May 17, 2012
Greek churches "face disaster" as crisis deepens

By Jonathan Luxmoore
Ecumenical News International

A senior Greek Protestant has warned that minority denominations "face disaster" due to the country's worsening economic crisis. "Heavy taxation, high unemployment and all our other difficulties are fast-forwarding us to collapse," said Dimitrios Boukis, general secretary of the Greek...

Episcopal and Catholic bishops vow to help end war in Sudan

By Anglican Communion News Service

Episcopal and Catholic bishops from South Sudan have said that together they "stand committed to do all in [their] power" to realise an end to war between Sudan and South Sudan. Following a three-day meeting in Yei, South Sudan, led by Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro and Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, the...

Anglican Journal wins 13 Canadian Church Press awards

By Staff

The Anglican Journal won 13 awards, including a general excellence award in the national newspaper category, at this year’s Canadian Church Press (CCP) convention. Two of the Journal’s publishing partners – Quebec Diocesan Gazette and Crosstalk – also took home honors. The CCP, which is an association of 80...

Missives of comfort and encouragement

By Diana Swift
Staff writer

Evelyn Chipperfield may be turning 91, but that’s not stopping her from living the Marks of Mission in the service of others. The slim, elegant west-end Toronto widow—who looks easily 15 years younger than her age—continues to reach out to others in the same way she did as a teenager, when she started writing...

Indonesian authorities restrict places of worship after protests

By David Crampton
Ecumenical News International

Indonesian authorities have closed and sealed off 17 Christian places of worship in the Aceh Singkil district in the past two weeks after Muslim protests on April 30. Agusta Mukhtar, a spokesman for the group Pro-Democracy People, said it was regrettable that local authorities had sealed off the buildings...

Obama’s affirmation of same-sex marriage strikes a chord

By Diana Swift
staff writer

In politics and religion, same-sex marriage is a Rorschach inkblot test of the contemporary psyche. Some people see in it an equalizing measure reflecting the best of democratic egalitarianism and Christian inclusiveness. Others see it as the undoing of the bedrock of the family and the sared, Genesis-sanctioned...

Archbishop of Wales elected to Crown Nominations Commission

By Anglican Communion News Service

Archbishop Barry Morgan of the Church in Wales has been elected to serve on the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury, the body that will nominate the next archbishop of Canterbury. Morgan was elected by members of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion, which had been asked to nominate one...

Anglican-Roman Catholic meeting ponders ecumenical dialogue

By Francis Wong
Ecumenical News International

Hong Kong -- As the 4 to 10 May meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) drew to a close, participants emphasized the importance of social witness and openness in ecumenical dialogue."There seem to be many obstacles from a human point of view, and it does not seem likely to...

Mayan spirituality behind peacemaking, says Niwano prize winner

By Hisashi Yukimoto
Ecumenical News International

Tokyo --An award-winning human rights activist from Guatemala has said that principles of Mayan indigenous spirituality -- respecting people, nature and spiritual living -- is behind her peacemaking efforts.Rosalina Tuyuc Velasquez, a founder of the National Coordinating Organization of Widows of Guatemala...

Imus earns his retirement

By (Contributed)

On Sunday, May 6th at the Church of the Ascension in Port Perry, Ont., the Reverend John Anderson dedicated part of the service to Imus, the seeing-eye dog of Sir Sean Madsen. After years of dedicated service, Imus is going into retirement. If there is any compensation for being blind, said Madsen, it is to have...

Dress codes a good start, says reader

By Colin McComb

Letter of the Week

Ashdown predicts he will be last bishop of Keewatin

By Marites N. Sison
staffwriter

Archbishop David Ashdown is to step down as archbishop of the diocese of Keewatin and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Rupert’s Land in September 2015. When he does, he fully expects it will be as the last bishop of Keewatin, he told the diocesan synod, which met March 22 to 24. Ashdown said he...

TRC to host Toronto conference

By Staff

Toronto will get a chance to learn more about the legacy of the Indian residential school system and take part in a dialogue to promote healing and reconciliation this May 31 to June 2.  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), along with groups like the Toronto Council Fire First Native...

Occupy Faith will trek 62 miles to Canterbury

By Ecumenical News International

A group of faith leaders announced on May in London's St. Paul's Cathedral that a new pilgrimage to Canterbury is planned for this summer to protest unjust economic systems in the 21st century. The organizing group, called Occupy Faith, met at St. Paul's with the permission of cathedral authorities, in contrast...

New funding formula approved

By Marites N. Sison
Staff writer

The Council of the North has unanimously approved a new formula for allocating grants from General Synod that support its member dioceses. These dioceses minister to Anglicans in Canada’s remote and isolated areas. This constitutes  “a major step” forward, says its chair, Archbishop David Ashdown, who is...

Church leaders defend Philippines in dispute with China

By Maurice Malanes
ENI News

Baguio City, Philippines –Philippine church leaders have joined efforts aimed at defending their country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, which they say are under threat by an emerging power in Asia – China. "The Philippines is a nation of Davids.  But we must flex our prayer and worship...

Room for all

By The Rev. Dr. Gary Nicolosi

When I was rector of a church in Pennsylvania, a couple asked to meet with me during the week. They came to my office, sat down and got right to the point: “Would you be willing to welcome our family into your church?” I was taken aback by the question, so I said, “Come again.” They repeated, “Would you be...

Taking prayer to the streets

By Marites N. Sison
Staff writer

Last May 1, the Rev. Maggie Helwig marked the first anniversary of her ordination as deacon by taking part in an Occupy Toronto rally. Subsequently, she was charged with trespassing. Police gave the assistant curate at St. Timothy’s North Toronto a $65 ticket for trying to set up a makeshift chapel at Simcoe...

Teaching the gospel to children

By Diana Swift
Staff writer

This September, Sunday school teachers in the Anglican Church of Canada will have a comprehensive new online resource to teach the gospel to children. Designed in recognition of the shortage of Sunday school teachers, the curriculum takes a one-room-schoolhouse approach in which youngsters from five to 11 can be...

Ecumenical panel kicks off UN forum on indigenous issues

By Lynette Wilson
ENInews/Episcopal News Service

Several faith groups were among the sponsors of a U.N. panel session on May 7 called "Churches Disavow the Doctrine of Discovery: Calling for Poverty Alleviation and Healing," which sought to address various issues facing indigenous peoples, including education and land rights. The discussion took...

'Ecumenical accompaniment' aids victims of violence in Colombia

By Staff
Ecumenical News International

An ecumenical project to document the plight of people in the violence-ridden Montes de Maria and San Onofre regions of Colombia is beginning to gain international attention. Called the Program of Ecumenical Accompaniment in Colombia (PEAC), the project, coordinated by the Latin American Council of Churches...

French faith groups hope for unity after presidential vote

By A. D. McKenzie
Ecumenical News International

Paris – Faith groups in France revealed marked political differences in voting surveys ahead of the May 6 presidential election, but many now hope that victor François Hollande will uphold the "values of the republic" during his mandate. Hollande, a socialist, beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy with 52...

'Migrant workers must not become scapegoats'

By Jo Siedlecka
Ecumenical News International

London -- Migrant workers in the U.K. must not become scapegoats or targets of popular frustration with the economy, a Catholic bishop told worshippers on May 7 at the 7th annual Mass for Migrants at Westminster Cathedral. Bishop Patrick Lynch, who chairs the Office for Migration Policy of the Catholic Bishops'...

Is wearing your Christian message a good thing?

By Marites N. Sison
staff writer

Christians and non-Christians alike are weighing in on whether or not Nova Scotia high school student, William Swinimer, should have been suspended for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Life is Wasted without Jesus.” Swinimer, a Grade 12 student at Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin, Lunenberg...

Diamond Jubilee New Testament a bestseller

By Anglican Communion News Service

Since going on sale in the first week of April, more than 400,000 copies of the Diamond Jubilee New Testament have been ordered by churches of all denominations in the U.K and other countries—more than double the expected amount. Due to the success of the project, the deadline for ordering has been extended to...

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