Michael Collins Himself by Chrissy Osborne (Mercier Press, €14.99)
Courtney McGrail
Thou shalt not troll
Compasses to help hesitant Christians find their way on what Pope Benedict called “the sixth continent” of the internet aren’t in short supply, but among the more concise recent ones has been a piece entitled ‘10 commandments for social media’ posted by one Jonty Langley on premierchristianity.com. Opening with the caveat that his commandments “are…
In Brief…
Our Lady of Fatima bound for Syria The statue of Our Lady of Fatima will leave Portugal for Syria on September 7 to be offered for veneration in Damascus. Intended as a sign of Christian solidarity with suffering Syrians, the pilgrimage is a response to an appeal from His Beatitude Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and…
‘There are more Christian martyrs today’ than ever – Pope
Pope Francis has led renewed calls for an end to anti-Christian persecution. Leading his weekly Sunday audience in Rome, the Pontiff celebrated the life of newly-beatified Lebanese martyr Syriac Bishop Flavien-Michel Malke but then departed from his scripted address to issue a call to the international community to act on the continuing persecution of Christians.…
Indian government to compensate Christian victims of Hindu violence
The government of the Indian state of Karnataka has announced it is to compensate 12 Christians who fell victim to Hindu radicals during a wave of violence in 2008. In September 2008, over 20 Protestant churches across the state were attacked and ransacked by members of the Sangh Parivar, an umbrella group for extreme Hindu…
Christian schools in Israel closed by funding crisis
Christian-backed schools in Israel are set to remain closed when the autumn term begins due to an ongoing funding crisis. In an announcement from the Secretariat of Christian Schools in Israel, which provides education to some 33,000 pupils, despite a positive meeting on the issue with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin last week, schools are set…
Planned Parenthood failed to report suspected abuse
American abortion provider Planned Parenthood is facing a fresh scandal following claims that it failed to report a suspected case of sexual abuse to the authorities. As the group continues to suffer fall-out from video exposés of its trade in foetal body parts, an online news outlet in Alabama has revealed documents it says show…
Lawyer for Chinese Christian communities is arrested
A lawyer representing hard-pressed Christian communities in the Chinese province of Zhejiang has been arrested. Zhang Kai, of Beijing’s Xinqiao Law Firm, had travelled to Zhejiang to work fulltime in assisting communities directly affected by a drive to remove crosses and demolish church properties. Since late 2013, the campaign has affected some 1,200 church properties.…
Iraqi government moves to protect Christian minority
The Iraqi government has moved to establish a committee with the aim of identifying and countering persecution against Christians in the country. On the orders of Prime Minister Haydar al Abadi, the committee will work to collect details of incidences of persecution from the long-suffering community and formulate concrete security responses to better protect Christians.…
Vatican Roundup
Pope reaches 100th General Audience Pope Francis reached a personal milestone on August 26 when he preached his 100th Wednesday general audience. The Pontiff used the occasion to revisit a topic which has been at the heart of many of his most recent addresses, the family, and specifically this time, prayer within the family. “We all know how important…