostles." Continuing, the pope said the church needed to develop a theology that addressed the role of women. But, he clearly stated, those roles would never include the ordained ministry because Pope John Paul II expressly forbade it. (I leave it to Catholic scholars and theologians to explain why Francis can all but countermand Benedict's directives on gays but not John Paul's on women.) Continue reading

Sources

• Diane Winston in Los Angeles Times
• Image: DioSCG

Diane Winston teaches media and religion at USC's Annenberg School.

Ms Mayman, who has been senior minister at St Andrew's on the Terrace since 2002, will take up a position with Pitt St Uniting Church in December.

She has been in discussions with the central Sydney church since May and will perform her last service at St Andrew's on November 24. Continue reading

After St Mary's Primary Catholic School in Wimbledon, south London, confirmed inviting Stonewall to help staff address issues concerning homophobia and discrimination, the group said it had gone into "half a dozen" Catholic schools.

Stonewall, a registered charity, is highly critical of the Catholic Church's teachings on homosexuality.

The school inspectorate Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills) requires all schools to show evidence that staff are trained in how to tackle homophobic bullying.

The head teacher at St Mary's, Sarah Crouch, said she called the campaign group into the school to train staff "on how to tackle homophobic language and bullying".

She said: "As a school, and as Catholics, we are opposed to prejudice of any kind and felt it was important to tackle the issue of homophobic language and bullying.

"The training was very successful and we feel confident that if any incidents of this kind of language occurs our staff have the means to address it appropriately."

The decision to allow Stonewall into Catholic schools shocked some family campaigners.

Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator of the Safe at School campaign, said the presence of gay activists in primary schools would alarm parents.

She said: "Many parents will be very concerned that a gay rights organisation is considered to be an appropriate source of advice on how to deal with children using inappropriate language in the playground.

"If a primary school takes on Stonewall's agenda, young children will be exposed to issues which they are too young to understand properly."

Stonewall's head of education, Wes Streeting, said about half a dozen Catholic schools including St Mary's had been given the accolade of "Stonewall School Champion" and others had received Stonewall's resources through local authorities.

The resources included a "best practice" guide, with case studies describing how some schools put up Stonewall posters carrying the slogan "Different Families, Same Love", with cartoons of same-sex parents.

Sources:

Catholic Herald

The Tablet

Image: Wikimedia