Christian legal group ADF International intervened in the case in support of the man known as A.A. (anonymised for security reasons) saying the asylum seeker could face severe social and formal persecution if sent home.

The Strasbourg Court Judges held that the Muslim who became a Christian would have been compelled to conceal their faith or face persecution if deported by the Swiss authorities.

Conversion from Islam to another religion is illegal in the Middle Eastern country and punishable by “anything from lengthy imprisonment to death”, the human rights firm said.

Robert Clarke, Director of European Advocacy for ADF International insisted: “Nobody should be persecuted because of their faith. Our society has a responsibility to protect those who are facing torture, imprisonment, or death due to their religious beliefs. Afghanistan counts as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for Christians and, in particular, for converts.

“ADF International’s intervention sought to highlight the severe breaches of human rights in Afghanistan against religious minorities and especially the widespread persecution of Christians. We welcome this important judgement from the European Court of Human Rights, affirming that Christians should not have to hide their faith to avoid persecution.”

While the Afghan Constitution protects religious freedom in general, it also…

“Remember Together”, coordinated by the Royal British Legion and integration thinktank British Future encourages people from different backgrounds to learn about and commemorate their shared history.

Servicemen and women from Allied nations such as Poland and the Czech Republic fought for Britain in the Second World War, alongside millions from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Events held in Leicester and in Boston, Lincolnshire honour the contributions and sacrifices of people from all ethnic backgrounds to the war effort.

In a joint letter published in the Observer Bishop James Newcome and Bishop Martyn Snow, Imam Qari Asim and Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner have urged the public to remember “how soldiers from Britain and its allies from across the Commonwealth nations, the US and the free armies of Europe fought side-by-side to overcome adversity,” and to “reflect on the things that we share.”

Former Chief of Defence Staff Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, as well as representatives from Britain’s Sikh and Hindu communities, Polish veterans and Pakistan’s High Commission to the UK also joined them in reminding people that Remembrance is for all of us.

Head of Remembrance at the Royal British Legion, Catherine Davies said: “Today’s Britain is made up of so many communities whose ancestors stood together in our…

Interfaith Week will see thousands of people take part in activities across England, Northern Ireland and Wales from 10th – 17th November, to highlight the positive impact of faith groups on local communities and strengthen relationships between people of religious and non-religious backgrounds.

Co-Chairs of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, Rt Rev Jonathan Clark, Area Bishop of Croydon and Jatinder Singh Birdi said: “Inter Faith Week is a great opportunity for people to come together, learn about people in their communities, and make common cause together. Such actions are a powerful antidote to language of division and to prejudice.”

 
The launch of the Interfaith Network initiative coincided with Remembrance Sunday to encourage different faith groups to join in paying tribute to soldiers and civilians who served in the two World Wars and later conflicts.

Hastings and District Interfaith Forum and the Council of Christians and Jews Bexhill Branch held a ‘Remembering Together’ event while The City of London Corporation Multi-Faith Staff Network hosted a multi-faith remembrance service.

Activities will take place in sports venues, schools, community centres and places of worship ranging from community projects and debates to art exhibitions and faith walks.

Initiatives include a celebration of Multi Faith Britain by the London District of the Methodist Church at…

West has become the first artist ever to monopolise the entire top 10 spots on both Billboard’s Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts.

On Hot Gospel Songs chart, the rapper dominates the top 11, which is every song on the album.

Billboard News said: “West surpasses other accomplished acts with his honours. On Hot Christian Songs, Chris Tomlin, Jordan Smith (both in 2016), Casting Crowns (2009) and Mercy Me (2006) each infused the top three in a week. On Hot Gospel Songs, Lecrae swept the top five for three weeks in 2014.”

On top of this major achievement, songs from “Jesus is King” are at the top of all-genre Billboard 200, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts. Together with Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums success, West is the first artist ever to reign on all five rankings.

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According to The Times, the girl, who cannot be named, resorted to recording the incident after adults in the church refused to believe her reports of being abused by Fr Michele Mottola in Trentola Ducenta, near Naples.

In one recording, the man is heard saying “Do you want a kiss?”

After the girl refuses, he apparently says: “There is no one here. Are you afraid? Kiss me, hug me.”

The Times reports in a second recording, after the sound of heavy breathing and the girl rejecting the priest, he says: “Take this to dry yourself.”

It’s been reported the girl was too afraid to tell her mother about the incident because she was friends with Fr Michele and he would give her and her daughter gifts.

Instead, she played the recording for two parishioners who didn’t do anything about it, and then begged the priest to stop the abuse.

Fr Michele asked if she had told anyone and when she said she did, he reportedly told her mother that she was a liar and told the girl: “You are like an Islamist bomber. You kill people and move on.”

Eventually the girl’s mother believed her daughter’s claims and confronted the priest who reportedly confessed.

The Catholic Church suspended Fr Michele in May but he was only arrested when the girl’s recordings were aired on a current affairs show called Le Iene.

The girl has been hailed a hero.

Her older sister said: “She was…

Former soldier Rev Peter Sutton spent four months patrolling the guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided the German city and cut it off from the rest of East Germany from 1961 to 1989.

The minister of St Cuthbert’s Parish Church in Edinburgh was a platoon commander with the 1st Battalion Black Watch.

He was responsible for 30 men whose job it was to protect the British sector of Berlin up until just a few months before the wall was torn down.

Ironically, Rev Sutton, 54, was on UK soil in a heavily fortified army patrol base surrounded by “huge breeze block walls” when he, along with his platoon sergeant, watched one of the most historic and public demonstrations of unity unfold on television.

He said: “I really enjoyed my tour in West Berlin because it was an exciting, vibrant place to be.

“Our role was to ensure that the Russians did not take over the city and make it part of East Germany.

“It was a city full of ‘spies’ and an exciting posting everyone wanted because historically it linked you back to all those War Films and Commando Comics we had grown up with.

“I was stationed there until a few months before the wall fell and although Berlin did not feel dangerous per se, people were still being shot if they came over it.

“You would not climb over it for a joke.”

Rev…

He said he wants to “bring relief, share the gospel, and plant churches among” the “ultra poor”.

He revealed his plans to move to Hong Kong next year with this family during his final chapel service at Azusa Pacific University in California on Wednesday.

Chan said the idea to make the big move came during a visit to Myanmar with his family a few months ago.

“We were just with a translator going from hut to hut in these slums, trying to explain to people who Jesus is,” he said.

“These people had never even heard of Him and the eagerness, the way they listened, seeing people get baptised — it was just like, wow, what do we do on a normal day that even compares to this?

“As we got on the plane home, I was like, ‘Honey, I think it’s time to move’.”

Chan said during his sermon that he had some frustrations about Christian leadership in the US.

“I describe it like this: I feel like I’ve been fishing in the same pond my whole life and now there’s like thousands of other fishermen at the same pond, and our lines are getting tangled and everyone’s fighting over stupid things, and one guy tries some new lure and we go, ‘Oh, he caught a fish, let’s all try his method!’ And it just feels like, what are we all doing here?”

“What if I heard of a lake that’s like a five-mile hike away, and no one’s fishing it. And they’re saying, ‘Man, the fish are biting — just throw a hook…

Archdeacon Mark Butchers of Barnstaple, who oversees churches in North Devon, told news site Devon Live that Church of England parishes aim to be as welcoming as possible to a wide variety of community groups. However, each parish is allowed to create its own policies for renting a church hall.

“Many parishes are entirely open to hosting yoga exercise classes, emphasising the health benefits for both individuals and communities which yoga offers,” he said.

“Some parishes feel that because yoga has its spiritual roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, it does not fit with Christian spirituality which is rooted in the love of God revealed in Jesus; and so they do not allow traditional yoga classes, but would welcome other health and fitness groups such as Pilates.”

Archdeacon Butchers also said that there are a range of views on the topic with the Church, but they all desire to serve communities “with joy according to the values and beliefs of our Christian faith”.

The yoga ban row began when Rev Nigel Dilkes of Pilton Church told yoga teacher Atsuko Kato that yoga was “not compatible with Christian beliefs” which she asked book the church’s hall last week for a new class.

The President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Rajan Zed, has urged Rev Dilkes, to “show some maturity” and re-think the issue.

He said the ban was depriving locals of the “valuable…