Portuguese DJ-priest mixes it up in Beirut

A ROMAN Catholic priest, Fr Guilherme Peixoto, known as Padre Guilherme, from a village in north Portugal, has DJ-ed at a nightclub in Beirut, after a petition to prevent the event, organised by 18 applicants offended by the association of religion and clubbing, was rejected by a judge. “The Psalm asks us to praise the Lord with all instruments; so now you have this new instrument that came that is electronic music,” Padre Guilherme said before joining in worship at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, in Kaslik. He has achieved an Instagram following of 2.6 million, since engagements associated with papal youth masses in 2023 and 2025.

Spanish abuse-compensation scheme agreed

THE Roman Catholic Church has reached an agreement with the government in Spain to compensate victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy. The government will now manage compensation in co-ordination with the Church, in cases where other legal avenues are no longer available because the alleged crime took place too long ago or the individual accused has died. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards are estimated by the government to have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of churchpeople, the BBC reports. It follows similar redress schemes in other countries. “A democracy should not allow the existence of victims who have never been compensated [and] whose situation, on the contrary, had been covered up,” the country’s Justice Minister, Félix Bolaños, said, after signing the agreement.

CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIAThe Condemnation Protest Demonstration at Rajarathinam Stadium, Egmore, in Chennai

Church of South India protest held against intimidation

THE diocese of Madras in the Church of South India (CSI) held a “condemnation protest demonstration” on Monday over religious intimidation, after the Church condemned a series of incidents of reported Christian persecution across India over Christmas (News, 9 January). The demonstration took place at the Rajarathinam Stadium, Egmore, in Chennai, and was led by the Bishop of Madras, the Rt Revd Paul Francis Ravichandran.

Protestant leaders arrested in China

THE leaders of a prominent Protestant church in China were arrested last week, amid a crackdown on the underground church movement, according to media reports. China Aid reported last Friday that Yayang Church was still under siege and that parts of the church, including the bell tower and kitchen, had been demolished, and its cross had been removed. Separately, nine people were detained on Tuesday of last week after police raided their homes and the church office, in Chengdu, in central China, the Early Rain Covenant Church said.

Pastor, family, and friends released in Nicaragua

A PROTESTANT pastor and five of his friends and family members were released from prison last Saturday after being detained for nearly six months in Granada Department, Nicaragua, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports. Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas, the founder of La Roca de Nicaragua Church Association, his sister, two brothers-in-law, a member of the church worship team and a family friend were among a group of 20 political prisoners named in a statement posted on social media to have been released by the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua.