Over 100 Catholic deacons in South Korea made a pilgrimage to places of worship of other religions in Seoul from June 20-22 to promote religious tolerance and understanding. The 108 transitional deacons joined a three-day event dubbed the Ecumenical and Interreligious Pilgrimage of Catholic Deacons organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK). During…
The Egyptian Dar Al-Iftaa recently declared that female genital mutilation (FGM) is religiously forbidden, adding that banning FGM should be a religious duty due to its harmful effects on the body. The Dar Al-Iftaa also explained that FGM is not mentioned in Islamic laws and that it only still occurs because it’s considered to be…
Cairo: The spokesman for Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments, Gaber Tayie, said the ministry will appoint two female preachers in each mosque nationwide to deliver regular sermons on women, children and family affairs for women worshippers. Tayie asserted that women’s prayer places will not be neglected anymore. Rather, the ministry will do its best to…
A leading environmental organization used the month of Ramadan as a platform in a campaign against the use of plastic in Indonesian mosques. Greenpeace Indonesia, and the Indonesian Ulema Council, launched the campaign to mark World Environment Day, on June 5, at Pondok Indah Grand Mosque in South Jakarta. “Plastic waste is a major issue in Indonesia.…
Berlin’s 102-year-old Fraenkelufer synagogue was largely destroyed during the Third Reich and will be reconstructed”due to the initiative of a German-Palestinian politician. Currently only the annex, containing a prayer hall and common room originally used as the Fraenkulfer youth synagogue, remains. The idea of rebuilding the synagogue was first suggested during the centennial celebration as…
Vienna: Austria has planned to shut down seven mosques and expel dozens of imams. The country’s coalition government termed the move as a push against radical Islam and foreign funding of religious groups under the premise of legislation introduced in 2015 banning the foreign funding of religious groups. According to Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, authorities would…
Baghdad: A group of Christians from Baghdad who visited the ruins of the Church of Kokheh, located 20 miles (32 kms) south of the Iraqi capital, were spontaneously invited by the local Muslim community for lunch after their tour. The historical Church of Kokheh is one of the early points of departure of Christianity in the Middle East, Father Mansour al-Makhlissi, founder and…
In a message to the 2nd Holy See-Mexico Conference on International Migration held recently, Pope Francis said migrants are people who can enrich the society that welcomes them. The Pope’s message was read out by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, at the event in the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Pope Francis…
A study conducted by Prof. Hussain Askari of George Washington University entitled “How Islamic are the Islamic Countries” showed that most of the countries that apply “Islamic Principles” in their daily lives are not ones that are traditionally Muslim. New Zealand ranked 1st, Luxembourg 2nd, Ireland 3rd, Iceland 4th, Finland 5th, Denmark 6th, Canada 7th.…
More than half of the world’s children are threatened by conflict, poverty or sexual discrimination, ‘Save the Children’ said in a report published recently. Entitled “Many Faces of Exclusion”, the study ranked 175 countries in terms of the threat of child labour, exclusion from education, child marriage and early pregnancy. It found that 1.2 billion…
