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In the News

  • Anglican Ink: Congo sacks British canon over gay marriage
    April 9th, 2017

    An African diocese has stripped a high profile English priest of his title of canon, declaring the Rev. Jeremy Pemberton's same-sex marriage and his agitation for change in the Church of England's teachings on human sexuality renders him unqualified to hold the honorary title in the Congolese church.

    In a letter dated 25 March 2017 to the Archbishop of Canterbury's advisor for Anglican affairs, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, the Bishop of Boga in the Anglican Province of the Congo stated the Rev. Jeremy Pemberton is "no longer recognized" as a canon of Boga Diocese.

    Read more.

  • BBC: Resurrection did not happen, say quarter of Christians
    April 9th, 2017

    A quarter of people who describe themselves as Christians in Great Britain do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, a survey commissioned by the BBC suggests.

    However, almost one in 10 people of no religion say they do believe the Easter story, but it has "some content that should not be taken literally".

    A fifth of non-religious people believe in life after death, the poll suggests.

    Read more.

  • Mail: UK halal slaughterhouse investigated for animal cruelty
    April 8th, 2017

    One of the largest halal slaughterhouses in Britain is being investigated over allegations of animal cruelty.

    Undercover filming claims to show a slaughterman repeatedly sawing at the necks of sheep with a knife as they pass down a conveyor belt.

    The animals appear not to have been killed instantly – as should be the case – and some were seen fitting and jumping as they went down the line.

    Read more.

  • New Now Next: New Mexico bans ex-gay conversion therapy
    April 7th, 2017

    New Mexico has become the latest state to ban so-called reparative therapy on minors, as Republican governor today signed into law a measure that bans doctors, nurses and licensed therapists from trying to alter someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.

    The state is now the seventh to prohibit conversion therapy, which has been discredited by the AMA and most every other medical and psychological organization as unscientific, unproven and harmful. A number of cities—including Cincinnati, Seattle, and Washington, DC—have outlawed the practice, as well.

    Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D-Albuquerque), who authored the New Mexico bill, called its signing historic.

    Read more.

  • Washington Blade: New Mexico latest state to ban discredited 'ex-gay' therapy
    April 7th, 2017

    New Mexico Gov. Susanna Martinez signed into law on Friday a measure against widely discredited "ex-gay" conversion therapy, making the Land of Enchantment the seventh state to prohibit ban the practice for youth.

    In a message to the legislature, the Republican governor said she signed the legislation, Senate Bill 122, out of belief "certain practices" harm children, although she never explicitly names the practice.

    "I've spent my career fighting for kids, both as a prosecutor and as governor," Martinez said. "It is for this reason that I sign Senate Bill 121, which bans certain practices that have been shown to cause harm to children."

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  • Church Times (£): CLC criticises judge before tribunal ruling
    April 7th, 2017

    The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) has criticised an employment tribunal judge for suggesting that people should not raise their religious beliefs in a workplace unless they were first asked about them. Judge Martin Kurrein made his comments at a hearing last Thursday, brought by a nursing sister, Sarah Kuteh, who was dismissed by the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust in August 2016 after offering to pray with patients at the Darent Valley Hospital, where she had worked for nine years.

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  • Christian Today: New Bishop of Sheffield announced after 'highly individualised attacks' forced Philip North to stand down
    April 7th, 2017

    The new Bishop of Sheffield has been announced as Pete Wilcox, currently Dean of Liverpool Cathedral, after Philip North withdrew under intense pressure from opponents.

    Announcing the appointment, the Bishop of Doncaster Peter Burrows, said Dr Pete Wilcox was a 'genuinely humble holy and committed servant with a real sense of calling to serve the diocese'.

    Wilcox admitted these 'are unusual circumstances and not circumstances any of us would have chosen'.

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  • C-Fam: Pro-lifers celebrate huge win at UN Commission
    April 7th, 2017

    The UN Commission on Population and Development ended Friday afternoon with a frustrated chairman withdrawing her draft of a resolution and the meeting ending without an agreement. The meeting had become bogged down in conflicting views of human sexuality.

    The backdrop of the meeting was U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw over $75 million from the UN Population Fund, an action that sent shockwaves through the annual commission. European countries retaliated by loading up a document with controversial sexual rights language that caused member states to reject the resolution for the second time in three years.

    While delegations traded blame in their parting statements at the end of the commission, the intransigence of abortion groups and their supporters from Europe and Latin America was plainly in sight.

    Read more.

  • Christian Today: BBC Religion coverage a 'mess' and 'dangerously out of touch', says former presenter
    April 7th, 2017

    The BBC's religion coverage 'is dangerously out of touch with faith communities', according to a former Sunday programme presenter.

    Roger Bolton blasted the BBC in a comment for the Church Times on Friday after it was revealed the Religion and Ethics department in Salford would fold.

    It came after the BBC removed its guarantee to produce Songs of Praise in house and then lost on a three-year contract bid to a joint pitch from Avanti Media and Nine Lives Media.

    Read more.

  • Independent: European Parliament's biggest political group calls for EU-wide ban on Islamic face veil
    April 7th, 2017

    The European Parliament's biggest political grouping has said it supports the introduction of a European Union-wide ban on Islamic face veils

    The European People's Party adopted the measure as an official policy at its annual congress in Malta this week, claiming that the ban should be introduced "both for reasons of security and because seeing one another's faces is an integral part of human interaction in Europe".

    The EPP, a centre-right liberal conservative grouping, holds 216 seats in the 751 member European Parliament and is affiliated with major governing parties such as Angela Merkel's CDU, the French Republicains and Spain's People's Party.

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