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Fri, 17 Aug 2018
Vatican voices 'shame and sorrow' over damning sex abuse report
The Vatican has expressed "shame and sorrow" over revelations that Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania sexually abused about 1,000 people over seven decades.
Reuters
Change sexuality teaching, former Irish President urges Pope
The former Irish President Mary McAleese has called on Pope Francis to use his presence at the World Meeting of Families to change the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality and include LGBT families at the meeting.
Church Times
Muslim job applicant who refused handshake wins discrimination case in Sweden
A Muslim woman in Sweden who said she was discriminated against in a job interview for refusing to shake hands on religious grounds has been awarded financial compensation by a labor court.
New York Times
Manchester imam 'called for armed jihad' at mosque where Arena bomber prayed
A recording that has been found purporting to be of an imam at a Manchester mosque calling for jihad 10 days before the Manchester Arena bomber bought his ticket.
Telegraph
Muslim woman removes hijab after cleric tells her to dress more modestly
Footage has emerged of the moment a Muslim woman appears to challenge a cleric who ordered her to dress more modestly despite the fact already she's wearing a veil.
Metro
Boris Johnson and the burqa both causing concern
Guardian readers respond to recent articles on burqa bans and Boris Johnson.
Guardian
‘Successive policy decisions’ blamed for significant drop in students taking A-levels in religious studies
Religious education bodies have expressed deep concern over a 20 per cent drop in the number of students taking A-levels in religious studies in the UK.
Church Times
British parents want RE removed from curriculum to be replaced by lessons in finance and healthy living
A new poll suggests that parents think financial literacy is more important to their children than religious literacy.
FE News
Pastafarianism is not a religion, Dutch court rules
The Dutch council of state has ruled that Pastafarianism is not a religion, denying a follower of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster the right to wear a colander on her head in her passport and driving licence photo.
Guardian
Canada: Christian law school drops gay sex ban after Supreme Court ruling
A Christian university in Canada has abandoned a rule forcing all law students to agree not to have gay sex after the Supreme Court ruled against the school.
Pink News
Chinese churches resolute in face of state interference
Churches in China have said that they are "willing to attach any price to the Christian faith", in a joint declaration following a recent crackdown on Christianity in Communist China.
Church Times
Thu, 16 Aug 2018
Judge throws out challenge to Scots abortion pill move
Scottish women will still be allowed to take abortion pills at home after a legal challenge against the move was thrown out.
BBC
Charles will take defender of the faith and supreme governor titles, suggests former royal spokesperson
The queen's former spokesperson Dickie Arbiter has suggested Prince Charles may not take the title 'King Charles' when he ascends to the throne. Arbiter appeared to suggest Charles would take the titles 'defender of the faith' and 'supreme governor of the Church of England'.
Hello!
Secularism is the best approach for society, says Ian McEwan
One of Britain's top authors has suggested "political motivations" are fuelling the debate over the burka and said "the courts and the state should take no views on the existence of God".
Express
North London hospital apologises for selling non-halal chicken in canteen
The Whittington Hospital in north London has apologised for selling non-halal chicken in its canteen.
Camden New Journal
Fatwa-hit scholar calls for more tolerant Islam in the UK
A Scottish scholar has set up a new think tank in an attempt to reverse "Muslim social self-exclusion" and ensure greater integration for the community in the UK.
Evening Times
Catholic priests abused 1,000 children in Pennsylvania, report says
Bishops and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and law enforcement not to investigate it, according to a grand jury in the US.
The New York Times
Critics slam Vatican's 'disturbing' silence on abuse cover-ups
The Vatican has declined to respond to an explosive grand jury report detailing decades of sexual abuse and cover-ups by priests and bishops in Pennsylvania, refusing even to say whether church officials in Rome have read the damaging documents.
CNN
UN torture group ‘to reject’ Ireland’s Magdalene investigation refusal
A UN committee scrutinising Ireland's record on torture is unlikely to accept the state's refusal of a fresh inquiry into abuse at Catholic-run Magdalene laundries.
The Times (£)
'Has Ireland lost faith in its church?'
As Ireland prepares for a papal visit, Arthur Beesley reports on a Catholic Church in crisis.
Financial Times
Outcry in Malaysia over two women sentenced to caning for lesbian sex
Human rights activists have called on Malaysian authorities to review a religious court decision sentencing two women to six strokes for having sex.
Reuters
Jailed for abortion: the 15-year-old girl failed by Indonesia
A teenager who was raped by her brother received a six-month prison sentence in Indonesia. In response teachers say they prefer to turn to Islam for guidance than to introduce sex education.
The Guardian
Wed, 15 Aug 2018
John Smyth survivors attack Christian children’s trust
Survivors of abuse perpetrated by the former Christian charity leader John Smyth have criticised Christian group the Titus Trust for failing to help bring him to justice.
Christian Today
Westminster attack suspect named
The man being held on suspicion of terrorism after the Westminster car crash has been named as Salih Khater by government sources.
BBC
Photo emerges of Corbyn giving Muslim Brotherhood’s salute
A photo has emerged of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn apparently making a salute popularised by the Muslim Brotherhood. Corbyn's spokesperson said the salute was a gesture of solidarity with victims of a 2013 massacre in Egypt.
Mail Online
‘Questioning the misogynistic veil isn’t racist’
Jo Bartosch says failing to see the sexism behind the veil is cowardly and careless racism.
UnHerd
Anti-gay marriage minister to keep job as chaplain at Scottish school
Petitioners have called for a chaplain who opposed same-sex marriage equality and made anti-gay remarks to be dismissed from a school in Angus. The school and council have said there are no planned changes to their chaplaincy staff in response.
The Courier
Report details sexual abuse by more than 300 priests in Pennsylvania's Catholic Church
A new grand jury report says that internal documents from six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania show that more than 300 "predator priests" have been credibly accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims.
CNN
Chile police raid Catholic Church HQ in sexual abuse investigation
Chilean authorities have raided the headquarters of the Catholic Church's episcopal conference as part of a widespread investigation into sexual abuse committed by members of a global religious order, prosecutors have said.
The Guardian
ISIS still has up to 30,000 members in Syria and Iraq, UN report finds
Islamic State still has as many as 30,000 members in Syria and Iraq - a far higher number than previously estimated, a United Nations report has found.
The Telegraph
‘Argentina’s women have not been beaten on abortion – change will come’
Claudia Piñeiro says the abortion debate in Argentina should be about public health rather than religion, and those who voted against the legalisation last week will not halt progress.
The Guardian
UN highlights claims a million Muslim Uighurs held in internment camps in China
A member of a UN human rights committee has raised concerns that China's Xinjiang region has been turned into "something resembling a massive internment camp". China has denied the claims.
Sky News
‘Who will speak for the Uighurs?’
Ralph Leonard says those of us who care about liberty, equality and human dignity must stand up to the anti-Muslim prejudice facing the Uighurs and others.
Medium
Australian senator calls for migration ban on Muslims and other groups
An Australian senator has been widely condemned for a speech that invoked the term "final solution" in a call for immigration restrictions based on race. Fraser Anning called for migration bans on Muslims and others in his maiden Senate speech on Tuesday.
BBC
Tue, 14 Aug 2018
Faith school may ban parents from wearing lycra – NSS quoted
An adjudicator has ruled that a Jewish girls' state school has not breached the admissions code by requiring families not to wear denim, leather or lycra, or have access to the internet or television. The NSS's education and schools officer Alastair Lichten has responded to the decision.
Tes
John Smyth victim calls for independent inquiry after he claims church 'marks its own exams'
One of the victims of a Christian evangelist, who was brutally abused as a teenager, has called for an independent inquiry and accused the Church of England of "marking its own exams".
The Telegraph
Westminster car crash: man arrested as pedestrians injured
A number of people have been injured after a car crashed into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament. Police do not believe anybody is in a life-threatening condition. Scotland Yard cannot say if the incident is related to terrorism at this stage but a number of eye witnesses have said the car appeared to hit members of the public deliberately.
BBC
Almost 70% of young Scots are not religious, poll shows
Scotland is becoming increasingly indifferent to religion, with the vast majority of young people describing themselves as not having any faith, according to research published on Tuesday.
iNews
‘What happened to Je Suis Charlie, prime minister?’
Gavin Mortimer says those who believe in freedom should not be cowed into submission amid the row over Boris Johnson's remarks on the burka.
The Spectator
‘The veil enslaves, and it isn’t racist to say so’
Iram Ramzan says it is important to challenge the preaching of modesty codes for women, but we are in danger of fostering an atmosphere where the silent Muslim majority dare not voice their concerns.
The Sunday Times (£)
The rise of the humanist wedding in Scotland
Non-religious ceremonies are now the most popular type of wedding in Scotland.
The Guardian
Abuse-concealing archbishop to avoid prison
A former Catholic archbishop will serve a maximum 12-month sentence in home detention for concealing child sexual abuse, an Australian court has ruled. The decision means Philip Wilson, who resigned as archbishop of Adelaide after his conviction, will avoid jail.
BBC
As Catholic hospitals expand in the US, so do limits on some procedures
One in six hospital patients in the United States is now treated in a Catholic facility, according to the Catholic Health Association. Most of these hospitals provide little or no information up front about procedures they won't perform.
The New York Times
Danish government will not ban forced genital cutting
Danish health minister Ellen Trane Norby on Sunday said that the Danish government would work to combat a bill proposing to ban infant circumcision in the country.
Arutz Sheva
Tunisian president proposes inheritance equality for women in challenge to Islamic law
Tunisia's president on Monday proposed giving women equal inheritance rights in the latest sign that the country could embrace secular law.
Arab News
French MPs ‘sickened’ by Gap Kids advert showing young girl wearing hijab
An American advert showing a Muslim girl wearing a headscarf has prompted an outcry in France and been deemed an affront to the nation's secularist principles.
The Times (£)
Mon, 13 Aug 2018
Christian camp leader John Smyth, who was suspected of abuse, dies
A former senior member of a Christian charity suspected of physically abusing boys who attended Christian summer camps has died without answering the allegations against him.
BBC
Home Office expected to make announcement on abortion clinic buffer zones within weeks
Campaigners calling for buffer zones to prevent harassment and abuse of women accessing abortion centres are expecting a Home Office announcement within weeks.
The Guardian
Call for Gove to give evidence over school abuse case claims
Lawyers representing child abuse survivors have called for the environment secretary, Michael Gove, to be called before a public inquiry over an allegation he intervened in a sexual abuse investigation into a priest.
The Guardian
Trojan horse teacher loses attempt to get job back
A deputy head teacher who said that gay people should be eradicated has lost his latest attempt to get his job back.
The Times (£)
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