Catholic priest banned for participating in anti-Islam protest

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Catholic priest banned for participating in anti-Islam protest

German Catholic priest Father Paul Spaetling has been forbidden from preaching or speak on behalf of the Church after participating in a rally organised by a group associated with the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA).

According to the Associated Press, Spaetling spoke at the anti-Islam protest that took place in the western city of Duisburg on Monday and was banned a few days later by the diocese of Muenster, which said in a statement that it rejected the priest’s views on Islam.

PEGIDA, the organiser of the rally, is an anti-immigrant organisation that sees “a dangerous rise in the influence of Islam” in Western countries, according to the BBC.

Al Jazeera America reports the group is also worried that “Germany’s doors are too open” to refugees, many of which in recent years have come from Syria and Iraq, both besieged by the Islamic extremist group ISIS.

“Germany’s becoming the world’s welfare office,” said Detlev, a German living in Switzerland who travelled to Dresden to join a PEGIDA demonstration and declined to give his last name. “That has to change.”

Another demonstrator, who refused to give his name, told Al Jazeera, “No one’s controlling where these people are coming from. I’m just here to show we’re not OK with what’s going on.”

Earlier in January, PEGIDA drew a record number of 25,000 demonstators after the Paris terror attacks that left 17 people dead.

Reuters reports that while maintaining they are not racist and are “careful to distinguish between Islamists and most of Germany’s 4 million Muslims,” PEGIDA protesters have been seen bearing banners that say “No Sharia” and “In 2035 Germans will be a minority!”

PEGIDA co-founder Kathrin Oertel also told Reuters, “Every religion is welcome in Germany, but you can’t try to influence German culture and life.”

More recently, the group’s leader Lutz Bachmann made news after reportedly calling refugees “animals” and “scumbags” on Facebook and posing as Hitler in a picture. Though the group is trying to play down the Hitler photo as a “joke,” Bachmann has decided to step down from his position.

Source: Christian Today

China loses it oldest priest at 105

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China loses it oldest priest at 105

Not all people get the chance to see a whole century in their lifetimes. One of the few who did was a dedicated man of God in China.

Father Ye Yaomin of Guangzhou, China’s oldest priest, was 105 when he passed away in the early morning of Tuesday.

According to UCA News, Father Ye died after parishioners took him home. And for the priest, home was the Immaculate Conception Church in Foshan, Guangdong province.

“He told us that the Church is his home and he has to die in his home,” said Sister Chen Jianyin, who had looked after Father Ye for over two decades.

According to Sister Chen, the centenarian priest enjoyed good health until his final weeks. Sensing that his time was near, Father Ye refused to stay in the hospital and instead asked to be taken to the church in his hometown.

Born during the first decade of the 20th century, the elderly priest witnessed the ups and downs of his country, from the end of dynasties, to the outbreak of civil wars, to the rise of a Communist Party suspicious of the Christian faith.

1937 marked the beginning of his religious career, after he travelled to Hong Kong and entered the Southern China Major Seminary, where he stayed for seven years.

He was ordained a priest in 1948, when China was in a period of turmoil.

That year, communist troops took hold of Manchuria, and the next year, Peking, Nanking, and Shanghai fell into their control as well. About a million people were killed until in October 1949, Mao Tse-tung declared the People’s Republic of China, which is currently the 29th worst country for Christians according to the World Watch List.

The communist government banished Father Ye to Qinghai province and ordered him to years of feeding pigs after he was reported and found to have news clippings sent to him by his former classmates in British-ruled Hong Kong.

Although persecuted, Father Ye held no anger for the people who took him from the church and sent him to tend to pigs, UCANews reports.

“He was once asked by some people if he hated the Communist Party for his suffering. He said ‘No, hatred is itself a sin’,” said Sister Chen.

His years in exile did little to dampen his faith. In 1980, Father Ye was finally able to step foot in his hometown again, by now an old man, and soon began to preach in Foshan’s Jiangmen Diocese.

He was repeatedly urged by his relatives to emigrate abroad, but to their pleas, he replied, “China needs priests.”

Instead of running away, Father Ye stayed put and busied himself with helping rebuild churches torn down after the Communists came to power.

Father Ye is scheduled to be interred on Saturday at Foshan’s Immaculate Conception Church.

Source: Christian Today

One of two lawsuits regarding Martin Luther King’s children dropped

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One of two lawsuits regarding Martin Luther King’s children dropped

One of two lawsuits involving the children of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has been dropped, possibly signaling a thaw in their tense relations as they continue to fight over the sale of his Bible and Nobel Peace Prize.

Bernice King said in a statement late Thursday that her father’s estate had voluntarily dropped its August 2013 lawsuit against the non-profit Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, which she heads.

King’s sons, Dexter King and Martin Luther King III, acting as majority board members of their father’s estate, had sought to revoke the center’s right to use King’s name and image unless Bernice King was removed as CEO.

According to the suit, the center had failed to protect documents and other artifacts from fire, water, mildew and theft.

Bernice King said the estate’s decision to drop the suit vindicated the King Center’s position on its licensing rights and offered a promising sign that the feud pitting the children against one another was on the road toward reconciliation.

“The dismissal is an important first step in rebuilding a long-lasting relationship between the two corporations,” she said, referring to the estate and the King Center.

Dexter King said in a statement that pulling the lawsuit was a show of good faith as the siblings were set to enter talks aimed at resolving their differences outside a courtroom.

“None of us want to see the legacy of my parents, or our dysfunction, out on public display,” he said.

Still pending is the suit between the estate and Bernice King over possession of the Bible that their father carried during the civil rights movement and his 1964 Nobel Prize.

In a 2-1 vote of the estate’s board last year, King’s sons voted to sell the items, while Bernice King opposed the sale, calling the items “sacred.”

The estate sued her, seeking return of the items, which are now being held by a court until the suit is resolved.

An Atlanta judge earlier this month heard arguments from each side in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial next month unless it is settled or dismissed.

Martin Luther King Jr. had no will when he was assassinated in 1968. According to court documents, his estate was inherited by his widow, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006, and his four children, one of whom also has since died.

Source: Reuters

Kurdish forces fire rockets into Islamic State gathering in Mosul

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Kurdish forces fire rockets into Islamic State gathering in Mosul

Kurdish forces have fired rockets into Mosul for the first time since Islamic State militants overran the northern Iraqicity last summer, Kurdish military sources said on Saturday.

A Kurdish officer said 20 Grad missiles had been launched into Mosul on Friday after receiving information that Islamic State militants were gathering to meet near the city’s Zuhour neighbourhood.

“We hit their positions,” said Captain Shivan Ahmed, who belongs to the unit that fired the rockets from around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Mosul.

Kurdish officials said the strikes had hit their intended target, but two residents ofMosul contacted by Reuters said three civilians were killed in the attack.

It was not possible to independently verify the accounts.

Following the attack, Islamic State militants published images of a girl lying in a hospital bed, whom they said had been wounded by fire from the Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

U.S.-led airstrikes regularly target areas outside of Mosul, but rarely strike inside the city due to concerns about civilian casualties.

A statement attributed to an unnamed senior Kurdish military source and posted on the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party’s official website said the shelling had “struck great fear into the hearts of the terrorists”.

Peshmerga forces this week launched a ground offensive northwest of Mosul backed by coalition airstrikes, reclaiming nearly 500 square kilometers of territory and cutting the extremist group’s main supply line from the city to the west.

Twenty-one senior Islamic State militants were killed during the operation, the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council said in a statement on Friday.

It said the slain Islamic State leaders included the head of Nineveh province’s administrative institutions and a close commander of its special forces, the statement said.

There was no way to independently verify the claims.

Source: Christian Today

Hawk Nelson to drop 7th studio album titled ‘Diamonds’ on Marc 17

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Hawk Nelson to drop 7th studio album titled ‘Diamonds’ on Marc 17

Christian rock band Hawk Nelson will be releasing their seventh studio album titled Diamonds on March 17 with Fair Trade Services, which will be the band’s second album released with the label and with frontman Jon Steingard.

The band announced the album release on their Facebook page and introduced other new members of the band including guitarist Micah Kuiper and drummer David Niacaris together with founding member and bassist Daniel Biro.

Their debut single “Drops In The Ocean” from the Diamonds album has already generated success in the radio charts, even hitting the Billboard Christian National Christian Audience (NCA) chart at No. 21 and the Hot Adult Contemporary/Contemporary Hits Radio (AC/CHR) at No. 10 just a few weeks into its release.

The song has also been added by more than 50 radio stations and national networks including KLOVE, Air1, SiriusXM, WAY FM and KSBJ (Houston).

The song is available now for download in iTunes and Amazon. Another song from the same album, “Just Getting Started, ” also gained recognition after it was used in promotion for American Idol during the 2014 World Series.

“The past few years have been a crazy ride for us Hawk boys,” said frontman Jon Steingard. “Lots of change, lots of amazing blessings, and also quite a few challenges. This album was forged in the fire of some of those trials. It’s those times of pressure that God uses to shape us into something more beautiful. Diamonds sums up this truth we have found, that God is for us, He is not against us, and that we have the freedom to joyfully walk in the love, grace, and mercy He has freely given us!”

“It’s hard to imagine that just a few short years ago, we in Hawk Nelson were questioning if it was time to throw in the towel or to advance in a whole new direction,” added bassist and original founding member Daniel Biro.

“We were looking for hope. Encouraged by fellow artists in the industry, Made was a big first step. And after ‘Words’ helped to crack the door open again, it’s Diamonds that really delivers in a big, new way. I’m just so proud of Jon and the guys. It’s a great sounding record full of huge, catchy and singable songs. And remember, we’re just getting started.”

Hawk Nelson has released six studio projects since it came out in 2004, including Letters to the President, Smile It’s the End of the World, Hawk Nelson is My Friend, Live Life Loud, Crazy Love, and Made.

Source: Christian Today

Justin Welby on ‘Equality’

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Justin Welby on ‘Equality’

Inequality “plays on the corruption of the human person [and] our sinfulness” Justin Welby said during a conference in New York yesterday.

The Archbishop joined American blogger and author Rachel Held Evans, the Bishop of Panama, Rt Rev Julio Murray, and editor of First Things magazine, R.R. Reno, on a panel at the Creating the Common Good conference.

During his opening speech Welby asked whether inequality really matters, suggesting that dealing with it “in terms of economics alone or in a polemical style in which one simply raves on about the bad effects” does not solve anything.

“So what if there’s inequality? There has always been inequality and there most certainly always will be inequality,” he said.

“This is not just a quick lapse into an approach much influenced by Darwin, that affirms the solutions for our society are about survival of the fittest and devil take the hindmost… but a genuine question in terms of a world deeply caught up in diversity, to the world’s great benefit.”

Describing a stained glass window at Canterbury Cathedral that shows Adam digging in the Garden of Eden, Welby said the creation story reveals an innate equality bestowed upon us by God.

“Hierarchy is deeply embedded, but the Adam and Eve story, the story of the Garden, has constantly come back to capture the imagination of those who see that in the creation of God there is equality,” he said.

“And at the heart of the Genesis story of the creation of human beings is the essential nature of the human being, both male and female, existing to know God intimately and to walk intimately with God.

“There is an equality of worship, in adoration of the presence of God; there is an equality of revelling and feasting in fellowship with God in the Garden. Equality is a gift in creation, it is the foundation of equality before the law, equality of voice in the public square, equality in righteousness.”

However, Welby added that wealth is often accepted as a blessing in the Old Testament, though there is also a “fear about its consequences”.

“The tensions of inequality run through it [the Old Testament] from beginning to end,” he said.

He considered the example set by the early Church, where “there is prophetic and charismatic authority, but no right to be rich”.

“The Eucharist in its thanksgiving includes thanksgiving for the new community in which needs are met, poverty ended and the just rule of God is seen. And James hits hard at the wealthy who don’t share their wealth and at the business people who don’t depend on God,” Welby said.

“It is absolutely clear that the origins of Christian prophetic life from the moment of the incarnation forward carried a challenge to inequality… There is a biblical injunction against the systematic and indefinite accumulation of grossly unequal societies.”

Though he praised the philanthropy of wealthy individuals such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, Welby said that ultimately inequality “stands against the equality of access to God in worship and fellowship”.

“It is a problem because it plays on the corruption of the human person, our sinfulness, to create power grabs, patrimonialism by the powerful, self-serving not foot-washing,” he said.

But Welby ended his remarks with a message of hope. “It is an issue which is in the hands of God. And in his hands, with our repentance, it is an issue that is changing; it will change,” he said.

“The God who met us in Jesus, the God who raises Christ from the dead, changes everything. We are today not in a place of menace and danger; but because we are increasingly conscious of inequality, we are in a place of hope and opportunity, and we are in a place where the church, in the grace and the providence of God, holds within its hands the beauty of opportunity that can change our world, liberate the enslaved, create the conditions of human flourishing, bring in the common good.”

His comments follow the publication this week of a collection of essays edited by the Archbishop of York John Sentamu, in which both archbishops write about the problem of inequality in Britain.

Source: Christian Today

Pope tells new cardinals-to-be to remain humble

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Pope tells new cardinals-to-be to remain humble

Pope Francis has told the men he will elevate to the high rank of cardinal next month to be humble and shun lavishparties in their honor, saying they can do more damage than alcohol on an empty stomach.

“It is not easy to be humble servants if you see the role of a cardinal as a position of power or superiority,” he said in a letter written to each of the cardinals-to-be and published in the Vatican newspaper on Friday.

He also told them to beware that parties held for them by faithful from their countries do not become fancy social events that can disorient them and “stun someone more than grappa on an empty stomach.” Grappa is a very strong Italian liquor.

Francis, who has insisted that Roman Catholic Church leaders should serve the poor and not be careerists, will induct the 20 new cardinals at a Vatican ceremony on February 14.

In the past, some prelates celebrated their elevation to the rank of cardinal with lavish receptions in their home dioceses or in Rome. In the letter, Francis told them they should not see their new position as a “prize” to celebrate.

Source: Christian Today

Alex Malarkey’s admission about fake story could affect Heaven Tourism Industry badly

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Alex Malarkey’s admission about fake story could affect Heaven Tourism Industry badly

The admission of an author of a best selling heaven tourism book that his account was not real could send the industry into a downward spiral.

Heaven tourism refers to accounts of people who allegedly experienced near death and had visited Heaven during the time that they were pronounced clinically dead, and is a very lucrative genre in Christian publishing.

However, the industry is in a spin after one of its most successful authors admitted that his published account is not true.

Christian Today had previously reported that Alex Malarkey, co-author and subject of bestselling heaven tourism book The Boy Who Did Come Back From Heaven, had revealed that he did not go to Heaven and meet Jesus as the book claimed.

Alex’s admission has triggered a wave of responses from staunch critics of the heaven tourism industry. Christian publishing veteran Phil Johnson, one of the longtime detractors of the genre, told Vocativ that Malarkey’s retraction of his claims “spells the end of the genre as we know it.”

Publishers and booksellers also reacted to Malarkey’s revelation by cutting distribution of the book, which reportedly sold more than 1 million copies. Tyndale told the Washington Post last week that they are taking the book out of print.

“We are saddened to learn that Alex Malarkey, co-author of ‘The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven,’ is now saying that he made up the story of dying and going to heaven,” The Post quoted the Tyndale’s official statement as saying. “Given this information, we are taking the book out of print.”

Christian store LifeWay is also pulling out the book from its shelves, according to the Pulpit and Pen.

“LifeWay was informed this week that Alex Malarkey has retracted his testimony about visiting heaven as told in the book ‘The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven.’ Therefore, we are returning to the publisher the few copies we have in our Store,” the store said in its official statement released last week.

Source: Christian Today

Government destroyed Home of 13 Christian families as they refuse to be bonded labourers in Pakistan

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Government destroyed Home of 13 Christian families as they refuse to be bonded labourers in Pakistan

Thirteen Pakistani Christian families are now without their homes after local government officials demolished their homes when they refused to become bonded labourers in the local brick kiln factory.

The local government swooped in on the homes of the Christians in Samundri, Punjab province, in early December last year.

According to Barnabas Fund, the government officials were allegedly under pressure from the Muslim owners of the brick kiln factory where the Pakistani Christians were working. The brick kiln factory owners claimed that they are going to build a new hospital in the vacated space.

Bonded labour is a practice in Pakistan where the family or the person with a debt bonds himself or herself to the person, family or business that they owed money to, in order to pay off the debt through labour. Under this practice, the death of the debtor in question does not pay off the debt. Instead, the entire family will shoulder the debt and provide additional labour in order to settle the account, usually for several generations.

The debt is usually incurred when the person needs to borrow an immense amount of money. This in turn happens when there is a serious financial crisis in the family.

The Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement stated that brick kiln workers comprise the majority of the bonded labour population in Pakistan, while the Barnabas Fund added that 75 per cent of the bonded labourers in Pakistan are children.

The report also stated that most of these labourers are unable to pay off the debt because of their meager wages, and because of their plight, they may be assaulted sexually or sold off to other employers.

Pakistan Minorities Teachers Association President Anjum James Paul condemned the demolition of the Christian homes and told government officials to remember their obligation to provide shelter to all Pakistani citizens.

Source: Christian Today

Christianity is being pushed into the back room, says Franklin Graham

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Christianity is being pushed into the back room, says Franklin Graham

The Rev. Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan’s Purse and son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, feels that other religions are being brought to the forefront in the U.S. while Christianity is being pushed back.

Graham appeared on WNCN News to discuss his recent comments on Duke University’s decision to end its policy on having an Islamic call to prayer at the campus’ Christian chapel.

He also stated that the U.S. is a nation ‘built on Christian principles and that Americans need to embrace those principles.

“I agree with diversity but what’s happening with this country is all these religions are getting front row and Christians are being pushed — and we’re the majority — are being pushed back to the back of the room,” he said.

“This country was built with Christian principles — it was men and women who believed in God and believed in His Son, Jesus Christ, who built this country. We’re the greatest nation in the history of the world. It wasn’t built by Islam, and it wasn’t built by any other group. It was those who supported and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Graham admitted that America’s forefathers made mistakes along the way — making some aspects of the nation’s history regrettable — however, that does not mean that citizens shouldn’t fight to protect it.

“We’re the greatest nation in the history of the Earth,” he said, “and we have people today that want to destroy what we believe and what we stand for. I think the university needs to understand that the world in which we live today, we’ve been at war now 10 years against terrorists and the terrorists we’ve been fighting are people who support and believe in the Islamic faith.”

He also pointed out that the only Muslims coming out against these recent attacks are those living in the U.S.

“First of all, you don’t have condemnation outside this country,” he said. “You’ll have clerics in this country who’ll condemn these acts. But these acts of terrorism are not condemned by the mullahs in Saudi Arabia or in Egypt, or Iraq or Syria.”

“The reason is,” he continued, “is because the Quran teaches this. And so, if they condemned it they would be condemning the Quran, and they’re not going to condemn the Quran.”

According to Graham, the Islamic holy book permits slavery, and the killing of Jews and Christians.

Graham blasted Duke University last week when the school announced that it would hold the Muslim call to prayer and use its chapel to do so. The school later reversed its decision and will no longer host the event using the Christian house or worship.

Source: Christian Post

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