Nazir Afzal who is in charge of steering talks between the council, parents and teachers, was brought in by the city council six weeks ago following weeks of demonstrations by parents outside of Anderton Park Primary school.

Concerns have been raised over plans to bring about lessons for primary school children on LGBT relationships.

Afzal told Sky news: “I can’t think of any other way to get people round a table again than to speak to you.

“I’ve looked at the curriculum, there is nothing in the curriculum that is LGBT specific. There is nothing about gay sex.

“I’ve seen people walking around outside of that school with stuff that they have downloaded from the internet suggesting this is on the curriculum.

“This is what’s being taught to their children. It’s a lie. And this is what I’m dealing with.”

While Christian charities have agreed the ongoing protest is “sad” and negatively impacting the community, they have disagreed on what the next step should be.

Luke Dowding is the executive of One People One Faith, which is a group that supports gay Christians.

“Such divisions can never be a positive thing,” he said.

“And those divisions are often a powerful reminder that as Christians, we are called to be peacemakers.

“So my initial reaction to the ongoing protest is one of sadness and one of concern for that community.”

He…

The Rev Andrea Ronconi said small pieces of clothing belonging to the Portuguese shepherd children, who were made saints in 2017, were stolen on Wednesday.

Police are looking for two suspects.

Father Ronconi, priest at the Jesus Christ Divine Worker parish, said he was “heartbroken and mortified” by the theft, which also included copies of a crown and rosary of the Fatima Virgin Mary statue.

Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who reported visions of the Virgin Mary more than 100 years ago, were declared saints on May 13 2017.

The Portuguese town of Fatima has become one of the world’s most important Catholic shrines.

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The human rights organisation said it is concerned for the safety and wellbeing of activists Nguyen Bac Truyen and Nguyen Van Hoa, who are both serving sentences relating to their peaceful defence of human rights in Vietnam.

Catholic activist, Nguyen Van Hoa. from Ha Tinh province, one of the areas that was affected by the Formosa Company steel plant disaster in April 2016 which left many families with no means of livelihood.

Following the disaster, Hoa helped members of the fishing community to seek compensation and filmed peaceful protests about the disaster.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison in a closed trial in November, 2017.

Hoa’s former cellmate recently reported that Hoa had sustained bruises and had been choked by a prison guard.

He has also been beaten on previous occasions and held in solitary confinement with his feet shackled, according to CSW.

Nguyen Bac Truyen and three other prisoners of conscience have gone on hunger strike to protest the treatment of fellow prisoner, Hoa.

Legal expert Nguyen Bac Truyen, is serving an 11-year prison sentence and is said to be extremely frail and rapidly losing weight.

Truyen, a Hoa Hao Buddhist, is a legal expert who has provided pro bono legal assistance to families of political prisoners, victims of land grabs, and persecuted religious communities.

Nguyen Bac Truyen and other prisoners have petitioned for…

Home Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, said a special taskforce will investigate the abduction following a report carried out by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, SUHAKAM (Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia) that concluded that his disappearance was executed by state agents.

The human rights panel in Malaysia was unanimous that Pastor Koh was a victim of an enforced disappearance.

He went missing on 13th February 2017.

In the attack, which was caught on CCTV, at least ten men in black SUVs blocked a major, bundled Raymond out of his car and into another vehicle and abducted him in under a minute. He has not been seen since.

In April 2019, it was announced at a press conference that he was probably taken by police and targeted by religious authorities.

The chair of the panel, Dato’ Mah Weng Kai said: “The direct and circumstantial evidence in Pastor Raymond Koh’s case proves, on a balance of probabilities, that he was abducted by State agents, namely, the Special Branch, Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur.”

The panel also concluded that there had been state involvement in the disappearance of activist Amri Che Mat, who is a Shia Muslim, a branch of Islam banned in Malaysia.

Henrietta Blyth, CEO of the religious freedom charity Open Doors UK and Ireland, said: “The SUHAKAM report was a very significant and bold step forward in pursuit of those who are behind Pastor Koh’s…

People who were sexually abused in religious institutions were less likely to report the abuse at the time than survivors of abuse in other settings, a report by the Truth Project found.

More than half of those who took part in the project, which is part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), said they felt shame, embarrassment or guilt around what happened to them.

The report, which brings together responses from 183 individuals who were sexually abused as children in religious institutions or by clergy or church staff in other settings, found that victims in almost half of cases (48%) knew of someone else being abused at the time.

More than two thirds (68%) of those abused in religious institutions said they had not reported their abuse at the time, while this figure was lower (54%) for people abused in non-religious settings.

Survivors said secrecy in religious organisations and an assumption around the morality of perpetrators must change, to stop abuse happening in future.

The report said: “Culturally, participants stated that the secrecy that comes from the sanctity of religious institutions and the assumption of the automatic morality of those involved in them had to be addressed.

“Politically and professionally, it was suggested that victims and survivors needed to be at the centre of all concerns, actions and support relating to…