Condemnation of Israeli ban on humanitarian groups

THE decision to ban 37 humanitarian groups — including World Vision International and Doctors Without Borders — from operating in Gaza has attracted international condemnation. Ten national governments, including the UK’s, criticised Israel’s move to ban the organisations under strict new registration rules at the end of 2025. The decision was also criticised in an open letter signed by 53 international NGOs, including Oxfam and Amnesty International. Doctors Without Borders’ emergency coordinator in Gaza, Claire San Filippo, told The New York Times that the organisation’s forced withdrawal from operations “will have catastrophic consequences for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians”.

Archbishop of Melbourne calls for Bondi inquiry

THE Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Ric Thorpe, has joined leaders from the Roman Catholic Church and the business, legal, and sporting communities in calling for a national inquiry into the terrorist attack on the Jewish community at Bondi Beach, Sydney, last month, writes Muriel Porter. In a statement, Dr Thorpe said: “I join other faith leaders in calling for a deep, careful, and independent inquiry into the causes and conditions that allow antisemitism, radicalisation, and violent hatred to take root in our society.” The Prime Minister, Mr Anthony Albanese, has been resisting calls for a national inquiry, such as a Royal Commission which community groups, the federal Opposition and relatives of the people killed in the terrorist attack have demanded. Instead, he has instituted a review of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, led by a former head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Dennis Richardson. The review is due to report by April. Last week, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Most Revd Timothy Costelloe, said that, while the review was important, “some form of wider, national inquiry with sufficient authority and resourcing which can probe into the deeper issues which lie at the heart of antisemitism is needed.”

Seventeen RC missionaries killed in 2025

A REPORT by Vatican’s Fides News Agency, which was published at the end of last month, revealed that 17 missionaries and pastoral workers around the world had been killed in the course of 2025. In the previous year, 13 had been killed.

Colombian pastor murdered on New Year’s Eve

A PENTECOSTAL pastor, José Otoniel Ortega, was shot and killed on 31 December, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has reported. A leader in the Foursquare Gospel Church, Mr Ortega was attacked while celebrating the New Year with his family. CSW said that, between December 2024 and November 2025, at least ten other Protestant leaders were killed in Colombia. The charity called for greater protection of religious leaders, who are often targeted by criminal groups owing to their condemnation of organised crime.