RELIGION - The African Mirror

Dec

29

2020

Argentina church asks lawmakers to search their hearts ahead of abortion vote

RELIGION

THE Church of Argentina has called on the country´s lawmakers to vote their conscience this coming week when the Senate will take up a bill to legalize abortion that has divided a nation with long-held Roman Catholic roots. During a religious celebration in a small city west of Buenos Aires, Bishop Oscar Ojea, president of the local bishops' conference and an outspoken opponent of abortion, suggested a "no" vote was supported by "medical science and law." "Blessed Virgin, we ask you to pause your gaze on the legislators who will decide on a matter of such extreme delicacy," Ojea said…

Dec

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivorian Christians celebrate Christmas in giant basilica

RELIGION

LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY THOUSANDS of people gathered for Christmas mass at the giant Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro to mark the end of a year marred by COVID-19 and a disputed election that opened deep wounds in the West African nation. The chapel, whose towering dome is modelled after St Peter's basilica in the Vatican, sits on the edge of Ivory Coast's administrative capital, surrounded by flat savannah. After nightfall on Thursday, worshippers descended on the church, observing anti-virus measures, including social distancing and hand washing before attending midnight mass. "My message during these Christmas festivities is to…

Dec

22

2020

By The African Mirror

Pope promises Vatican workers no one will lose jobs because of pandemic

RELIGION

PHILLIP PULLELLA POPE Francis has promised Vatican employees that none of them will lose their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has severely damaged Vatican finances. "You are the most important thing here. No one is to be left out, no one will lose their jobs," Francis told workers and their children at a special audience held to exchange Christmas greetings. The pandemic has wreaked havoc with the Vatican's finances, forcing it to dip into reserve funds and implement some of the toughest cost-control measures ever in the tiny city-state. "No one should suffer from the ugly economic effects…

Dec

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Rome homeless send sunflowers to pope on 84th birthday

RELIGION

ROME's homeless have sent sunflowers to Pope Francis for his 84th birthday and the pontiff marked the day by sending four ventilators to hospitals in Venezuela, the Vatican said. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the flowers would be used to adorn the altar in Francis's residence and the ventilators sent to Venezuela would be used primarily to help children with lung diseases. He said the pope was marking the birthday in a simple way. Francis, who was born of Italian immigrant stock in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, was elected leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics on…

Dec

17

2020

By The African Mirror

Hundreds of global faith leaders call for ban on LGBT+ conversion therapy

RELIGION

HUGO GREENHALGH ALMOST 400 global religious leaders, including anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu and Britain's Bishop of Liverpool, called on Wednesday for countries to overturn bans on same-sex relations and end LGBT+ conversion therapy. Sixty-nine United Nations member states still outlaw gay sex, according to the 2020 State-Sponsored Homophobia report released by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) on Tuesday. Only Brazil, Ecuador, Malta and Germany have instituted forms of nationwide bans on conversion therapy, which aims to alter a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Organised by the Ozanne Foundation charity, the declaration has been signed…

Dec

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Mexico’s senior Catholic leader backs civil unions for gay couples

RELIGION

DAVID ALIRE GARCIA THE Mexican Catholic Church's highest-ranking bishop agrees with recent comments by Pope Francis in support of legal protections offered by civil unions for gay couples, the prelate told Reuters, stressing that no family member should ever be rejected. Mexico is the second-biggest Catholic country after Brazil with around 80% of its nearly 130 million people affiliated with the church. It has historically been conservative-leaning on social issues. Cardinal Carlos Aguiar, archbishop of Mexico City, said in an interview that he backs the pope's comments from a documentary that premiered in October and used previously unseen footage from…

Sep

23

2021

By The African Mirror

How multicultural churches in South Africa are breaking down race barriers

RELIGION

RACE is an issue that’s always simmering below the surface in South Africa. One of the ugliest aspects of the recent wave of looting and violence was the killing of people based on their race in a neighbourhood in the port city of Durban. It was a reminder that the internalised apartheid stereotypes and beliefs are still firmly in place. MARILYN NAIDOO, Professor Practical Theology, University of South Africa A consolidated identity has become one of the most worrying South African realities and needs to be attended to as a matter of urgency. Churches still reflect these social divisions, with…

Sep

15

2021

By The African Mirror

Pope calls out prejudice as he meets Roma in Slovakia

RELIGION

ROBERT MULLER POPE Francis has condemned prejudice and discrimination against Europe's Roma people during a visit to one of the most impoverished communities in Slovakia, saying it was wrong to pigeonhole entire ethnic groups. Francis, 84, arrived at the bleak Lunik IX settlement on the outskirts of Slovakia's second-biggest city, Kosice, on his penultimate day in the country. "We cannot reduce the reality of others to fit our own pre-packaged ideas; people cannot be pigeonholed," he said, overlooking the dilapidated concrete apartment blocs where about 4,300 people live next to the city garbage dump. "All too often you have been…

Sep

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Pope says anti-Semitism ‘fuse’ must not be allowed to burn

RELIGION

GERGELY SZAKACS POPE Francis has called for vigilance against a rise in anti-Semitism, saying during a brief trip to Hungary this was a "fuse that must not be allowed to burn." The pope arrived in Hungary early for an unusually short visit underlining differences with his political opposite, nationalist and anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban. More than half a million Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust, which destroyed a once-vibrant culture across the country. Today, there are about 75,000 to 100,000 Jews in Hungary, the largest number in central Europe, according to the World Jewish Congress, with most of…

Jan

28

2021

By The African Mirror

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pope warns against new nationalism

RELIGION

PHILLIP PULLELLA POPE Francis has marked the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp by urging people to keep a close watch on ideological extremism, because "these things can happen again". He spoke three weeks after displays of anti-Semitism surfaced at the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6 and two weeks after one of Montreal's largest synagogues was vandalised and almost set on fire. Speaking at his general audience, held inside the papal library because of coronavirus restrictions, Francis said it was imperative that the world did not forget. "To remember is an expression of humanity. To…