Orthodox Archbishop offers help with Greece's debts

THE property of the Greek Orthodox Church could be developed to generate revenue to help repay the country's debt, Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece, said on Saturday. "Let's develop [the property] for Greece," he told Greek television. He denied that property would be sold: "The plots of land will remain Greek, in Greek hands." The Orthodox Church owns more land than anyone except the State, Reuters reports.

Pakistani Christian teenager burnt to death

A 14-YEAR-OLD Pakistani boy who was set on fire after it was discovered that he was a Christian has died of his injuries, it was reported on Wednesday. The boy, Nauman Masih, was attacked on Friday by a mob of young Muslims, said the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). Nasir Saeed, the centre's director, said: "This latest tragic murder of an innocent teenager adds to the sense of fear that Christians feel in Pakistan, and comes soon after the community was shaken by two recent church bombings. The government must pay attention and do all that it can to ensure the safety of its minorities and to assure Christians of protection." 

IS turns Mosul cathedral into mosque

THE Roman Catholic cathedral in Mosul is being turned into a mosque, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, has said. He was blogging for ITV News on Sunday, after a two-day visit to Erbil. The Bishop, now in exile, had told him that the cathedral was being "desecrated and vandalised, and provocatively turned into a mosque. He knows it, because the ISIS fighters regularly send him photographs of what they are doing. But his faith and courage are undiminished."