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UAE criticises the decision to turn Saint Sophia into mosque, stresses its universal heritage

Humanity’s cultural land- marks should be preserved for their value and function, and must “neither be misused nor altered” for personal purposes, said Noura Al Kaabi, the United Arab Emi-rates (UAE) Minister of Culture and Youth. For Al Kaabi, the decision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan to turn the Basilica of Saint Sophia, now […]

Burning Cathedrals, Burning Questions About Religious Freedom

Nantes’ 600-year-old Gothic Church, the Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, one of France’s most cherished landmarks, was intention-ally set ablaze by arsonists on July 18. During the conflagration, some 16th century stained glass windows were blown out and shattered, while a priceless 17th century church organ was entirely consumed in the inferno. Repairs […]

Ecocide, ethnocide, terricide worse than Coronavirus: Amazon Assembly

The first Global Assembly for the Amazon closed with a final declaration which states that ecocide, ethnocide and terricide are worse than the Coronavirus. The assembly was held on July 18-19 and was promoted by the Coordination of indigenous organizations of the Amazon Basin (Coica), the Pan-American Social Forum (Fospa) and the Pan-American Church Network […]

Vatican calls for ‘ethics of risk against COVID-19

The Pontifical Academy for Life released a paper on the eff-ects of the pandemic. Titled Hu-mana Communitas in the age of pandemic: untimely meditations on life’s rebirth, it starts from the realisation that human “fragility” has been made worse by the pandemic. The document notes that “all of us may succumb to the wounds of […]

Vatican: In rare cases, lay faithful can lead marriage rite

The Vatican said on July 20 that in very exceptional circum-stances and with special permission, lay Catholics can be allowed to perform marriage rites. In a document issued by the Holy See office for clergy, the Vatican said that could only happen if there are no priests or deacons available, the nation’s bishops sign off […]

Russian Orthodox Synod: ‘Pain and sorrow for Saint Sophia’

The Holy Synod of the Ru-ssian Orthodox Church “expre-sses its profound regret over the decision of the state leader-ship of Turkey to revoke the museum status of Hagia Sophia and to give it to the Muslim community for public worship.” The Orthodox clergy of Mos-cow wrote in a statement approved after a session of the […]

Churches burned, people beheaded in Mozambique’s escalating extremist violence

A Catholic bishop has deplored the world’s indifference to escalating extremist violence in northern Mozambique, where multiple churches have been burnt, people beheaded, young girls kidnapped, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the violence. Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa of Mozam-bique’s Pemba diocese has been an outspoken advocate for the needs of the more […]

Grand Mufti Shawki Allam: “There is no objection to building churches with Muslim money”

Islamic law does not contain any legal objection to the possi-bility of building churches using money belonging to Muslims. This relevant observation, full of possible applications with respect to situations of potential sectarian conflict in many coun-tries with a Muslim majority, also deserves attention for the authoritativeness of the source: this is what Sheikh Shawki […]