According to local reports, they damaged nearly 100 Christian graves in the Breuil cemetery in Cognac, destroying mostly crosses but also smashing a number of statues, plaques and representations of angels and of Virgin Mary.

The desecration of the cemetery took place just days before the Christian celebration of All Souls Day on 2nd November, when Catholics visit the graves of their loved ones to pray for the repose of their souls.

The mayor of Cognac, Michel Gourinchas, went to the graveyard Wednesday to survey the extent of the damage, describing the incident as “lamentable” and “shameful.”

The mayor said he hopes the incident was nothing more than an act of gratuitous and foolish vandalism without anti-Christian motivation.

“It is obviously the desire to break things, but it is the police investigation that will determine the nature of the faithless, lawless individuals who come to desecrate objects in a cemetery. I hope there is no political or religious connotation,” the mayor said.

“I hope, even if it is abominable, that it is only petty individuals who have done this to show how clever they are,” he said.

Anti-Christian desecration has been on the rise in France, although state officials have been reluctant to acknowledge the religious nature of the acts.

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The Christian organisation told Fox News that curiosity about Christianity has spiked since the US rapper released his first Christian album last week.

Dr. John Farquhar Plake, the organisation’s director of ministry intelligence, told Fox News; “When we saw an influential cultural figure like Kanye inspiring young people to curiously seek out answers to their faith questions, we saw that as an opportunity to do what we do best as an organisation: to provide God’s word and point people to it as a source to their questions about faith.”

The new program called “Bibles for Kanye Fans” has offered up to 1,000 copies of the Good News Translation for those who apply on American Bible Society’s website.

According to Google Trends, online searches for “Jesus” and “Christianity” shot up significantly in the US when West released his album on 25th October.

Dr Plake added: “Kanye’s album just points to this cultural curiosity and we’re happy to stand in the gap and say if you’re curious about the Bible, we want to provide one to you.”

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Democratic MP Päivi Räsänen was questioned at Pasila police station in Helsinki on suspected incitement against sexual and gender minorities for her condemnation of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s (ELCF) involvement in a Pride event on social media in June.

Räsänen shared a photo of Romans 1:24-27 on Facebook that describes same sex relationships as “shameful” and challenged the decision by ELCF – a national Protestant denomination – to participate in Helsinki LGBT Pride.

The post read: “How can the Church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?”

Speaking to the Christian Broadcast Network prior to the interrogation Räsänen explained why she posted the remarks online: “When praying, I got convinced that it is not my time now to jump out of the sinking boat as a parable of the Church, but to try to wake up the sleeping ones in the Church in that boat. And that’s why I decided to write to social media.”

The politician’s conservative views on abortion, euthanasia and marriage have sparked controversy in the past when she expressed her views in a TV debate on marriage in 2010.

Tens of thousands of Christians are thought to have left the ELCF, of which Räsänen is a member, as a result of her participation in the on-screen debate.

Following Friday’s police interview, Räsänen…

Pope Francis has renamed the priceless archives, which span over 12 centuries; the Vatican announced they would now be called the Vatican Apostolic Archives.

Among the documents are letters about King Henry’s VIII’s requests to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn that led to the English Church’s 1534 split with the Catholic Church in Rome.

They also hold the originals acts of the 1633 trial of astronomer Galileo by the Roman Inquisition which condemned him for heresy for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun.

In practice, the archives haven’t actually been secret for a while, as with most state archives they are open to researchers after a period of time.

The removal of the word “secret” removes any potentially “negative nuances” from the Latin word “secretum” which the pope said in a decree was closer to “private” or “reserved” than “secret” when the archives first got their name around 1610.

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In guidance sent to bishops, dioceses and church leadership teams, the Church’s environmental working group outlines what is needed to tackle the problem, from heating buildings to protecting wildlife in churchyards.

And in the future, local churches would need to be ready provide sanctuary in extreme weather events and support climate refugees from within and outside of the UK as the impacts of global warming accelerate.

The environmental working group is planning to bring a motion to the General Synod in 2020 proposing revised carbon targets for the Church that would see it aim for net zero emissions by 2050 – and to move faster where this is possible.

In its guidance the working group, which is chaired by the Bishop of Salisbury, said a programme of action was needed to change heating from oil and gas and focus more on the comfort of church users rather than always aiming to heat the whole space.

The programme would also focus on installing energy efficient lighting, switching to renewable energy, cutting heat loss, and for church properties, where appropriate, to generate their own electricity from renewables.

A key first step will be to measure the carbon footprint across all parts of the Church, where it is not done already, including churches, housing, schools, farming, forestry, investment portfolios, and offices, the guidance said.

The Church of England…

Rev Christopher Goble appeared at Warwick Crown Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to having the images, 112 of which were in the “most serious category”, according to the CPS.

Goble, who served in south Warwickshire, was suspended from ministry “with immediate effect” on being charged, the Diocese of Coventry said.

In court, Goble, of Ilmington, Warwickshire, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children.

Police executed a warrant to search his home on 1st October, and a chat message was found on his phone in which 44-year-old Goble admitted having a sexual interest in children.

It is understood none of the victims are children from within his ministry.

The case has been adjourned until the week of 9th December for sentencing.

Senior Crown prosecutor Andrew Crump, of CPS West Midlands, said: “Christopher Goble is a vicar who, in his position of authority, should have been safeguarding children.

“This case sends a clear message that viewing indecent images of children is a crime and the CPS will prosecute those who commit these offences.”

A Diocese of Coventry spokesman said: “Christopher Goble was charged with the offences, following his arrest on 1st October.

“He was suspended from ministry with immediate effect.

“We offer an unreserved apology to all those affected by these crimes, acknowledging how difficult and distressing it is.

“The diocese…