The Rt Rev John McDowell, the bishop of Clogher, a diocese that cuts across the Irish border, has written in the Daily Telegraph to ask Boris Johnson to consider his legacy when it comes to the Irish border.

The bishop, whose diocese includes County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland and County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, wrote an open letter to Mr Johnson, saying: “I am writing as someone who has always recognised the almost impossible difficulties and stresses placed on those who have a vocation to public life, particularly politicians…But sometimes an individual should say things which might otherwise go unheard in the cacophony of other, better-known voices; the alternative would be to simply wither in the silence of exhaustion.”

Rt Rev John McDowell explained that his job is to care for people on both sides of the border and that “although our priorities and the methods we use to achieve them may be different, I think it is fair to say that our goals overlap; nowhere more so than in the current difficulties surrounding brexit and the Border, which (very worryingly) give every impression of escalating towards a crisis. For those of us old enough to have lived through longest civil conflict in post-War Europe, the very word ‘escalation’ is resonant with overtones of lived horror and real tragedy. As such, it is reassuring that those in power on both…

The quakes collapsed houses built of stone and wood, arousing residents from sleep, said Roldan Esdicul, who heads the Batanes provincial disaster-response office.

“Our bed and everything were swaying from side to side like a hammock,” Mr Esdicul told The Associated Press from Basco town, the provincial capital. “We all ran out to safety.”

More than 1,000 residents of hard-hit Itbayat island – nearly half of the island’s population of mostly fishermen – were advised not to return to their homes and stay in the town plaza as successive aftershocks shook the region, he said.

“The wounded are still being brought in,” Itbayat mayor Raul de Sagon told a local radio station. He said more doctors may be needed if the number of injured from interior villages rises.

The Philippine seismology agency said the quakes measured 5.4 and 5.9. A third quake magnitude 5.7 struck later on Saturday.

Mr Esdicul said he was already in his office with the provincial governor when the second and more powerful quake struck about three hours after the first shock.

“We have to hold on because you can’t stand or walk. It was that strong,” he said.

The initial quake severely cracked the bell tower of the island’s old limestone church, the 19th-century Santa Maria de Mayan, a popular tourist attraction.

The tower collapsed when the…

The survey called, ‘What Americans Know About Religion’ asked nearly 11,000 American adults about their knowledge of world religions, the Bible, Christianity and Judaism.

The results revealed that most Americans are familiar with some of the basics of Christianity and the Bible, and even a few facts about Islam. But far fewer U.S. adults are able to correctly answer factual questions about Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, and most do not know what the U.S. Constitution says about religion as it relates to elected officials.

In addition, large majorities of Americans are unsure (or incorrect) about the share of the U.S. public that is Muslim or Jewish, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that quizzed nearly 11,000 U.S. adults on a variety of religious topics.

The survey asked 32 fact based multiple-choice questions that “span a spectrum of difficulty.” 

The survey found that Jews, atheists, agnostics, evangelical Protestants, highly educated people and those with religiously diverse social networks seem to have higher levels of religious knowledge. Meanwhile, young adults and racial minorities seemed to have less knowledge about religion than the average respondent. 

When looking specifically at questions dealing with the Bible and Christianity, the survey found that evangelical Protestants, on average, answered 9.3 out of 14 questions…

Reverend Julyan Drew used social media to campaign for justice for victims of the 2017 tragedy from his hospice bed.

Last year the dad of three, of Newlyn, Cornwall, met survivors from Grenfell who visited Cornwall for respite holidays.

The father-of-three served as Superintendent of the West Penwith Methodist Circuit and for 20 years, as Minister of various West Cornwall Chapels.

Chaplain of the Penlee lifeboat, he has also served as Chaplain to the Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, the town council and been chair of numerous local bodies, including as chair of the YMCA, The Newlyn Fish Industry Forum and the 3 Villages Project.

Rev Julyan was the first person to receive a Grenfell Community Hero Award by Grenfell United, survivors of Grenfell Tower Fire for his support.

The accolade was launched this year to celebrate local community heroes, whose lives exemplify exceptional community spirit and leadership in their own areas all over the UK.

It was inspired by the outpouring of love and kindness from people all over the capital and further afield, which followed the Grenfell tower fire.

It was presented to Rev. Drew in his hospice in Cornwall by Esme Page, founder of the charity Cornwall Hugs Grenfell, which brings those affected by the fire for respite holidays in Cornwall.

Cornwall Hugs Grenfell’s Esme Page…

Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino was 83.

The cleric also was the intermediary who helped open a dialogue between Havana and the US that led the two countries to resume relations in 2014, after presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama secretly turned to Pope Francis for help.

In November 1994, Pope John Paul II named him as the firstcardinal in Cuba in more than three decades and the second in the island’s history.

In 1992, the government dropped its constitutional references to atheism, and a gradual thaw in church-state relations began, culminating with the papal visit in 1998, and government acceptance of some outdoor religious events.

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