The Pope has sent a video message to a Pentecostal
conference led by Kenneth Copeland, calling for Christian unity. He quoted the
Bible when Joseph “cried tears of joy” at his reunion with his brothers, and
sent greetings that are “both joyful and full of longing”: joyful, because we know that the Lord is
working all over the world; yet full of longing, because Christians are still “separated because of sin, our sins.”
The Ugandan president has signed into law an anti-homosexuality
Bill, triggering loud protests from governments and other organisations around
the world. Critics say that the law is a licence for “life imprisonment for
gays”; in fact, the law specifies mandatory life imprisonment for “aggravated
homosexuality” (acts that are criminal offences in other countries e.g. the
perpetrator is HIV-positive, is a parent or authority figure, or the victim is
drugged, is a child or has disabilities), and various lesser sentences for
other acts, including entering a gay marriage or operating counselling services for homosexuals.
In Omdurman, near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, a church
was demolished by authorities (police and officials from the National
Intelligence and Security Services were in attendance). The land has been
confiscated. Government officials only said that it was a “Muslim area” and so
the church was “not wanted.” Such bulldozings have been increasingly common
since the secession of South Sudan in 2012, but the pretext has usually been
that the churches belonged to the South Sudanese.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram terrorists invaded a predominantly
Christian village and killed at least 106 people. The area was left vulnerable
when government military forces withdrew after losing nine soldiers in an
ambush.
Another Western Christian missionary has been arrested in
North Korea; the 75 year old Australian was carrying Christian literature in
Korean. Last month, an American missionary of Korean extraction was given a
prison sentence of 15 years’ hard labour for “acts hostile to the government.”
A UK bi-annual report on perinatal mortality found that, in
one year in the UK, 66 babies were born alive after being aborted and survived
for minutes or hours. The numbers for subsequent years are not known; the
report for 2009 admits that these figures were excluded from the report. The
Council of Europe has called for guarantees that such babies will be given
medical care. In Norway, a similar situation has led to the abortion limit
being lowered to 22 weeks’ gestation, which is currently considered the
earliest point at which babies are viable outside the womb.
In India, where it is a criminal offence to insult
“religious feelings”, Penguin India have agreed to withdraw and destroy a book
that presents an “alternative”” history of Hinduism. Critics of the book,
written by an American, say it is insulting and focusses too much on sex.
Critics of Penguin’s decision say it has “surrendered to a growing attitude of
intolerance.”
A 14 year old Latvian girl has been rescued from effective
slavery by Scotland’s new National Human Trafficking Unit. The girl had been
transported from Latvia to Scotland and forced to deliver charity packages
across the central belt of Scotland. Local people who were in contact with her
expressed concerns to the police about her demeanour which led to her being
rescued and returned to Latvia.
In sport, the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics
saw the Russian producer of the show doing something very un-Russian – publicly
poking fun at his own department’s mistakes. In the opening ceremony, the five
Olympic rings were displayed in lights, but one of the five rings failed to
illuminate. In the closing ceremony, the five rings were similarly displayed
using dancers, but the final group purposefully paused before assembling
themselves into a ring.
And finally, a case of dog-napping in Darlington has ended
happily – after the stolen puppy “really messed up” the thief’s house. The four
month old Husky escaped during a walk and was scooped up by a “scruffy” man,
according to the owner’s appeal on Facebook. The man then returned to her house to complain
about being called scruffy (!) before saying she would not get the dog back.
But later the same evening, he called police and asked them to take the dog
away.
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