|
| |
|
|
|
|
Recomendar |
|
|
Agregar a
favoritos |
|
|
Página de inicio |
|
|
¿Quiénes somos? |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kenyan
pastor to head up World Council of Churches
Geneva, 8-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
Samuel Kobia, an ordained
Methodist minister from Kenya, has been elected as the new General
Secretary of the Swiss-based ecumenical organisation, the so-called
'World Council of Churches (WCC).'
The present incumbent, Konrad Raiser, is due to retire in December.
Kobia, who is the first African to hold the office and currently
holds the post of Special Representative for Africa in the WCC,
was elected by 78 votes to 52 for the other candidate, a Lutheran
minister from Norway, Trond Bakkevig. There were 4 abstentions
among the members of the 134-strong Central Committee.
The WCC is an ecumenical grouping including 341 Protestant and
Orthodox churches from more than 100 countries, but few evangelicals
are involved because of its liberal stance on many issues. Kobia
also has a long history in inter-denominational cooperation,
first as leader of the Christian Student Movement in Kenya and
then as General Secretary of the National Council of Churches
in the East African nation. He has written two books about the
political and social problems of Africa.
Kobia, married with four children, has held several posts within
the WCC and was chosen, along with Bakkevig for the final vote,
from a shortlist of four, after many other candidates were sifted
from the process. He is the third Methodist to hold the top
WCC post since the organisation's beginnings in 1948, following
Philip Potter from the Dominican Republic and Emilio Castro
from Uruguay. There is unlikely to be much of a shift in policy
at the WCC with this appointment, and closer relations with
the Roman Catholic Church may be anticipated.
Source: ALC. Editing: ACPress.net
Norwegian
aid workers to stay in Iraq
Geneva, 8-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
'Churches in Joint Action',
a project linked to the World Council of Churches, has announced
its intention of staying in Iraq despite the attack on the United
Nations building and the general instability in the country.
Atle Sommerfeldt, General Secretary of the Church of Norway's
aid organisation, said "it is very important not to abandon
the Iraqi people just when the needs are desperate. We cannot
allow the terrorists to tell an aid organisation when it can
or cannot do its work." Robert Edgar, a WCC leader in the
USA, commented: "If we are still looking for a just peace
in Iraq, or between Israel and Palestine, the circle of violence
must be destroyed. In both situations, international cooperation
is crucial in the search for a solution."
Source: PE. Editing: ACPress.net
Make
or break time for wayward American Anglicans
Madrid, 11-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
Critics across Christendom
are reminding everybody that the Lambeth Conference voted, five
years ago, that homosexual practice is incompatible with the
teaching of Holy Scripture, by a resounding 526 votes to 70.
Yet small unorthodox groups continue to accept homosexual clergy
and give blessings to same-sex couples.
Edward Little, another American Anglican bishop, says his church
"is a fly on the American religious landscape and it seems
we attract more attention than we deserve. Perhaps because we
are this strange bridge between Protestantism and Catholicism,
or perhaps because we take all our decisions in public."
The truth is that the Anglican or Episcopal Church in the USA
forms a very small part of the Protestant church scene in that
country.
Much of the criticism of the decision to appoint an active homosexual
to the bishopric has come from Africa and Asia, the parts of
the world where the Anglican Church is growing most rapidly.
Lim Cheng Ean, Bishop of Malaysia, said "practising homosexuality
is neither culturally nor legally acceptable" in his country
and added that he was looking into breaking his links with American
Anglicans.
A similar appointment in England was thwarted by fierce opposition
this summer, and a spokesman for the Anglican Church in South
America said "the Convention's vote is contrary to the
clear teachings of the Bible and Anglican doctrine on marriage.
If Canon Robinson is appointed, it will place the American Episcopal
Church outside the Anglican Communion."
Source: Agencias. Editing: ACPress.net
Papal
escape tunnel restored
Rome, 11-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
The current incumbent
is probably a little past ducking down escape tunnels, but the
secret passage linking the Vatican with Sant' Angelo Castle
in Rome has been restored and opened to the public.
Work began in 2000 and visitors may now walk along 800 metres
of the so-called 'Borgo Corridor' because of the area of the
city under which it passes. It formed part of a wall which surrounded
the original Basilica of St Peter as a protective measure for
the tomb supposedly containing the remains of the apostle.
For centuries, the passage was used by Popes to escape invaders.
In 1527, Clement VII took refuge in the castle when fleeing
from the troops of Spanish king, Charles V, whose army sacked
Rome, en episode which gave rise to the well-known saying that
the Spanish are more papist than the Pope.
Source: Zenit. Editing: ACPress.net
|
|
L
a t i n . A m e r i c a |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cult
accused of murdering children in Brazil
Rio de Janeiro, 8-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
Two young Brazilians
castrated 13 years ago by members of a cult whose headquarters
is in Argentina will be the principal witnesses at the trial
of five people accused of torture and murder.
Otoniel Bastos Costa, 23, and Wandiclei Oliveira Pinheiro, 22,
survived the macabre rituals committed by members of the Superior
Universal Lineament (SUL), a group which believes that children
born since 1981 carry "terrible energy". The accused,
who include two doctors and a 73-year-old woman, are charged
with the murder of six children, aged between 8 and 13, and
of having first castrated them. The trial is being held in the
city of Belem, the provincial capital of Pará in Brazil.
Five other children remain on the disappeared list while a further
five managed to escape the awful rituals carried out in the
1990s in the town of Altamira. Some of the victims were also
sodomised and stabbed.
Source: Efe. Editing: ACPress.net
38 Protestants murdered in Colombia so far this
year
Bogota, 8-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
The Protestant community
is alarmed at the increase in the number of murders committed
against them in recent months by Colombian armed groups. Thirty-eight
pastors and church members have been killed so far this year.
A report published to coincide with the first anniversary of
Alvaro Uribe's presidency was presented by Mennonite leader
Ricardo Esquivia, a member of the Evangelical Church Council
of Colombia. He said that civilians in rural areas were in the
front line of the Colombian conflict which produces around 30,000
deaths a year, and that Protestants formed part of that suffering.
"Pastors, lay leaders and church members, generally from
small, Pentecostal groups in poor, rural areas are the victims
of violence because they offer help to those affected by the
war - whether they belong to paramilitary groups or the guerrillas."
A number of the deaths have been of youngsters and children.
Esquivia also criticised the government for consuming a huge
part of the economy in their fight against the guerrillas, and
for the restrictions they placed on the civilian population
and democratic liberty.
Source: PE, ENI. Editing:
ACPress.net
Church
role against violence in Peru recognised
Lima, 8-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
The final report into
the violence and human rights abuses committed in Peru between
1980 and 2000 has just been presented to President Alejandro
Toledo by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission charged with
investigating the period. In their report, they include a special
mention of the work against violence carried out by evangelicals,
often at great personal risk.
The report recognises that both evangelicals and Catholics helped
protect civilians from the violence and abuse so prevalent at
that time. It dedicates a paragraph to the role of evangelical
pastors and church leaders in their efforts to coordinate nationally
the protection of human rights. It mentions "the worth
of pastors who fulfilled the task of defending life and denouncing
violence, thus placing themselves in danger."
These pastors usually operated on the edges of large cities
or in out-of-the-way rural areas. The report also recognises
the work of many evangelical peasants who formed self-defence
committees to fight subversion, and who had great success in
undermining armed groups. It does not forget those who gave
their lives in the struggle. "The Commission has reached
the conclusion that many lives were saved and many other crimes
prevented thanks to the work of these organisations, whose role
was demanded and recognised widely by the population at large."
Source: ALC. Editing: ACPress.net
|
|
R
e s t.. o f..
t h e.. W o r l d |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gay
appointment puts Americans out on limb
New York, 11-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
The election of homosexual
Gene Robinson to the post of Bishop in the Episcopal Church
in the USA, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, has caused
a tremendous split of opinion within the denomination.
A day after Robinson's ratification as Bishop of New Hampshire
by a vote of 107 American bishops (62 in favour, 43 against,
2 abstentions), conservatives protested by walking out of the
General Convention being held in Minneapolis. They then called
on the other 37 provinces of the Anglican Communion, representing
around 80 million members, to confront the issue.
The Chairman of the American Episcopate, Frank Griswold, said
they fully understood there was a deep division of opinion,
that some were very glad at the appointment whilst others view
it as a sign of the crisis in the church due to its abandonment
of biblical teaching and traditional church practice. Which
all makes it even more remarkable that they went ahead with
the appointment. Robinson tried to deflect flak by claiming
that "one of the great things about Anglican unity is that
we can disagree on many issues - war and peace, abortion, homosexuality
- and yet not put any of these things above our faith in Jesus
Christ."
Orthodox Anglicans do not share such a gung-ho approach to doctrine.
Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, USA, and one of 19 Anglican
bishops to sign a statement opposing Robinson's appointment,
said "confirming the election of a sexually active person
outside holy marriage, this Chamber has moved away from millions
of Anglican Christians throughout the world. May God have mercy
on this Church."
Source: Agencias. Editing: ACPress.net
Luther King's dream clouded 40 years on
Washington DC, USA. 11-9-2003
(ACPress.net)
The fortieth anniversary
of Baptist minister Martin Luther King's famous speech including
the words 'I have a dream' sees many disparate ideas of how
that dream might be fulfilled.
Thousands of people with many different causes gathered by the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington, the American capital, to commemorate
the 40th anniversary at the spot where more than 250,000 people
- mostly black - listened to Luther King's speech back in August
1963. "I have a dream that one day we will live in a nation
where my four children will not be judged by the colour of their
skin but by their character." Some would say this dream
is now a reality, others that it still has to be fulfilled.
Two leading members of Bush's government, Colin Powell and Condoleeza
Rice, are blacks, and minority groups including blacks have
been given many privileges to allow them to go on to higher
education. Blacks make up 12.8% of the population of the USA,
registered as 280.5 million, but almost 60% of the prison population
of over 2 million. One in every three young black men is in
trouble with the authorities - in prison, on parole or under
some kind of judicial supervision. Unemployment stands at 6.2%
of the population, but is over 10% among blacks. 11.7% of whites
are considered to be living in poverty, and among blacks this
figure rises to 22.7%. However, this represents a major improvement
since 1960 and the times of Luther King, when more than 50%
of blacks were in this position.
"Forty years on, the problems which should have been resolved
have got worse", claims Martin Luther King III, son of
the civil rights leader. "We've got almost 14 million people
in poverty, 44 million without medical insurance, and in the
last 18 months 3 million people have lost their jobs."
Among the 7,000 exhibits to go on show in New York soon are
the acceptance speech Luther King made upon receiving the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1964 and texts on which he was working on the
eve of his assassination in 1968. Th first draft of his famous
'I have a dream' speech will also go on show, four pages with
notes, plus correspondence he held with Nixon, Eisenhower, Kennedy
and Rockefeller.
Source: El Mundo, Efe. Editing:
ACPress.net
More
persecution of Christians in India
Delhi, 11-9-2003 (ACPress.net)
A new believer was recently
beaten and another man poisoned by his parents after they converted
to Christianity in India.
According to Christian Aid Mission, the two are part of the
Metei group, a poor and marginalised people in the Manipur State
of northeastern India. Traditionally Hindu, Meteis often face
rejection when they turn from the religion of their ancestors.
"The Meitei Christians request prayer that they remain
strong in the Lord in the face of persecution and reach their
brothers and sisters with the gospel," a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, a Gospel for Asia (GFA) church of 51 believers in
Jharkhand was recently attacked in an effort to drive them out
of the village. Village leaders have ordered the Christians
to pay a fee to meet together for services. Elsewhere, a GFA
Bible school student and another believer were recently distributing
tracts in a Himachal Pradesh village when anti-Christian men
from the area attacked them. "Pray for the Lord to protect
and encourage these brothers," said GFA officials, noting
that the ministry has established 36 churches and 80 mission
stations in Himachal Pradesh.
Source: Religion today. Editing:
ACPress.net
|
|
|
