Popemobile being adapted to help children in Gaza
POPE FRANCIS requested that his popemobile be turned into a mobile health unit for the children of Gaza, Vatican News reports. The late Pope entrusted the charity Caritas Jerusalem to oversee the initiative, in which the vehicle is being refitted with equipment that medics will be able to use to examine, diagnose, and treat children.
WCC speaks out on aerial attack in South Sudan
THE General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, has expressed “profound sorrow and concern” over an aerial attack on the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Old Fangak, South Sudan, on Saturday. In a statement, he described the “heinous” attack as “a heartbreaking violation of international humanitarian law and a direct assault on the dignity of human life”. He described the hospital as a “lifeline for over 110,000 vulnerable people in Fangak County”, and urged the South Sudanese government and “all armed actors involved in the conflict to respect and protect all humanitarian personnel and facilities”.
Town council seeks to seize land proposed for homeless shelter
THE 17-acre plot of Christ Church Episcopal Church, Toms River, in New Jersey, where the church is waiting approval for a 17-bed homeless shelter, is now the subject of a potential public seizure by the town council and mayor, Daniel Rodrick, the Episcopal News Service reports. The Rector, the Revd Lisa A. Hoffmann, said: “The church and the diocese are prepared for a long court fight to protect our congregation and property from this egregious land grab.” The Bishop of New Jersey, the Rt Revd Sally French, wrote to the congregation: “We will do all that we can to ensure that your ministries in this place continue for a long, long time.”
Estonian President refuses to sign church Act
THE President of Estonia, Alar Karis, has refused to sign into law new legislation that requires the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church to sever its ties with Moscow, writes Andreja Bogdanovski. The Act on Churches and Congregations was adopted in the Riigikogu, the Estonian parliament, last month (News, 25 April), but President Karis declared it to be unconstitutional. The President acknowledged that the Russian Orthodox Church might pose a threat to national security, but he deemed the law in its current form to be “disproportionately restricting freedom of association and religion”. Estonia’s Interior Minister, Igor Taro, has said that he would consider the President’s objections. The legal text is now back in parliamentary procedure, and it is expected to be reviewed this week. President Karis emphasised that the state had other legal instruments at its disposal for addressing national-security concerns listed in the Penal Code of Estonia, including treason.