At Ecumenical Service Pope Urges for Peace in Artsakh, Genocide Remembrance

YEREVAN—As a centerpiece of his Papal Visit to Armenia, Pope Francis held an Ecumenical service for peace in Yerevan’s Republic Square, during which he urged Armenia’s youth to be active peacemakers in a world “suffering from persecutions and conflict.”

Pope Francis and Catholicos Karekin II led the procession to the Republic Square as all bells at Yerevan churches tolled simultaneously to mark this historic occasion.   Continue reading

Our new alliance unites 600m city dwellers in fight against climate change

When it comes to confronting climate change, the world’s cities are proving that there’s strength in unity. The historic climate agreement reached in Paris in December, which was approved by nearly all of the world’s nations, was made possible in part by the progress that cities have made by working together.

Today, the two biggest coalitions of cities in the world – the EU-based Covenant of Mayors and the UN-backed Compact of Mayors – are forming an alliance to link more than 600 million city dwellers in the fight against climate change.  Continue reading

Snake pastor ‘shows power’ by driving over 2 congregants

Pretoria – Controversial “snake pastor” Penuel Mnguni is back in the public eye again, this time after images of him driving over his congregants were posted on social media.

The Facebook page for his End Times Disciples Ministries showed images of Mnguni behind the wheel of a car, driving over two people outside the Kameelrivier B stadium hall on June 3.

The text accompanying the pictures said they showed a “demonstration of power”.  Continue reading

Orlando Changing How the Church Relates to the Gay Community

VIDEO:  The tragic events in Orlando have affected all Americans and have made many people turn to religion to seek answers.

Christians and churches were among the first to open their doors to love and support the victims and families of the Orlando tragedy.

As a result, new relationships formed between the LGBTQ and Christian communities. Stereotypes on both sides shattered as they came together in mourning.  Continue reading…

Courts say living by Christian faith illegal

“It started out with hints of official, United States governmental oppression of Christianity in the wake of the Supreme Court’s marriage decision, such as “discrimination” complaints against people who refuse to celebrate homosexual behavior. Bakers, photographers and marriage-venue owners were penalized, and government officials publicly vilified their Christian faith and ordered them, in some case, to be re-educated. Now two rulings have cemented the American court system’s determination that Christians must not be allowed to express their faith in public life. The U.S. Supreme Court left standing a lower court decision that Washington state pharmacists who are Christian must violate their faith in order to practice their profession. The second decision came from a federal judge in Mississippi with a reputation for ruling against Christians who said county clerks in the state must violate their faith to hold their office.” –Source

Back in 2000 I did a Newsletter titled “Is Preaching the Gospel now a Hate Crime?” and then did another Newsletter in 2001 titled “Why the Vatican Hates the Remnant” and then I did another Newsletter in 2002 titled “Hating the Christian” which later became the “Hating the Christian – the political movements of Antichrist” page on the website. Next in September of 2003 I was moved to write a Newsletter titled “Bible = Hate Crime in Canada.” Then in September of 2006 I wrote a Newsletter titled “More Sunday Laws Criminalizing Christianity” and the very next month I wrote the Newsletter titled “Rome Restructuring Christianity.” And finally I wrote the March 2007 Newsletter titled “Synchronized Hate.” And the rest of the Newsletters as well as many of these blog entries touch on everything from Rome’s war on Freedom of Speech to the government controlled media promoting the viewpoint of turning Christians into third class citizens.

Why am I sharing all this?  Continue reading…

Pope faces thick past and tricky present on Armenia trip

YEREVAN, ARMENIA – Analysts like to say that the South Caucasus region, including Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, is one of those spots where the burden of history is especially heavy.

Newly minted leaders here often make stops at the tombs of kings or martyrs from the past, in order to claim legitimacy in the present, and grievances from a century or more ago still define regional relationships.

Tensions forged by the past complicate life for anyone trying to navigate the area, even a pope. Francis is making not one but two trips to the South Caucasus in 2016, including his present June 24-26 outing to Armenia and a separate foray to Georgia and Azerbaijan in late September and early October.

Officially, organizers say logistics prevent combining the three stops, including the fact that Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia is presently in Crete for the “Holy and Great Council” of the Eastern Orthodox churches, and thus wouldn’t be on hand to host the pontiff.  Continue reading…

Jesuit appointed head of US religious freedom commission

fr_thomas_reese_courtesy_of_uscirf_cnaThe United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has a new chairman, and for the first time, the position will be held by a Catholic priest.
Jesuit priest Father Thomas Reese was first appointed to a two-year term as a member of the commission by President Barack Obama in 2014, and re-appointed in 2016.
Now he will take over as the chair of the organization, an independent, bipartisan commission that monitors and reviews religious freedom violations around the world, and makes policy recommendations to the Secretary of State, Congress and the president.  Continue reading…