According to The Times, 65-year-old Fr Vincenzo De Mario came up with the idea as a way to boost church attendance.

“Church attendance is in decline and we are looking for a way to bring people back,” he said.

He said parking is scarce in the town of Avezzano so the church’s 200 parking spots are coveted.

The Times reports it costs ten Hail Marys for an hour parking, 20 for two hours and 50 for five hours.

If a driver only needs to park for 15 minutes, they’re asked to recite one Hail Mary, the Lord’s Prayer and another short prayer.

Fr De Mario said it takes praying for parking to a new level.

“People often pray for a parking spot, and here you really do, literally, pray for parking.

“Everyone loves it and what’s important is that it makes people smile,” he told The Times.  

He added that he isn’t completely serious about the system and won’t be checking if people are praying after parking.

“If motorists say at least one prayer, or even glance at the heavens, that will make me happy,” he said.

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They’ve written an open letter asking for a ban on the sale of pointed kitchen knives. The letter was also signed by leading crime experts, as well as MPs, and community leaders.

It comes after a conference called The Point in Chatham last week raised awareness of the issue, as statistics show that there has been an 80 per cent rise in knife crime in the UK since 2014.

The signatories have urged Government to “take urgent measures to promote the sale of safe kitchen knife designs and restrict those designs which have been used in so many acts of violence.”

The letter endorses research, highlighted at the conference, which explains that points on domestic knives are historic and no-longer necessary.

“Historically we needed a point on the end of our knife to pick up food because forks weren’t invented. Now we only need the point to open packets when we can’t be bothered to find the scissors,” the letter reads.

It continues: “A five-year study in Edinburgh found that of the sharp instruments used in homicides, 94 per cent were kitchen knives. Research demonstrates kitchen knives are used in a large percentage of homicides due to their availability and lethal nature.

“Criminologists have demonstrated that reducing availability in turn reduces crime.

“The UK has worked for the public good by restricting handguns, paracetamol, smoking in public and plastic bags –…

It was part of International Justice Mission’s (IJM) annual Freedom Sunday which encourages churches to unite in prayer for the issue.

CEO of the Christian charity, David Westlake, told Premier it’s a very critical issue as 40 million men, women and children are trapped in brutal slavery today.

“If I can put that a little bit into context, in the next hour, in the next 60 minutes, 120 children will be sold, and they’ll be sold into sweatshops and brothels and factories.

“And of course, we know that children belong in families, and playgrounds and schools.

This is a critical issue 120 children in the next hour, and an hour up to that, and the hour after that, and every hour of every day, people made in God’s image that he wants to restore to wholeness and to give them a future and a hope.”

More than 100 churches took part in Freedom Sunday.

Sheila from a church in Yorkshire said: “My prayer is that I do justice to this important subject, the work of IJM and that the Lord’s voice will be heard. At almost 80, this is a huge privilege for me to do this and to raise awareness of this powerful, effective ministry.”

In Ghana, traffickers sit in the congregations of churches in fishing villages around Lake Volta- the lake in which children as young as three are forced into hard, dangerous labour and face a daily risk of drowning.

IJM said hundreds of…

Rev Séamus Hegarty passed away after an illness in Letterkenny University Hospital, Co Donegal.

He served this diocese from 1994 -2011 and retired after announcing he was diagnosed with a condition which was “irreversible and progressive”.

Prior to that, Rev Hegarty was ordained Bishop of Raphoe in 1982.

Church leaders in Ireland have been paying tribute to him.

Archbishop Eamon Martin honoured Rev Hegarty as a leader who passionate about his advocacy on education and emigrants.

“Bishop Hegarty often intervened at conference meetings to draw attention to the personal, social and economic challenges facing emigrants, and he supported efforts to raise vital funds for the mission to those who face challenges far from home,” he said.

During the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Eamon also reflected on his personal relationship with Rev Hegarty.

“I am grateful to Bishop Séamus for his encouragement and support to me as my bishop in Derry from 1994 until his retirement in 2011.  He was unstinting in his support for my role as teacher and President of Saint Columb’s College. 

“Having been a school principal himself for many years, he was passionate about the importance of education for young people and he had a strong awareness of the issues facing school staff and managers.

“He worked tirelessly to secure the new school sites for girls’…

The charity said when paramilitary police attempted to shut down Church of the Prince of Peace in Ighzer Amokrane recently, Christians occupied the church and refused to leave.

The authorities managed to succeed at the second attempt and the church has been closed since 2 September.

Representatives of l’Église Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), the legally recognised umbrella group of Protestant churches in Algeria, said the closure was illegal as it had not been ordered by court.

Around the same time, leaders of another EPA-affiliated church in Maatkas were called by the authorities and interrogated.

The charity said a 2006 ordinance regulating non-Muslim worship requires all churches to be licensed. Since November 2017, most EPA-affiliated churches have been asked to prove they have a licence.

Meanwhile, applications from churches for a licence have been ignored by the authorities and many churches have received written orders to cease all activities.

The charity also said in May this year, a church in the Kabilye area, was shut down.

Churches in Ait-Mellikeche, Al A’keed Amroush and Azaghar were closed in 2018.

An illustrative image of an Algerian church

An Open Doors spokesperson said: “These actions clearly represent a deeply concerning continuation in the systematic campaign against Christians…

Christian Aid’s youth and campaigns manager, Richard Baker, said: “The youth climate strikes have been nothing short of prophetic.

“One seemingly defiant act of protest by a 16-year-old girl in Sweden has grown into a thundering movement for change that is sweeping the globe.

“The climate strikers are pointing the way, it’s now time world leaders and big business take heed and take action.”

The statement comes ahead of a climate action summit in New York convened by the UN secretary general on Monday to urge countries to up their climate effort.

Baker added: “This week at the crucial summit in New York we need to see countries making new pledges to cut their emissions and stronger commitments to help the poorest communities already suffering from the climate crisis.”

Meanwhile, Extinction Rebellion protesters gathered on Dover seafront to “blockade” the busy port on Saturday.

Two major roads out of the port are expected to be blocked for four hours, the environmental group has said.

The group said it’s point out the vulnerability of the UK’s food supply in the face of a climate emergency.

The “No Food on a Dying Planet” action at the Kent port is expected to be mirrored across the Channel by other Extinction Rebellion groups.

Rev Helen Burnett, curate at St Luke’s Church in Whyteleafe, Surrey, took part in the protest and told Sky News action against global…

Rt Rev Rob Wickham attended an hour of remembrance at St Mary’s Primrose Hill Church on Friday evening for victims of violent crime in Camden.

Most recently, there was a double stabbing on Camden High Street on 12 September. One led to a fatality. 

Rev Wickham lit a candle of remembrance and offered support as he reflected on recent tragedies.

“This is a matter for all of London, young and old, rich and poor. The victims, their families and friends do not stand alone at this dark time, but alongside those that believe that faith speaks of hope, the sanctity of human life, and compassionate care and support for those who are hurting,” he said.

“Faith also speaks of justice and speaking truth to power, so I urge truth telling and pray for the work of the police so that those who take life may be brought to Justice.

“We pray too that lives might be turned around for anyone who now carries or uses a knife, that community relationships may be strengthened, and the need for carrying knives eliminated.”

Moving hour of remembrance at St Mary’s, Primrose Hill for all the young victims of knife & gun crime in Camden. @bpedmonton quoted the proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ We must stand together in solidarity against this horror and work every day to end the bloodshed. pic.twitter.com/3Co96kzkEJ

— Roberto Weeden-Sanz (@RWeedenSanz) September 21,…

Rt Revd Rob Wickham attended an hour of remembrance at St Mary’s Primrose Hill Church on Friday evening for victims of violent crime in Camden, London.#

There was a double stabbing on Camden High Street on 12 September, one which led to a fatality. 

Rev Wickham lit a candle of remembrance and offered support as he reflected on recent tragedies.

“This is a matter for all of London, young and old, rich and poor. The victims, their families and friends do not stand alone at this dark time, but alongside those that believe that faith speaks of hope, the sanctity of human life, and compassionate care and support for those who are hurting,” he said.

“Faith also speaks of justice and speaking truth to power, so I urge truth telling and pray for the work of the police so that those who take life may be brought to Justice.

“We pray too that lives might be turned around for anyone who now carries or uses a knife, that community relationships may be strengthened, and the need for carrying knives eliminated.”

Moving hour of remembrance at St Mary’s, Primrose Hill for all the young victims of knife & gun crime in Camden. @bpedmonton quoted the proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ We must stand together in solidarity against this horror and work every day to end the bloodshed. pic.twitter.com/3Co96kzkEJ

— Roberto Weeden-Sanz (@RWeedenSanz) September 21,…

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI), Rt Rev Dr William Henry, joined other church leaders at the 174 Trust in Belfast on Friday to plant a tree to mark International Day of Peace, which has been observed around the world on 21 September, since the United Nations unanimously voted to establish it nearly 40 years ago.

Rev Henry said: “As followers of the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, peacebuilding is a reflection of who we are in Christ and must be at the heart of Christian discipleship.

“Peacebuilding will look different for each and every one of us and it isn’t easy, but Jesus has let us know that there is no commandment greater than to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind’ and to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’.”

The Moderator also reflected on PCI’s Vision for Society Statement that it received at its 2016 General Assembly.

He said: “It is a short and simple statement, not an easy one to read as it states clearly that ‘We confess our failure to live as biblically faithful peacebuilders…’ but it is a powerful one.

“Peacebuilding is an essential part of Christian witness and the statement challenges us to go beyond ourselves, ‘seeking a more reconciled community…working together for the common good’. It challenges and inspires me, as it should challenge and…