Pope to meet head of Russian Orthodox Church
POPE FRANCIS is due to meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, in Cuba today. The meeting is the first between a Roman Catholic pontiff and the Patriarchate of Moscow. Patriarch Kirill is visiting at the invitation of the President of Cuba, Raul Castro, while the Pope is in Mexico. The leaders are due to sign a joint declaration to further relations between Rome and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Christian woman kidnapped by extremists in Burkina released
AN AUSTRALIAN woman, Jocelyn Elliott, aged 82, who was abducted by suspected Islamist extremists in Burkina Faso last month, has been released, media reports suggest. Her captives are reported to have released her in the neighbouring country of Niger, because its leaders “did not believe in involving women in war”. Her husband, Dr Ken Elliott, a surgeon, who is 84, remains captive. The Elliotts moved to Burkina Faso in 1972 on a “mission from God” to build a hospital in Djibo (News, 22 January).
Hijab-wearing professor in US agrees to leave college
A CHRISTIAN professor at the Evangelical Wheaton College, Illionis, in the United States, Dr Larycia Hawkins, who wore a hijab during Advent, and was suspended for a Facebook post about Muslims and Christians (News, 1 January), has agreed to leave the college. Dr Hawkins, who was an associate professor of political science, is reported to have come to a “confidential agreement” with her employers to “part ways” after nine years.
Son of murdered priest sentenced to life
ISAAC TIHARIHONDI, the eldest son of an Episcopalian priest, the Revd Israel Ahimbisibwe, and his wife, Dorcus, was sentenced to life without parole after he pleaded guilty to murdering his parents and his youngest brother, Israel Junior, in their apartment in Houston, Texas, last year (News, 13 February 2015). The murder was discovered after his father, who was Vicar of the Church of the Redeemer, and Chaplain at the University of Houston, failed to appear at church. Mr Tiharihondi, who is 19, was arrested in Mississippi last year.