Architects picked for new Sydney RC cathedral
A NEW cathedral in Sydney, forming part of a centre of Roman Catholic life, to encompass education and community services, will be designed by Níall McLaughlin Architects, winners of this year’s RIBA Royal Gold Medal. The Cathedral Precinct Project will transform a 7.7-hectare site in the Sydney suburb of Waitara into a spiritual and civic destination, as the diocese of Broken Bay celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, a press release from the architects says. The diocese, established in 1986, serves about 250,000 RCs, covers an area of 2763 sq. km across the three deaneries from the upper Central Coast of New South Wales, the North Shore, and Northern Beaches.
Defend water as a human right, religious groups urge
THE World Council of Churches (WCC) joined other Christian groups, as well as Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Bahá’ís, at the House of Religions in Bern, on 22 March — UN World Water Day — and signed a joint declaration calling on religious communities to defend water as a human right. Some 2.1 billion people — one in four globally — lack safe access to drinking water, and 3.4 billion lack safe sanitation at home, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme report, published last August, said. Dinesh Suna, the WCC’s programme executive for land, water, and food and co-ordinator of the WCC Ecumenical Water Network, said at the gathering: “Faith-based organisations have a unique and critical role to play in addressing water justice issues. Their involvement is not just beneficial, but often essential for sustainable, equitable, and community-driven solutions.”
CSW wants Premier League to raise Sudan with Emirati sheikh
A PETITION with more than 2200 signatures is to be submitted by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), calling on the Premier League to raise the United Arab Emirates’ involvement in the conflict in Sudan with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, who is the owner of Manchester City FC, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. CSW said that the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has plunged Sudan into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. More than 30 million people, including nearly 15 million children, are described as in urgent need of assistance. Meanwhile, at least 150,000 people have been killed, and more than 13 million have been displaced. The Premier League subscribes to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, one of which is “to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.”
More than 300 convicted on terrorism charges in Nigeria
A COURT in the Nigerian capital of Abuja last week convicted more than 300 people on terrorism charges in a mass trial held over four days. Many pleaded guilty and were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. “In total, we brought about 508 cases. Of these 508, we were able to secure 386 convictions,” the country’s Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi, said last Friday, Crux Now, an online RC news website, reports. “We have been able to bring justice to them, or bring them to justice. So this is the clear signal that we are sending.” Amnesty International reported on Sunday that dozens of people had died in air strikes in Nigeria’s north-eastern Yobe state as military aircraft hunted jihadists.