Theological college returns to South Sudan

AFTER decades in exile in Uganda, a South Sudanese theological college has relocated back to the country where it was originally intended to be based. Bishop Allison Theological College was planned in the 1980s, but was forced to take refuge in northern Uganda, because of the Sudanese civil war. The college lost its Ugandan site in 2011, but has now been reopened in the diocese of Yei, in the south of South Sudan. The 21 students are being taught outside, under a mango tree, until its new buildings are made usable.

Archbishop-elect warns of divisions in Malaysia

THE Bishop of West Malaysia, the Rt Revd Ng Moon Hing, who will take up his new position of Archbishop of South East Asia in February, has warned that Malaysia could soon see an “ugly explosion” of religious and racial tension. Bishop Ng, speaking at a Christmas Day High Tea organised by the ecumenical Christian Federation of Malaysia, said that the nation had never been so polarised between those of different faiths and ethnicities.

Iraqi priest freed after Syria kidnapping

AN IRAQI Franciscan priest, Fr Dhiya Aziz, who was kidnapped in Syria by Islamist militants for a second time last month, has been released, reports suggest. Fr Aziz disappeared on 23 December, after setting out from the city of Lattakia to his parish in Idlib province. News of his release was confirmed in a statement by the order, the Custody of the Holy Land, on Monday. “Today, we received the communication that Fr Dhiya Aziz has been liberated, and that he is doing well,” the statement read. The Franciscan authority did not give details of his release, but reports suggest that he suffered extreme cold, and was in a state of exhaustion when freed.

Correction In the report "Olive growers hit" last week, a reference to the confiscation of land in Burin to assist "the Fairtrade settlements" was an unfortunate misprint. It should have read "illegal settlements". Our apologies.