Secularists go to law over police medal for Marian
image
THE Spanish government is being taken to court - by Francisco
Delgado of Secular Europe, and the Movement Towards A Secular State
(Movimiento hacia un Estado Laico) - after the interior
minister awarded the gold medal of police merit to (a statue of)
the Virgin, in Málaga. Jorge Fernández Díaz gave the award to the
Virgin and the local congregation for "maintaining a close
collaboration with police, particularly during the acts celebrated
in Holy Week, and for sharing police values such as dedication,
caring, solidarity and sacrifice", The
Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Bulldozers destroy Chinese church
A CHURCH in China guarded by Christians forming a human chain
(News, 11 April) has
been demolished. Photos on social media on Monday showed bulldozers
tearing down Sanjiang Church in Wenzhou. On Tuesday, the
state-controlled Zhejiang Daily reported that the
government would protect "legal religious venues", but would
"aggressively push on with the demolition of illegal buildings in
accordance with the law". Officials claim that the church had
violated building codes.
Missing Jesuit's family urge searchers to carry
on
THE family of Fr Paolo Dall'Oglio, an Italian Jesuit priest who
went missing in Syria last year (News, 2 August) are
urging the authorities to keep searching for him. All reports
suggest that he is still alive, and being held in prison by ISIS,
an al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group. "We ask those who are holding
Paolo captive to set him free so that he can return to his loved
ones, and we ask all institutions to continue working towards
this," the family said on Tuesday.