Alabama cathedral loses student to campus gunman
AN EPISCOPALIAN, Ella Cook, active at the Cathedral of the Advent, Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States, has been identified as one of the two students killed in the shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday. ENS reports that Ms Cook was a sophomore and vice-president of the Ivy League university’s College Republicans. She and a fellow student, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, were killed, and nine others were injured, when a gunman opened fire and then fled. The police are searching for the killer but on Wednesday had not named a suspect yet. The Dean, the Very Revd Craig Smalley, said that Ms Cook was “an incredibly grounded and generous and faithful bright light” and had been “engaged and involved in our worship and our community” for many years. “It’s a tremendous heaviness that is upon our congregation today,” he said. On Wednesday, police offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
DRC-Rwanda peace agreement welcomed
THE World Council of Churches (WCC) has welcomed the signing of the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda, on 4 December. In a statement, the WCC’s general secretary, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, said: “We receive this development with hope as a significant step toward restoring trust, ending violence, and advancing peace in the region. The WCC expresses its support for all efforts that promote dialogue, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence.”
North American Church told of ‘cause’ to try Primate
THE Primate of the breakaway Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the Most Revd Steve Wood, is to face an ecclesiastical trial over alleged misconduct, an announcement from the Church published last Friday states. A Board of Inquiry, made up of five priests and five lay members, found “probable cause to present Archbishop Wood for trial for violation” of canon law, two months after a formal complaint was filed against him by a group of ACNA clergy and laity. The board presented three charges: violation of ordination vows, conduct giving just cause for scandal or offence, and sexual immorality.
Arctic diocese thankful for tax exemption
THE diocese of the Arctic, in the Anglican Church of Canada, has expressed gratitude to the government for its decision not to impose property tax on places of worship. A post on the diocesan Facebook page said: “We are very thankful that Council has heard the concerns of many, and that places of worship in Iqaluit will return to being tax exempt, as elsewhere across Canada. This tax placed a heavy burden on Iqalummiut who are members of the St Jude’s and St Simon’s congregations, who donate of their own accord to make those buildings available to all at no charge for funerals, in addition to services and programs open to the public.” Last month, the Bishop of the Arctic, the Rt Revd Alex Pryor, warned that St Jude’s Cathedral, Iqaluit, was at risk of being auctioned off, owing largely to an outstanding tax bill with the City of Iqaluit. The bill was accrued under a 2023 city by-law requiring institutions to pay tax on land used for places of worship.
Peace work in Colombia ‘intensified’, says WCC
THE World Council of Churches has emphasised its commitment to securing peace in Colombia, saying that it has “intensified” its engagement in the region. “As an official Permanent Accompanier in the dialogue between the Government of Colombia and the EMC-FARC (EMBF) guerrilla group, the WCC continues to play a vital role in supporting peaceful solutions to longstanding conflict,” a statement said this week.