Russian Orthodox blames decline in population on abortion rate

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Russian Orthodox blames decline in population on abortion rate

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill called on Thursday for a deep cut in the “horrifyingly high” number of abortions, which he linked to a Western rejection of moral norms.

“The idea of absolutely prioritising the value of free choice and of rejecting the priority of moral norms has become a slowly exploding bomb for Western civilisation,” he said in a speech to lawmakers.

“If we could just cut in half the number of abortions, there would be steady and powerful demographic growth.”

Russia’s population has been declining since the mid-1990s, hit by falling birth rates and life expectancy in the chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. It currently stands at 142.5 million, compared with 148.7 million in 1991.

Kirill’s speech was described by state media as the first address by a head of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Duma, or lower chamber of parliament, in modern Russia.

It was a sign of the church’s growing influence under President Vladimir Putin, who has sought to champion conservative Russian values at a time of heightened tension with the West, especially over the conflict in Ukraine.

“Russia’s ability to stand up in the face of modern pseudo-values depends to a large extent on the active stance of Russian parliamentarians,” the black-robed patriarch said

Source: Christian Today

Sacked Atlanta fire Chief filed complaint against City

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Sacked Atlanta fire Chief filed complaint against City

In a case that has rallied proponents of religious freedom, Atlanta’s ousted fire chief has filed a federal discrimination complaint against the city, arguing that his firing over a book critical of homosexuality was an attack on his faith.

Kelvin Cochran wrote a 2013 book titled, “Who Told You That You Were Naked?” in which he called homosexuality “vulgar” and “the opposite of purity”. He was fired from his post earlier this month by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

“The book expresses my deeply held religious briefs on many subjects,” Cochran wrote in the complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed on Wednesday.

“I believe I have been discriminated against because of my religion.”

Cochran did not immediately return an e-mail on Thursday seeking comment on the EEOC complaint.

“We intend to defend the mayor’s decision vigorously whether, through the EEOC administrative process or in any other appropriate forum,” Reed’s spokeswoman Anne Torres said on Thursday.

Reed said earlier this month Cochran was not fired due to his religious beliefs, but rather because of questions that arose about his “judgment and ability to manage the department” in connection with the book.

Reed said the city has a clear policy that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and that Cochran’s published views could be a legal liability.

Cochran consulted the city’s ethics officer but not the mayor before he published the book, Reed said.

Cochran, 54, was named Atlanta fire chief in 2008. He was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009 to serve as U.S. Fire Administrator, a post he served in for 10 months before returning to Atlanta as the city’s fire chief.

He gained the support of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group, after he was fired.

“Americans are guaranteed the freedom to live without fear of losing their jobs because of their beliefs and thoughts,” the group said in a statement on Thursday.

“We are continuing to evaluate all available legal options to vindicate Chief Cochran after his unjust termination,” it said.

Source: Christian Today

Uganda: Imam father beats 15 year old daughter to death for converting to Christianity

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Uganda: Imam father beats 15 year old daughter to death for converting to Christianity

A 15-year-old girl in Uganda has reportedly died after being assaulted by her imam father for converting to Christianity while her younger sister, who suffered the same ordeal, remains traumatised after learning of her sister’s death. In a report by Morning Star News, the girl, identified as Namugonya Jamirah, attended a five-day evangelistic meeting where she and her sister embraced Christianity. When their father, Imam Abudalah Ali learned of this, he allegedly assembled a group of Muslim men to attack the Christians attending the campaign.

However, the Christians already finished with the event when the group arrived so Ali waited for his daughters to come home at which point Morning Star reports he proceeded to beat them using a club. Jamirah reportedly died from the incident but her 12-year-old sister Naigaga Saidah managed to escape when her father was trying to look for water to splash the older sister back to consciousness. The bloodied Jamirah sought refuge from a pastor, who returned to Ali’s house the following day only to learn that the older sister had died from her injuries. The imam was arrested but was released on bail after his wife and sons supported his claim that Jamirah perished from a motorcycle accident. Saidah only learned of her sister’s death after the pastor was able to move her to a safer location upon learning that Ali was apparently determined to kill his surviving daughter too. “My father took us to the house and then locked the house. He questioned us why we attended a Christian meeting and started beating us up with a club. My sister was hit on the forehead and fell down. I tried to hide myself in the bed, but he got me out and began beating me up as my sister lay down bleeding,” Saidah recounted in an interview. The girl was treated for two weeks in a medical facility and has since been disowned by her father for leaving Islam, according to Morning Star. “Saidah has been traumatised, is still limping and she is in a need of the prayers, counselling, medical support, and school fees, because she is going to primary seventh grade this year,” their local chairman said. Source: Christian Today

American citizen who works for Al Qaeda gets 15 years sentence

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An American citizen who sent nearly $70,000 to Al Qaeda was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday.

Wesam El-Hanafi has spent the last five years incarcerated, and US District Judge Kimba Wood cited his poor health and remorse as reasons for not giving him the maximum 20-year sentence.

El-Hanafi was born in Brooklyn, and worked as an information technology specialist at an investment bank. He received training in computer security that he then used to aid terrorists overseas.

“He was living the American dream and then he turned his back on America and pledged allegiance to our greatest enemy,” Assistant US Attorney John Cronan told Judge Wood in Manhattan court. “The defendant was all in with Al Qaeda.”

Cronan said that from 2007 to 2009, El-Hanafi “worked tirelessly to support Al Qaeda,” including sending them $67,000, and a remote control car to be used as an explosive device. The 39-year-old also provided the terrorists with information on encryption software, and directed a co-conspirator to surveil the New York Stock Exchange.

“Wesam El-Hanafi was deeply involved in supporting al-Qaida both financially and by facilitating surveillance of a New York landmark to bring an attack to our homeland in our city,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Today’s sentence is a fitting punishment for these crimes.”

Judge Wood found that the defendant’s health deteriorated while in custody, and that he faced a “significantly harsher” incarceration because of his conditions. She also considered El-Hanafi’s statements of regret.

“I didn’t just make the wrong choices. I made the worst choices,” he, said apologising. “I regret my actions. I’m embarrassed by what I did.”

“He knows he must live with the horror of what he’s done,” defense attorney Sarah Kunstler echoed.

El-Hanafi was brought back to the United States from Dubai to face his crimes and pled guilty in June 2012 to providing and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. His co-defendant, Sabirhan Hasanoff, received 18 years imprisonment.

Source: Christian Today

Ebola Outbreak: Death rate increases in Sierra Leone

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Ebola Outbreak: Death rate increases in Sierra Leone

The devastation of the Ebola virus throughout western Africa is evidenced by the high number of bodies buried at King Tom cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

An average of 175 people are buried there on a daily basis, and 156 children were buried in the cemetery in the first five days of January.

Thousands have died across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began last year, but the spike in infant and child deaths is particularly disturbing.

“The number of children we are burying every week is absolutely staggering,” said aid worker Ms. McLysaght, according to the Times Gazette.

“It is an appalling situation, although we believe they are mainly non-Ebola cases that are related to the secondary health-care crisis.”

Residents said they have not seen such a death toll since the country’s civil wars.

The dead are wrapped in plastic body bags and buried by workers wearing biohazard suits. Names of the deceased are written on pieces of wood, and stuck into the ground. The Times Gazette reported that the cemetery is the size of a football field, and a bulldozer is clearing the way for more corpses.

It is unclear how many of the 4,400 buried in King Tom died of Ebola, as the country lacks the resources to test each of the deceased.

One cemetery worker, Andrew Kondoh, said he is “comfortable around dead bodies” after burying corpses during the civil wars.

“I hoped never to see dead bodies like this in Sierra Leone again, but at least this time you don’t see their faces, as they come already sealed in the plastic bags,” he said.

Sierra Leone recently overtook Liberia as the country with the highest number of reported Ebola cases with 7,897 infections since the outbreak began early this year.

However, Liberia reported 3,177 deaths from the virus, while Sierra Leone reported just 1,768.

Sierra Leone Health Minister Abu Bakarr Fofanah said that only laboratory-confirmed deaths are being recorded.

Source: Christian Today

Priest refuses bishop’s order to return to ISIS-controlled Iraq

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Priest refuses bishop’s order to return to ISIS-controlled Iraq

A Chaldean priest is disobeying his bishop’s order to return to ISIS-controlled Iraq because he fears for his life.

Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, instructed Father Noel Gorgis to return to the war-torn country to strengthen the church there. Father Gorgis refused.

The dispute over the priest’s assignment goes back at least several months, and Gorgis went public with his story late last year.

“I left Iraq over 20 years ago, and I left Iraq [during the] Gulf War, so I know what’s going on there,” told Fox 5 from El Cajon, California. “And now it’s worse. Way worse. To go back, it means suicide.”

Pope Francis intervened in early January, siding with Father Gorgis and other priests defying Bishop Sako’s order. In response, Sako said the priests will be excommunicated.

Chaldean leader Mark Arabo criticised the decision.

“There is a Christian genocide going on,” he explained.

“People are being slaughtered, raped, murdered because they’re Christian, or Catholic. Churches are being bombed, people are being beheaded. He can’t go back, he won’t go back and Pope Francis solidified it.

“The pope decides. Nobody else,” he continued. “So regardless of this denomination, that denomination, if you’re part of the Catholic Church, which Chaldeans are… the pope is our holy father. He decides.”

Under Sako’s order, 10 of the 14 Chaldean priests in the US are expected to return to Iraq. The number includes those who allegedly left Iraq without the church’s permission. Father Gorgis is a naturalised US citizen, but was born in Iraq.

“Chaldean priests are being forced to choose between disobedience and martyrdom,” he insisted.

The priests await Sako’s conclusions, but are standing firm in their decision to remain in the US.

“Father Noel isn’t cattle for the slaughter,” Arabo told Fox 5.

“He’s our priest and he needs to stay here for the Christians of our Chaldean diocese.”

Source: Christian Today

Niger: Christians suffer destruction of more than 70 Churches during Charlie Hebdo violence by Muslims

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Niger: Christians suffer destruction of more than 70 Churches during Charlie Hebdo violence by Muslims

Christians in the Niger are still reeling from the destruction of more than 70 churches over the weekend as Muslims angry from the Charlie Hebdo cartoons attacked these places of worship.

According to the World Watch Monitor, at least 10 people were killed during the violence. While local police reported only 45 churches damaged, World Watch Monitor claimed that there were more than 70 churches that sustained damage.

Reuters said that the attacks were triggered by the latest Charlie Hebdo magazine cover, which featured a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad.

The violence took root in the city of Zinder on January 16, which resulted in the destruction of eight churches and 12 homes owned by Christians. The attacks did not spare schools that were built by Christians, as the mob ransacked two of these in the confusion.

After Zinder, the attacks continued and spread out to other cities. In Goure, the city’s sole church was set on fire. Local Christians evacuated to the army barracks for protection.

Protesters in Tanout destroyed two churches maintained by Evangelical Christians, while Magaria’s Christian community lost one church to the violence. In Maradi, the mob destroyed two Evangelical churches. Despite the efforts of security forces, one small Fulani church in Birnin Gaoure fell to the attacks.

The protesters managed to destroy three more churches in Birnin Gaoure as the violence approached the capital, Niamey, where 1,000 Muslims attacked Christians across the capital. They also vandalised several buildings, including the ruling party headquarters as well as a beer factory, in addition to Christian churches.

World Watch Monitor’s sources claimed that security forces in the capital made no response, making Christian-owned properties and places of worship easy targets for the attacks.

Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou condemned the attacks on Saturday evening and said that the attackers were people who “did not understand anything about Islam.”

Source: Christian Today

Consecration of traditionalist bishop is for ‘prayer not politics’, says John Sentamu

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Consecration of traditionalist bishop is for ‘prayer not politics’, says John Sentamu

The controversial arrangements surrounding the consecration of a traditionalist bishop are for “prayer not politics”, the Archbishop of York has said today.

In a statement explaining why most bishops at the consecration at York Minster of Father Philip North will not lay hands on the candidate, Dr John Sentamu said: “It is in the nature of these arrangements, enshrined in the declaration and principles, that they involve accommodating within one Church people with convictions that vary widely. If this accommodation is to work it requires a degree of gracious restraint and accommodation on all sides.”

Christian Today disclosed this week that at the consecration of Father North as Bishop of Burnley no bishop will lay hands on him who has previously laid hands on a woman bishop or priest. The issue, coming as York Minster and the northern province prepare for the consecration of the first woman bishop Libby Lane just a few days earlier, next Monday, highlights the deep divisions that remain in the established church over women’s ordination.

Dr Sentamu and the Bishop of Blackburn Julian Henderson will both lay hands on Bishop-elect Lane when she is consecrated as Suffragan Bishop of Stockport.

Dr Sentamu admitted today that he will at the subsequent consecration of Father North delegate the presidency of the eucharist and the laying on of hands to another bishop, and a total of just three bishops will actually do the laying on of hands, the minimum stipulated by Canon Law.

In his statement Dr Sentamu said: “With great joy and thanksgiving the Church of England will, in the next two weeks, see the consecration of two fine priests, The Revd Libby Lane, and The Revd Philip North as bishops, respectively, of Stockport, in the Diocese of Chester, and of Burnley, in the Diocese of Blackburn. Nothing should be allowed to constrain our joy, our prayers and our thanksgiving, on either occasion.”

Noting that consecration arrangements are in law a matter for the Archbishop of the relevant province, and that the Archbishop would normally act as chief consecrator, Archbishops have always had the power to delegate the role.

“Any suggestion that the arrangements proposed for the consecration of the Bishop of Burnley are influenced by a theology of ‘taint’ would be mistaken,” he said, noting that he had himself presided at the consecration of the traditionalist “flying bishop” Glyn Webster, Bishop of Beverley and the present Bishop of Chichester, Martin Warner also a traditionalist, when he was made Bishop of Whitby.

“There were no objections on either of these occasions, despite the fact that I have been ordaining women to the priesthood since I first became Bishop of Stepney in 1996,” he said.

The Church of England has affirmed that “since those within the Church of England who, on grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women bishops or priests continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion, the Church of England remains committed to enabling them to flourish within its life and structures.”

Dr Sentamu reveals in his statement that he wrote to all bishops of the northern provinces outling the details of the consecration, made at his suggestion and not Father North’s request.

He explained in the letter that the aim was “to build a future based on trust, mutual respect and the highest degree of communion possible.”

Although he as Archbishop will be recognised throughout the liturgy as the Metropolitan, he will “delegate to another bishop the authority to celebrate the Liturgy of Ordination and the Liturgy of the Eucharist,” he wrote.

He continued: “When the bishops gather together for the Ordination Prayer, in close proximity around the candidate, the Archbishop will lead all other bishops present in exercising gracious restraint at the laying-on of hands, permitting two bishops, nominated by the Archbishop… to assist in the laying-on of hands, in order to fulfil the requirements of canon C2.1. All other Bishops will remain in the arc around the candidate.”

The Archbishop was criticised by Women and the Church.

In a statement the group said: “Next Monday the Church of England and the nation will rejoice at the consecration of Rev Libby Lane as the first female bishop in the Church of England. That will be a great day, and nothing should detract from that moment of affirmation for all women in all walks of life.

“We have known about the arrangements for the consecration of the Bishop of Burnley for some time, but have not commented publicly out of courtesy to the individuals involved. Our focus has been on the earlier consecration as the fulfillment of a long and deeply held desire by so many, and as a source of good news from the Church.

“We are dismayed that it seems that the Archbishop of York will not lay hands on Philip North at his consecration as Bishop of Burnley. We believe it is unprecedented that an Archbishop should be present at a consecration in his own Province and not lay hands on a candidate, and not preside at the eucharist.

“We are saddened that there will be such a powerful visual sign of a divided College and House of Bishops at the moment of consecration. The Bishop of Burnley is a suffragan bishop, and not a PEV: he is a minister for the whole Church of England in the Diocese of Blackburn and the people of that diocese are looking forward to working with him across the traditions. We will issue a statement on the wider ramifications of this in due course.”

Source: Christian Today

Christian Bible Colleges sue State for denying them the right to grant Students Degrees

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Christian Bible Colleges sue State for denying them the right to grant Students Degrees

A group of Christian colleges in Illinois have sued the state over what they believe to be their right to grant students full degrees without having to conform their curriculum to state standards.

With the aid of the Chicago-based firm Mauck & Baker, the group that calls itself the Illinois Bible Colleges Association filed a lawsuit last week against the Illinois Board of Higher Education in district court.

Colleges belonging to the group include Providence Baptist College of Elgin, United Faith Christian Institute and Bible College of Maywood, and the DaySpring Bible College and Seminary of Mundelein.

Pastor Jim Scudder Jr., president of Dayspring, told The Christian Post that his college “has a biblical conviction that we should not be encumbered by the government as we attempt to fulfill our mission of training pastors and missionaries.”

“Therefore we have chosen to request exemption from the state of Illinois’ Board of Higher Education. They have only granted that exemption as long as we don’t offer degrees. They said diplomas and certificates were all we were allowed to offer,” said Scudder.

“Dayspring and several other schools in Illinois have formed an association … to sue the state — asking for the right to offer full degrees without state regulations (except health and safety), as we believe is afforded by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”

Scudder added that the lawsuit was being funded partially by the Scottsdale, Arizona–based firm the Alliance Defending Freedom.

According to the IBHE’s website, colleges can “grant degrees on the condition that the institution maintains the standards and conditions that were presented in its application and that served as the basis for granting the authorization.”

“Periodically, staff will review materials provided by each institution, including the institution’s most recent catalog, annual reports on enrollments and degrees granted, reports on faculty salaries, student financial aid and default rates,” continued the IBHE.

“If the responses do not establish that the institution is in compliance with the conditions of approval, the institution may be allowed to provide a plan by which it will achieve compliance or revocation proceedings may be initiated.”

Regarding religious entities like the Bible colleges, IBHE states on their site that religious institutions “are required to obtain authorization to operate in Illinois.”

“If a religious institution plans to award an associate, bachelors, masters, advanced certificate, or doctoral degree in any field, it must obtain appropriate authorizations from the board. The rules provide a limited exemption for religious institutions that award only a ‘diploma’ or a ‘certificate’ and whose programs are solely devoted to religion and theology.”

Jonathan Lackland, spokesman for the IBHE, told CP that they could not comment on the lawsuit.

“The lawsuit against the Illinois Board of Higher Education was filed late Friday and we are in the process of reviewing it. As a result, we are unable to offer any comment or information at this time,” said Lackland.

In addition to the lawsuit aimed at the standards on religious colleges, The Associated Press reported last weekend that legislative efforts to change the standards have also occurred.

“Legislation to give the colleges degree-conferring authority won Senate approval without opposition last session but stalled in the House,”  the AP reported.

Source: Christian Post

US Senior Roman Catholics and Evangelicals join forces to warn of ‘grave threat’ of gay marriage

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US Senior Roman Catholics and Evangelicals join forces to warn of ‘grave threat’ of gay marriage

Senior Roman Catholics and evangelicals in the US have joined forces to warn of a grave “threat” to society caused by same-sex marriage.

In a statement to be published in the March edition of First Things, the US journal of religion, they describe the legalisation of same-sex marriage as “a graver threat” to society than divorce or cohabitation.

“We must say, as clearly as possible, that same-sex unions, even when sanctioned by the state, are not marriages,” the statement, titled “The Two Shall Become One Flesh: Reclaiming Marriage,” says. “Christians who wish to remain faithful to the Scriptures and Christian tradition cannot embrace this falsification of reality, irrespective of its status in law.”

Influential Christians such as Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist seminary and Timothy George, Dean of Beeson divinity school, are among the 30 senior Christian leaders who have endorsed the statement, according to Baptist Press.

The statement is the work of a consortium of Catholics and Protestants formed under the banner Evangelicals and Catholics Together, set up by the Institute on Religion and Public Life. The Catholics include George Weigel, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre.

Timothy George said the statement, headed: “The Two Shall Become One Flesh”, represents three years’ work by the group.

He told Baptist Press that Catholics and evangelicals “continue to disagree on lots and lots of issues. And the people who drafted this statement are well aware of those differences. We have not smudged them or pushed them under the rug.”

The members of the consortium “felt the complementarity of man and woman in marriage under God” was an issue on which evangelicals and Catholics could present a united witness. “We felt we had to speak out on this issue,” he said.

The statement sets out Bible teaching and concludes: “Marriage is a unique and privileged sign of the union of Christ with his people and of God with his Creation – and it can only serve as that sign when a man and a woman are solemnly joined together in a permanent union.”

It says marriage is in crisis throughout the Western world.

“The revolution in our marriage and family law, already well advanced, marches under the banners of freedom and equality. But these noble ideals are here gravely misapplied. When society systematically denies the difference between male and female in law and custom, our fundamental dignity is diminished, the image of God within us is obscured, unreality becomes legally established, and those who refuse to conform are regarded as irrational bigots,” the statement says.

It says gay marriage “threatens the common good” and “distorts the Gospel”.

“Keeping in mind the obligation to speak the truth in love, we must find ways to distinguish true marriage from its distortion, and we must do so without abandoning the public square,” the statement says. “We owe our fellow citizens a socially engaged witness to the truth about marriage, which, with the family, is the unalterable foundation of a healthy, humane society.”

Source: Christian Today

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