From the sound of bagpipes echoing in St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, to the first ever concert of Irish and Scottish music in Protestant east Belfast and primary school-age banjo players holding their own in an afternoon pub performance, the city is buzzing with the sound of traditional music everywhere you turn.'

More than 500 people of all ages are taking the summer school classes to learn traditional music, song and dance, and there are thousands more attending talks, sessions and concerts.

Fiddle player and summer school tutor Martin Dowling, who has written about traditional music and the peace process, tells me that music did not escape the schism that the Troubles caused in the city in the 1970s.

"The Troubles pushed traditional music in Belfast into more hidden, segregated spaces and, although there had always been Protestants who played traditional music, a generation of urban Protestants rejected it as something that was exclusively Catholic."

Meanwhile, in the rest of Ireland there was an explosion in the popularity of traditional music with groups such as the Chieftains, Planxty and the Bothy Band, and the emergence of festivals and the annual summer schools which have become a key part of encouraging and nurturing traditional instrument playing, singing and dance culture.

Traditional players in the north talk about having to always travel long distances to go to summer schools and Ray Morgan, chair of the event's board, tells me he would take young people to schools over the border every year.

After the Good Friday agreement there was a significant increase in Catholics learning to play the music but organisations in the city that had been trying to create non-sectarian spaces for traditional music were up against the cultural schism left over from the Troubles.

It was Morgan who had the idea for a similar school in Belfast, and who, with Dónal O'Connor - a fiddle player, film-maker, and now the event's artistic director - made it a reality in 2015.

"Traditional music was undervalued and hidden here compared to the south and I thought this would help change that," Morgan says.

O'Connor describes how widening access to every community in the city is at the core of what the organisers set out to achieve.

"From day one we wanted, given the fractured society we have here after the Troubles, to find a way to make everybody feel that this music was theirs. We are trying to normalise all these things that were perceived to be for the other." Read more

• Dave McNally writes for The Guardian newspaper

Sharma perceives his personal mission as a small but significant effort to promote the idea of communal peace. He wishes to convey to the general public through his works that it is perfectly acceptable to visit a place of worship that does not belong to one's religion, and this should not be viewed as an act against Hinduism.

Despite identifying as Hindu, Sharma does not consider himself to be particularly religious. He acknowledges that Hindus generally do not visit non-Hindu places of worship, but Sharma believes that this mindset needs to be changed. Read more

The walk of hope was a simple street crossing: from the Protestant St Macartin's Cathedral to the Catholic St Michael's Church. It was an uncomplicated act with powerful symbolism.

It was also the first time she had stepped inside a catholic church in Ireland.

Those few steps were seen as a giant stride towards reconciliation in a town that had been devastated by the 1987 Remembrance Day bombing. It has been described as an uncomplicated act with powerful symbolism.

"She didn't have to say words, just her actions spoke louder than words by actually crossing the street," say the Dean of St Macartin's, the Very Rev Kenneth Hall and Monsignor Peter O'Reilly of St Michael's. They had been hosting her that day-

The following day, the Queen shook hands with the then Sinn Féin deputy first minister and former IRA leader Martin McGuinness in another iconic gesture of goodwill.

"I think we did know the significance of what she did (with that simple but important gesture", Hall said later.

The next year, the two churchmen were invited to Buckingham Palace where the Queen was keen to hear what progress had been made.

"We had to file past the Queen and she looked at the both of us ...and said 'Are you two still working together?' Of course we were," Dean Hall recounted.

"We had a private audience with her just a short space of time afterwards, probably for about five or six minutes.

"I remember she asked us that very bold question, she looked over the glasses and she asked us, 'What are you doing to further reconciliation work in Enniskillen?'"

Monsignor O'Reilly added: "It was a bit like your grandmother asking you have you done your homework, it was as direct as that".

Hall says in 2014, when we met the Prince (now King) Charles III, he told us to ‘keep it up'.

On Sunday - 10 years later - the two churches came together again. They held a joint Service of Prayer and Reflection to pay tribute to the Queen's life.

Those attending recreated the Queen's short journey by also crossing the street between the two churches.

"Everything the Queen did was rooted in her faith," Hall says.

"She had a deep witness to Christian faith, and out of that sprung her love of country, her devotion to God and her desire for reconciliation."

Hall called Sunday's joint Catholic-Anglican service as a "continuation" of the events in 2012.

O'Reilly agrees. "The service is to look back, but there is a sense that by literally doing the walking ourselves, we are signifying that we have to keep doing the work.

"Sunday will give expression to the challenge the Queen gave us to keep working together."

Source

• Belfast Telegraph
• BBC

Steve Bielski says he would not accept Muslims or any non-Christians praying at the council because they believed in different gods.

Councillors were discussing a proposal to invite members of different faiths to open meetings with a prayer, a job that's traditionally been done by local Christian leaders.

Bielski told RNZ he only said those things because the press was not present and it was in the confidence of the meeting.

But he stood by his comments.

"Obviously if I said it there, and if it's not twisted and everything like that I would stand by it because that's exactly what it is.

I tell you what, there is a lot of things said when the press are not there because we have the confidence to talk about some things," he said.

Fellow councillor Shane Casey witnessed the outburst at last month's meeting.

"A councillor was not happy that we were considering bringing in other faiths.

The councillor's mannerism was agitated and upset and was quite adamant the council should only be opened by, you know, a Christian group.

Casey said he does not agree with Mr Bielski. He said however, that everyone was entitled to their opinions and how they feel.

In 1989 the Manawatu District Council adopted a prayer addressed to "Almighty God" but without reference to any religious denomination.

The Council changed its policy and from 17 December 2009. Since then the Council meetings have been opened with prayer by members of the Feilding Christian Leaders Association on a rotational basis. They use their own prayers.

Last year, Local Government NZ president Dave Cull said councils were free to open meetings how they choose.

Source

• rnz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image:

There is no evidence in the results of local anti-Semitism or Islamophobia in the form of a trust deficit displayed towards Jews or Muslims compared to mainstream Christian denominations.

But there is some evidence of moderate disproportional social prejudice towards non-mainstream Evangelical Christians, with nearly four in ten of the population distrusting them.

The conclusion does not demonstrate that hate towards minority religious groups does not exist in New Zealand.

Media reporting both before and after the Christchurch shootings clearly indicates that it does.

The Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria Business School conducted the survey.

Colmar Brunton collected data for the survey from 1000 people aged 18 and over and interviewed them online.

The survey was designed to provide a representative picture of the New Zealand population aged 18 and over.

Quotas were applied at the sampling and selection stage for this online survey.

Results were also weighted to be representative of New Zealand by age, gender, ethnicity and region.

They emphasised "living in New Zealand" as the survey was not interested in identifying New Zealanders' trust in, for example, worldwide Catholicism or Islam.

While the survey is by no means a classical random survey, those who conducted it believe that the results provide a good picture of the relative trust of the population.

Participants were asked to rate their level of trust in 8 different "religious groups".

One of the groups was "atheistic/agnostic."

A "mean trust score" was obtained from this data.

The variance between the highest score of 3.2 (Buddhists) and the lowest score of 2.7 (Evangelicals) was 0.5.

In terms of the mean trust score, that difference is of a size that statisticians describe as medium.

The remaining scores ranged from 3.1. for Jews, Hindus, Atheists/Agnostics and 3.0 for Protestants, Muslims and Catholics.

This range does not create a statistically distinguishable difference between them.

Headlines such as "Buddhism most trusted religion in New Zealand", while attracting attention, are rather hard to give any meaningful explanation to.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: newsweek.com

Grimshaw's book shows that the events of 15 March in Christchurch were not simply an appalling aberration.

The cry of ‘This Is Not Us' was heartfelt but much more hope than reality. Continue reading

Australian Kmart customers Anthony Dorsett and his wife, Marelynda, were attempting to print photographs for a church group in a kiosk at Kmart.

They found that certain Christian-related words — including "God," "church," "Jesus," "Jewish" and "Bible" — were deemed to be profanity and replaced by asterisks, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Kmart said that the ban on Christian words was not intentional and was not a targeted attempt to suppress Christian values.

"This is a system error and it will be updated overnight. It in no way reflects our views as a business," the spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.

"At Kmart, we support diversity and inclusiveness irrespective of race, religion, age, gender, ethnicity, ability, appearance or attitude and we want our teams and stores to reflect the communities in which we operate."

Journalists from the Daily Telegraph decided to investigate the supposed glitch to see if words associated with other religions were also banned.

According to News.com reporters found that words including "Islam," "Allah" and "Koran" were allowed.

7 News's Sunrise host Sam Armytage called that excuse "rubbish" and her guest, social commentator Jane Caro, said Kmart should apologise.

"They just need to say 'Wow, stupid, sorry. We've fixed it. We didn't mean to give anybody offence'."

Daisy Cousens from Sky News also condemned Kmart saying blaming it on the software is "a joke" and the word selection highlights a "huge double standard," the Christian Post reports.

She said, "It's like it's a joke. Sure, they've blamed it on a software error but isn't that what you blame everything on when something goes wrong that's somewhat controversial?

"This is just unbelievable. It's such a huge double standard."

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• christianpost.com
• christianheadlines.com
• Image: morefm.co.nz

It seems we're in favour of diversity and inclusivity if we're talking about race, colour, gender and sexual identity, the latter two of which keep spinning off into ever-new permutations.

But puzzlingly, we're only partially tolerant when it comes to religious belief.

We are encouraged to be tolerant toward Islam, especially since the Christchurch atrocities, and so we should be.

The right to practise one's religion, at least unless it interferes with the rights of others, is one we should all unquestioningly support.

This applies even when secular society disapproves of some of those religions, or scratches its collective head in bemusement at their practices and beliefs.

But if freedom of religion is one cornerstone of a free society, so is freedom of expression, which includes the right to subject religion, along with every other institution of society, to critical scrutiny and even ridicule.

Virtually all religions - whether we're talking Catholicism, Mormonism, Judaism, the Destiny Church or the Exclusive Brethren - possess what, to non-believers, are quirks, absurdities, hypocrisies and cruelties that render them ripe for mockery and condemnation.

For decades, comedians and satirists have taken joyous, blasphemous advantage of this freedom.

How people laughed, for example, at Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, with its wickedly subversive song Every Sperm is Sacred - a dig at Catholic teaching on birth control.

If it offended devout Catholics - well, tough. Freedom to ridicule is the flipside of freedom to worship.

Mainstream Christianity is still considered fair game by comedians and satirists, and no-one bats an eyelid. But somehow, Islam seems to be off-limits.

Even a cool, reasoned criticism of Islam is likely to excite accusations of Islamophobia.

The champions of diversity don't seem to grasp that you can abhor the grotesque excesses carried out by Islamic fanatics while simultaneously defending the right of peaceful, law-abiding Muslims, such as those in Christchurch, to practise their religion. Continue reading

• Karl du Fresne is a former musician and journalist for over 40 years. He is currently a columnist for The Dominion Post and a freelance journalist, writing on a broad range of subjects from politics to sport. His blog is at: http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

On Saturday, the first day of a two-day trip, he told Morocco's Catholic community they should avoid attempting to convert Muslims.

Instead, he suggested they should seek to have good ties with people of all faiths.

"Christians are a small minority in this country. Yet, to my mind, this is not a problem, even though I realize that at times it can be difficult for some of you," he said at a meeting with Catholic community leaders in Rabat's cathedral.

"The Church grows not through proselytism but by attraction," Francis said to applause.

"This means, dear friends, that our mission as baptised persons, priests and consecrated men and women, is not really determined by the number or size of spaces that we occupy, but rather by our capacity to generate change and to awaken wonder and compassion," he said.

Francis backs Morocco's efforts to promote a moderate version of Islam.

"We believe that God created human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and he calls them to live as brothers and sisters and to spread the values of goodness, love and peace," he said.

"That is why freedom of conscience and religious freedom, which is not limited to freedom of worship alone, but allows all to live in accordance with their religious convictions, are inseparably linked to human dignity."

In response, Morocco's King Mohammed VI underlined the importance of education to tackle radicalism.

He said the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) were created "to open up to one another and to know one another."

Religions offer venues to fight against radicalism through knowing one another, which will help rise to the challenges of our tormented times through education, the king said.

"To tackle radicalism, the solution is neither military nor financial; that solution has but one name: Education."

The monarch noted that in the face of ideology-linked violence and extremism prevailing in many parts of the world today, "it is clear the dialogue between the Abrahamic religions is insufficient."

He pleaded for rethinking the role of education in the struggle against extremism.

The king says ignorance, or erroneous interpretation of the peaceful and humanity-celebrating messages of religions, is the primary source of many of the problems facing the world.

"My plea for education is an indictment of ignorance. It is binary conceptions and the fact of not knowing one another well enough that are threatening our civilisations; it is certainly not religion."

When taught, understood, and practised as recommended in the scriptures, religion can be a source of blossoming relations between people and countries, he said.

On Sunday when celebrating Mass, Francis told the congregation that he encourages them "to continue to let the culture of mercy grow, a culture in which no one looks at others with indifference, or averts his eyes in the face of their suffering."

The languages used at the Mass reflected the fact that the Catholic community in Morocco is made up almost entirely of foreigners. The readings were in Spanish, Arabic and French; English, Portuguese and Italian were added for the prayers of the faithful.

More than a dozen Muslim leaders attended the Mass in a sign of friendship and were given seats near the front of the arena.

Source

• Morocco World News
• DW
• Reuters
• America Magazine
• Catholic News Service
• Catholic Herald
• Image: France 24

And on Wednesday At Al-Madinah School in Mangere, Auckland, a haka, prayer and waiata rang out at an assembly to remember those affected by the Christchurch mosque shootings.

St Thomas of Canterbury College, a Catholic school, learned that a former student who was a Muslim, Hussein Hazim Al-Umari, was killed in the attack.

In honour of Al-Umari and the other 49 victims, head boy Cameron Brewitt and a large number of pupils and ex-students organised to pay their respects by visiting the outside of the mosque at the Students' Uniting in Love Memorial.

They sang a Fijian hymn and performed their moving school haka.

Brewitt says he is proud his Catholic school is inclusive of other religions and cultures.

He told the New Zealand Herald that the school respected different cultures and religions.

"The diversity in our school really highlights the respect and the amount of outpouring for this tragedy, and again highlights the respect we have for everyone no matter what ethnicity you are or the religion you follow," he said.

At Al-Madinah School hundreds of school children, students and politicians had gathered in remembrance.

Everyone stood for the national anthem, but it was a rousing Ka Mate haka from a handful of boys which was met with raucous applause.

As the cry finished ringing out, the boys, in their white-and-black traditional uniforms, vigorously beat their feet on the ground.

Students from St Paul's school in Auckland sang a rendition of the Maori hymn "Mo Maria", after they were invited inside the Al-Masjid Al Jamie Mosque in Ponsonby on Tuesday.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• tvnz.co.nz
• Image: screenshot tvnz.co.nz

He doesn't see himself as a role model for young Muslims but said if he can inspire anyone to follow their dreams and stick to their beliefs then he would be proud of that.

He says Muslim athletes such as All Black Sonny Bill Williams are great because they bring the topic of religion and sport to the forefront.

"He has been fantastic in terms of creating that awareness around religion and sport. Generally relating awareness for all religions."

Patel has played cricket since he was a child and never encountered major issues when practising his faith.

"Everyone is really respectful of what everyone believes in," he says.

But having chosen a sport that takes up the better half of a day, cricket and Islam is a juggling act.

Setting his alarm for prayer at 6am probably won't make him the perfect room-mate on tour.

" You don't really want to disturb your room-mates or disturb their routine, but overall everyone has been really accommodating and understanding," he said.

He prays five times a day, visits the mosque once a week and once a year fasts for an entire month.

Fasting is more of a mental challenge for him than a physical one, but Patel's belief helps him through it and he has never found it alters his on-field performance.

Patel has finished as the highest wicket-taker in New Zealand's Plunkett Shield in the last three seasons and has just been included in the Test squad bound for the UAE to play Pakistan in a three-game series this December.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• crictracker.com
• Image: indianexpress.com

Last Sunday over 3,500 people joined a charity run organized by Indonesia's Jakarta Archdiocese to raise money to build churches in various parts of the country.

Most were Catholics but Muslims also took part.

Sister Vincensa of the Followers of Jesus joined the 2.5km charity walk with several other sisters from her parish.

She was impressed by how well organised the event was, especially the way it drew people together from different faiths.

"It was really outstanding, not just Catholics but non-Catholics too. We can really feel the spirit of 'unity in diversity'," she told ucanews.com.

At the same time, Catholic groups have collected and are distributing aid for thousands of mainly Mulsim people affected by a deadly earthquake that struck Lombok, Indonesia's popular tourist island.

"Catholic schools have collected tents, and my parishioners have collected rice and instant noodles," Father Laurensius Maryono of St Mary Immaculate Parish in Mataram, the provincial capital, told ucanews.com.

"St Anthony Catholic Hospital has sent teams of medical workers to serve those affected by the quake in Sembalun sub-district, the worst-hit area," he said.

The parish's emergency response team went to the district on 31 July — along with teams from the Diocese of Denpasar and the Mataram chapter of the Union of Catholic University Students of the Republic of Indonesia.

Source

• ucanews.com
• catholicphilly.com
• Image: ucanews.com

It's a way of embracing the New Zealand lifestyle while adhering to religious requirements that prevent men seeing their bodies, Esra Qatarneh said. Continue reading

The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) statistics were unveiled ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which took place on April 19 and 20 in the United Kingdom.

The figures show that the 53-state Commonwealth is "a vibrant multi-faith entity, but that religious freedom is still severely lacking in some countries."

Using data from the Pew Global Religious Futures Project, the figures show that Lesotho and Botswana closely follow New Zealand in the religious freedom rankings.

Malaysia heads the list of those with the least religious freedom, followed by India and Nigeria.

Christianity is the largest religious community in 43 countries of the Commonwealth, although only eight designate it as an official state religion.

The most religiously diverse country is Singapore, followed by Mozambique, while Papua New Guinea, which is 99.2 percent Christian, is the least.

Zaki Cooper, a CCJ trustee, said: "With its population of 2.4 billion people in 53 countries, spanning six continents, the Commonwealth is a truly multi-faith entity.

"Every major religion is practised within the boundaries of the Commonwealth, and each of these major religions is to be found in some way, shape or form in every Commonwealth country."

Cooper said while Christians are the largest religious grouping in 43 of the countries, many of them have significant minorities from different communities.

He said the survey showed a mixed picture for religious freedom. There is persecution of minorities in some Commonwealth countries.

Eight of the 53 Commonwealth countries appear on the Open Doors World Watch List - the ranking of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Source

• jewishnews.timesofisrael.com
• premier.org.uk
• huffingtonpost.co.uk
• Image: churchtimes.co.uk

The Auckland Turban Day will be held at the Aotea Square on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading

He has sent a message of greeting to "all our Hindu brothers and sisters as you celebrate one of the most important and brightest celebrations, "Deepawali" or "festival of lights".

"I take this opportunity on behalf of the Catholic Church in Fiji to wish you all a very joyous and meaningful Diwali."

The Archbishop said,"Our religious beliefs, values and traditions are at the core of our identity as people. They can help us learn from each other's rich traditions and to create a just and peaceful human family."

Chong said Deepawali's basic message is the triumph of good over evil, a conversion from darkness to light, from captivity to freedom.

It is about forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.

So it carries a similar message to that of two important Christian celebrations namely Easter and Epiphany.

"Both of these celebrate Jesus Christ's victory over the darkness of sin and death. They reveal Christ as the light of our lives and of our world, a light that dispels darkness and restores our relationship with one another and with God."

The message of Deepawali communicates to us the goodness of God who enables us to banish all darkness and evil from our lives and the world.

Source

• Fiji Times
• Image: Fiji Live

A prayer mat is spread, a candle lit and the colourful robes of a bronze deity are smoothed.

The door of an old church is opened. A moment of meditation is observed. Continue reading

Despite their different faiths, the two houses of worship are friendly, helpful neighbours — and an example of pluralism in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation at a time of heightened fears over religious intolerance.

"We respect each other," said Nur Alam, an imam at the Sunda Kelapa Grand Mosque which opened in 1971. "If we never offend other people, then we will be respected."

Across the street, Adriaan Pitoy is a pastor at St. Paul's Church which was built in 1936 under the Dutch colonial administration.

Known locally as the Gereja Protestan di Indonesian Bagian Barat "Paulus", Jakarta (St. Paul's Protestant Church in West Indonesia, Jakarta) or in short GPIB Jakarta, it is a Reformed church.

"Our relationship is just one of many steps we take," he said of the neighbours at the mosque. "We also go to other mosques to promote dialogue. Our relationship with our friends next door is normal."

For the two houses of worship, normal means sharing parking spaces during busier services: Friday Prayer for the mosque, Sunday service for the church.

They also host interfaith dialogue sessions and even volleyball tournaments.

During Ramadan, the Muslim holy fasting month, the staff at St. Paul's, some of whom are Muslim, carry boxes of food to the mosque for worshipers there to break their fast.

Source

• New York Times
• Revolvy.com
• Image: New York Times

Cardinal Reinhard Marx is urging "verbal disarmament" and says the German parliament (Bundestag) has a special dignity which must take priority in political confrontations.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the first far-right party to be elected to the Bundestag since the Nazis were defeated at the end of World War II.

"For Christians, who'll be present in all parties, topics of fundamental importance will include dealing with foreigners seeking our protection and with our society's poor and disadvantaged. ... In the common struggle for the right path, black-and-white images of hate and exclusion aren't appropriate."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union coalition polled 33 percent against the opposition Social Democratic Party's 20.5 percent.

The anti-immigrant AfD scored 12.6 percent of the vote.

Marx says he is concerned about "increasing populism" in Europe.

"Nationalism and the desire for demarcation and foreclosure" could not be "combined with the Christian message," he says.

Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin is concerned about the way the election results increase people's "fear of upheaval" in Germany.

He pledged church backing for "an urgently needed debate on values and commitments." (The church in Germany is one of the organs of state.)

"These results pose a great challenge for us as a church - we must not give up the democratic struggle for a prosperous coexistence," Koch says.

"People feel they have become alien in society - [they fear] that digitisation is threatening their jobs, that refugees and migrants are threatening their homeland. Meanwhile, the religious homelessness of most people also reinforces their cultural homelessness."

Support for the AfD, which has vowed to ban Muslim minarets and burqas, and reintroduce permanent border controls, was highest in formerly communist-ruled eastern Germany.

Source

• The Catholic Register
• Image: BBC

Indonesians abroad also held vigils in cities including Amsterdam, Toronto and Melbourne, Australia.

Months of huge protests against Ahok by Islamic hardliners and the unexpectedly severe sentence have undermined Indonesia's reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam.

But a strong backlash has also emerged, led by moderate Muslims who worry that conservative Islamists are wrecking Indonesia's tradition of religious tolerance.

While most people in Indonesia practise a moderate form of Islam, the influence of radicals has been growing - particularly after mass protests last year against Ahok which were led by hardliners.

"Islam is different from how the Islamic Defenders Front portrays it," said Mr Mohammad Nuruzzaman, head of strategic research for Ansor, a moderate Muslim youth movement that has been working with the police to break up hardline Muslim gatherings.

Nuruzzaman compared the radical groups to the Indonesian Communist Party, a bogeyman from Indonesia's past.

"The goal of communists and those who support the caliphate are similar - both want all countries in the world to be run under one system," he said.

In another move last week, police in East Java, apparently acting on the urging of moderate Muslims or nationalists, shut down a planned university event featuring Mr Felix Siauw, a Chinese Indonesian convert to Islam who has become a major hardline preacher.

Source

• www.stuff.co.nz
• straitstimes.com
• Image: a.abcnews.com