At a meeting in the Oval Office in the White House on Wednesday, the President met survivors of religious persecution and heard about their concerns for their home countries. 

One of the attendees was Helen Berhane, who was locked up for being at an unregistered church and imprisoned in a shipping container for 32 months in Eritrea, north east Africa. 

Berhane was a member of Rema church, an evangelical church, and was arrested in 2004, shortly after releasing a Christian album. 

She was later granted asylum in Denmark and took the opportunity to ask the President to support pastors and Christians who have not gained the freedom she has. 

She stood by him in the Oval office and said: “My name is Helen. I’m from Eritrea. I’m a gospel singer. So I have been, for 32 months, in a metal shipping container because of my faith.

“But the reason I am here — all our pastors, they are still in prison in Eritrea, including the Patriarch Abune Antonios. So that is my message. I am a voice for those voiceless.”

Patriarch Antonios has been excommunicated from the Eritrean Orthodox Church for ‘heresy’. 

Our Helen Berhane, the gospel singer #Eritrea, with #PresidentTrump raising the issue of religious persecution in the country and on the fate of Abune Antonios, a day before his excommunication by the regime #Yiakl #Kifaya pic.twitter.com/NJshycrJhM

— Mohamed Kheir…

Willow Creek Community Church is a non-denominational church founded in 1975 by Bill Hybels. It has eight sites in Illinois and is evangelical. 

In March last year, allegations surfaced in a Chicago Tribune article about Hybels and suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss and invitations to hotel rooms, causing him to resign in April 2018 despite denying the claims.

In a statement from Willow Creek this week, which it says will be its ‘last’ statement on the matter, the church leadership acknowledges the harm its founder’s behaviour has had on women and the church as a whole and express no doubt about the validity of the claims. 

The statement, signed by the nine elders, reads: “In the aftermath of the events made public in March 2018, we experienced a fracture in our church marked by disbelief, confusion, fear, and hurt.

“We have intentionally talked with former Elders, former staff, and the individuals who raised concerns regarding our senior pastor starting in 2014 and went public in 2018. We have also sought to listen to church attenders and current staff who have come forward. We have reached out to Bill Hybels; however, he has chosen not to engage in dialogue at this time. We welcome the opportunity to meet with him to aid in healing and reconciliation. We are issuing this statement because in listening, we recognise that there are some…

The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill currently going through parliament aims to get the Executive functioning again and requires the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley, to report on progress. 

However, amendments have been added to the bill by MPs in Westminster that require Northern Ireland to provide access to legal abortion services and to legalise same-sex marriage, if the assembly is not back up and running by October 21st. 

Both are currently illegal, with abortion being allowed when the mother’s life is at serious risk. The changes would mean abortion would be allowed up to 28 weeks; it is currently 24 weeks in the rest of the UK. 

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has expressed its “deep disappointment and dismay” at these amendments and has called for “meaningful and detailed” consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny in Northern Ireland before any regulations are introduced. 

In addition, the group ‘Don’t Screen Us out’, who campaign for the lives of babies with Down’s syndrome have also written an open letter to the current Prime Minister, asking Theresa May not to allow the changes, citing that currently 90% of pregnancies with a Down’s syndrome diagnosis in England and Wales are aborted and that they do not want to see disability-selective abortion introduced in Northern Ireland. 

Rt Rev Dr William Henry,…

The Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need: “Biased and prejudiced official security reports heighten tension when they blame the victims instead of the aggressors because of the Nigerian ‘factor’ of tribal or religious affiliation. This sadly keeps the fire of the crisis raging.

“Generally, it is when the militant herdsmen vanish after their deadly attacks that the poor villagers try to react to protect or defend themselves.”

Muslim Fulani herdsman and Christian Jukun Kona farmers in Taraba State have clashed for years but violence has become more frequent and tensions worse this year. 

According to the prelate, around May and June this year 65 people were killed, 9,000 people displaced and 15 churches, two primary schools and a health centre destroyed during Fulani attacks on 18 predominantly Christian villages.

Kona assaults on members of the Fulani ethnic group also caused damage, including the torching of two mosques. More than 23 Fulani were killed.

Archbishop Kaigama said: “Three persons were killed the morning of my visit of 10th July.

“The violence went on unchecked for a protracted period and the population of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) began to swell because of the increasing attacks of the gunmen.”

The archbishop, himself a member of the Kona minority, described contacting senior officials to…