Alain Toledano Valiente is a leader in the Apostolic Movement, an unregistered Protestant denomination in Cuba.

Toledano Valiente, who leads Emanuel Church in Santiago de Cuba, was summoned to appear at the La Motorizada Unit #3 Police Station at 9am on Wednesday, accused of the crime of ‘disobedience’ because of a women’s event his church celebrated in August, for which he received warnings at the time.

He wrote on Instagram and Facebook: “I entrust my life to the faithful Creator, who will fight all my battles and conquer them. Everything that happens with my life starting tomorrow, I hold the government of Cuba and its representatives responsible. They want to create a crime to lock me up, create terror in me and my family, which they will never achieve. Let this be known to the whole church, to Human Rights Bodies, OAS, UN, and as many governments as you can, peace.”

In a following post on Instagram he wrote: “The criminals and bandits in Cuba do not run as many dangers as a pastor, this crime has been manufactured for some time, and since I have not been exiled, they seek to put me in prison.”

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Acabo de ser citado nuevamente a la 3ra Unidad de la policía llamada la Motorizada para mañana a las 9:00am, directamente por el jefe de la unidad de Micro:3, El Salao, el Reparto donde vivo. El anuncio fue, SERA RAPIDO, eso en…

It could easily be the start of a bad joke, but instead it’s the start of a story which Justin Welby described as “one of the most exciting proposals I have heard since I have been Archbishop”.

In August 2018, the number of nuns at All Hallows in Norfolk had fallen to just four.

The Community, wanting their space to be better used, launched a Dragon’s Den style competition with entrants invited to submit proposals on how their buildings should be used.

A group of youth workers, known as ‘With’ pitched the idea of planting a new community dedicated to prayer for young people across the country. They also wanted to introduce young people to the spiritual practices and daily offices of community lives through retreats.

After a number of rounds of interviews they were given the go-ahead.

Jamie Cutteridge, With’s director and project manager said: “We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel in terms of the history of All Hallows, but rather just picking up the baton from those who have served Jesus so faithfully in Ditchingham over the past 160 years and reimagine it for a new generation.

“With all that teenagers are bombarded with in the 21st Century, we believe that space to retreat and reflect is more important than ever before, and we know from our experience in working with young people who transformative times away can be.

“We’re overwhelmingly excited about the future…

Forty per cent of community schools (state schools controlled by the local council and not influenced by business or religious groups) are also not teaching enough RE at Key Stage 4, according to the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE).

State schools must teach RE to all pupils, whether they are studying for a GCSE or not.

However, NATRE says schools have hid behind failing accountability structures, with 64 per cent of students in year 11 and 59 per cent in year 10 not being taught RE.

 
 
More than a third of schools reported that they have received no subject specific training in the last academic year, with Ofsted saying school leaders, including governing boards, will be held to account when a lack of training for teachers has a negative impact on pupils.

NATRE’s research found that almost 40 per cent (up from 34 per cent in 2015-16) of community and 50 per cent of Academy schools without a religious character do not meet their legal or contractual requirements for RE at Key Stage 4.

In 58 per cent of schools the number of specialist teachers of RE either remained stable or increased but more than a quarter of schools reported that the number of specialists in their school had fallen.

Three quarters of respondents reported that some of the subject was taught by teachers who primarily taught other subjects and in 36 per cent of cases…

The state has passed a new bill against “forced conversion” which mandates anyone seeking to convert to another religion to give a month’s notice to the district magistrate stating they are doing so by their own will.

According to Christian charity Open Doors UK, a priest performing a conversion ceremony will also have to give a month’s notice. People who reconvert to their original religion are exempted from this requirement.

The bill forbids the “offer of any temptation in the form of any gift or gratification or material benefit, either in cash or employment, free education in a reputed school run by any religious body, easy money, better lifestyle, divine pleasure or otherwise”.

However, local Christians fear that the new law will be largely misused.

An Open Doors local partner said: “This now means that anyone praying for others’ healing will be accused as someone who is enticing people by offering them a better lifestyle, divine pleasure or otherwise.”

The new bill suggests seven years of jail for forced conversions, while the existing 2006 Freedom of Religion Act, which the new bill seeks to repeal, was proposing three years.

The bill also states that any person or organisation violating the provisions will not be allowed to accept donations or any kind of contributions from within or outside the country.

Anti-conversion laws are already in…

Jane Haining’s devotion to her pupils led to her death in an extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1944.

She was the matron at the Scottish Mission School in Budapest, Hungary, but refused to return home at the outbreak of war, saying the Jewish girls in her care needed her in the “days of darkness”.

Her life is now the focus of a display launching on Friday at Wigtown Parish Church in Dumfries and Galloway, which features photographs, documents, letters and other artefacts.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is important to learn from historical events such as the Holocaust and Jane Haining’s remarkable and brave story is one from which we can all learn.

“Jane’s story and countless others must be remembered and shared in the hope that we will never allow such atrocities to take place again.”

Rev Eric Boyle, minister of Wigtown and Kirkcowan Parish Church, said: “Jane Haining was a courageous and compassionate woman whose life was cut short during a dark period of history and it is a privilege and honour to host this exhibition.”

The Church of Scotland missionary, from Dunscore near Dumfries, kept the girls safe for nearly five years and was eventually arrested by the Gestapo on eight charges – including working among Jews in her care.

Undated handout photo issued by the Church of Scotland of a new…