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World news in brief

by
23 May 2014

REUTERS

"Let the children come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven": a card left in memory of 31 children killed when their bus caught fire in Columbia, on Sunday, when they were travelling back from a church event.

"Let the children come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven": a card left in memory of 31 children killed when their bus caught fire in Columb...

Archbishop prays for striking miners

THE Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Makgoba, has written a prayer for platinum miners as a strike entered its fifth month. Miners at the three top platinum-producers have refused to work since 23 January in a dispute over wages, and the crisis has already led to several deaths. Archbishop Makgoba encouraged all South African parishes to use his prayer, which calls for peace, last Sunday. Memories of the Marikana massacre in 2012, when 34 miners were shot dead by police, are fresh in South Africa. The Church Commissioners, shareholders in the mine's owners Lonmin, have previously expressed concerns (News, 29 November).
 

China denies anti-Christian campaign

CHINESE officials have denied that a wave of church demolitions points to a broader campaign against Christianity. In Zhejiang province at least six religious sites, including churches and statues, have been demolished already this year; the latest is the Xiaying Holy Love Church in Ningbo, home to a 1000-strong congregation. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Daily Telegraph, however, that the Chinese government respected itscitizens' rights to freedom of religion, and said that the demolitions were due to infringements of planning rules.
 

CSW report claims religious freedom curtailed in Mexico

A REPORT from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has accused the Mexican government of failing to protect religious freedoms in Chiapas state. The report alleged that, since the 1970s, local authorities had been declaring villages for a particular faith, and then forcibly converting or removing non-adherents. CSW said that the state authorities in Chiapas were either unable or unwilling to uphold the rule of law and protect religious minorities.
 

Jesus not copyright-holder of book, court rules

A GERMAN court has ruled that a woman who wrote a book that she said had been dictated to her by Christ was the legal author, not Jesus himself, The Guardian reported on Thursday last week. The New Christian Endeavour Academy had published extracts from the work, A Course In Miracles, by Helen Shucman, on its website, but said that Jesus was the author and therefore no copyright-infringement had taken place. Judges ruled, however, that Ms Shucman, who died in 1981, was the sole author.
 

'Hundreds of attacks on Christians in Europe'

THE Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe has released a report suggesting that there were 241 incidents of intolerance in 2013. The report details vandalism against places of worship as well as what it describes as intolerance of Christians expressed by curbing free speech and limiting conscientious objection. The Observatory was established by Dr Gudrun Kugler, a Roman Catholic theologian, to track discrimination against Christians.

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