Nigerian Anglicans and Methodists seek closer ties

THE Church of Nigeria and the Methodist Church Nigeria have agreed to establish an Anglican-Methodist Joint Commission, the Nigerian Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday. The Commission was inaugurated during a eucharist in Hoare’s Memorial Methodist Cathedral, Sabo-Yaba, in Lagos, at which the Primate of Nigeria, the Most Revd Henry Ndukuba, and the Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Dr Samuel Uche, jointly officiated. Archbishop Ndukuba was quoted by the newspaper as saying: “The establishment of the Anglican-Methodist Commission will enable us to harness the great potentials in both Churches and walk together along with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.”

Vatican places Nobel Prizewinner under restrictions

A DUTCH newspaper, De Groene Amsterdammer, published anonymous allegations last week of sexual abuse against children by Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, a former Apostolic Administrator of Dili, East Timor (Timor-Leste), who is living in Portugal. Bishop Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his campaigning for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in East Timor, as it struggled to gain independence from Indonesia. De Groene reported that allegations against Bishop Belo had first surfaced in 2002. The director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said last week that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had “imposed certain disciplinary restrictions” on Bishop Belo in September 2020, after it received accusations about his “behaviour”. Mr Bruni continued: “These included limitations to his movements and to the exercise of his ministry, the prohibition of voluntary contact with minors, of interviews and contacts with Timor Leste.” Campaigners for abuse victims have called on Pope Francis to authorise a formal investigation.

Wisconsin church pays ‘tax’ to Indigenous tribes

ST DUNSTAN’s Episcopal Church, Madison, in Wisconsin, is to pay a $3000 “voluntary tax” on its property to the city’s Native American tribes, the Episcopal News Service reports. The Rector, the Revd Miranda Hassett, presented the money to the Wisconsin Inter-Tribal Reparations Committee, which represents the 11 tribes that are formally recognised by the federal government. Ms Hassett told ENS: “This land used to be someone else’s homeland.”

Hostility to Christians is on the rise, says monsignor

HOSTILITY to Christians is rising around the world, the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OCSE), Mgr Janusz Urbanczyk, told the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference last week. He said: “The challenge of intolerance and discrimination against Christians is an increasing challenge due to a growingly hostile atmosphere against Christians.” Mgr Urbanczyk went on to say that Christians were targeted even in countries where they were the majority religious grouping.