Cairo, Egypt | AFP | On the streets of Cairo’s Shubra district, many Coptic Christians — but not all — say they will support President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in his re-election bid on Monday. Pro-Sisi banners hang overhead in the neighbourhood where many Copts reside, often showing the president standing …
Read More »Archbishop Nkoyoyo: A child of miracles
Kampala, Uganda | ANDREW S. KAGGWA | Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it. Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo never relied on any such sage sayings, but the late Archbishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church of Uganda, who died on Jan. 05 of pneumonia, lived his …
Read More »Pope pleads for migrants at Christmas mass
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis in his Christmas eve mass Sunday urged the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics not to ignore the plight of migrants who are “driven from their land” because of leaders willing to shed “innocent blood”. “So many other footsteps are hidden in the …
Read More »Tomb of Jesus Christ dated
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The ancient cave that Christians believe held the remains of Jesus Christ dates from 1,700 years ago, according to scientists— far earlier than they originally believed. The scientific dating tests on the shrine, which began in October 2016, were the first of their kind carried …
Read More »New tests at Jesus’s presumed tomb back traditional beliefs
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Scientific testing at what is believed to be Jesus’s tomb dates material there to the fourth century, supporting traditional beliefs surrounding the site, an expert involved in the study said Tuesday. The study offers no further evidence whether or not Jesus was actually buried at …
Read More »Archbishop of Canterbury declares Sudan new Anglican province
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on Sunday declared Sudan the 39th province of the worldwide Anglican Communion, six years after the predominantly Christian south gained independence from the north. The Anglican church in Sudan, a majority Muslim country, has been administered from South Sudan since the …
Read More »Russian court confirms Jehovah’s Witnesses ban
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia’s Supreme Court Monday confirmed a ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, labelled by authorities as an “extremist organisation”. “The Russian Supreme Court has decided to reject the appeal of the organisation against its ban,” the court, quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency, said in its decision. In April, …
Read More »Praise Allah! Islam goes evangelical in Nigeria’s south
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Sunday morning is usually the preserve of Christian pastors in the Nigerian megacity of Lagos but a new form of worship is emerging to challenge the monopoly. “Praise Allah!” shouts the imam of the Nasrul-lahi-li Fathi Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) before thousands of his faithful, …
Read More »Pope in Egypt rejects fanaticism, urges charity
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Pope Francis rejected fanaticism and appealed for charity on Saturday as he addressed thousands of faithful during a visit to Egypt to promote reconciliation with Muslims and support its embattled Christians. His visit, coming after the Islamic State group (IS) killed dozens of worshippers in …
Read More »Pope says ‘demagogic’ populism does not help peace
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Pope Francis denounced “demagogic populism” on Friday and insisted that violence profanes God’s name, in a wide-ranging speech as he visited Egypt to push for tolerance. “Peace alone… is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would …
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