RELIGION - The African Mirror

Jan

25

2021

Pope appeals for Rome homeless as number of dead from cold rises

RELIGION

PHILLIP PULLELLA POPE Francis has urged Romans to help the homeless in the Italian capital, after a spike in the number dying from the cold. Speaking at his noon blessing, Francis told the story of Edwin, a 46-year-old Nigerian who died of exposure near St. Peter's Square on Wednesday. "His story joins those of others who have recently died in Rome in the same dramatic circumstances. Let us pray for Edwin," Francis said. The Sant' Egidio charity group said Edwin was at least the fourth homeless person to die of the cold in the city this year and the 10th…

Jan

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Vatican starts vaccinating Rome’s homeless against COVID-19

RELIGION

THE Vatican began offering free vaccinations against COVID-19 to Rome's homeless. The vaccinations took place in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall, the huge auditorium where weekly papal general audiences take place but which has been largely disused because of the coronavirus pandemic. They were overseen by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, 57, the Polish head of the papal charities office, who has taken on a leading personal role in looking after Rome's homeless. About 25 homeless people who are looked after in facilities run by the office received their first dose, and more groups would be vaccinated in the coming…

Feb

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis appoints more women to Vatican posts

RELIGION

PHILLIP PULLELLA POPE Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in the male-dominated Holy See. He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, on Saturday as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years on a different topic. The previous day, Francis named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican's Court of Appeals. Becquart's position, effectively a joint number two spot, will give her the…

Feb

11

2021

By The African Mirror

Trump is out, but US evangelicalism remains alive and well in Africa

RELIGION

ON the day before the 2020 US presidential election, Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party in South Africa, tweeted: Please pray… for President Donald Trump to be re-elected…. It seems bizarre that a black African Christian would support an overt racist who disdains people who come from “shithole countries”. DION FORSTER, Associate Professor of Ethics and Head of Department, Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, Stellenbosch University Meshoe exemplifies a type of political and theological reasoning among African evangelical Christians. He was praying for Trump’s victory because he echoes the views of many African evangelicals in relation…

Feb

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Pope’s visit to Iraqi Ziggurat to bring together several faiths

RELIGION

MOHAMMED ATY POPE Francis is due to hold an inter-religious prayer service at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Ur when he visits Iraq next week - an event local archaeologists hope will draw renewed attention to the place revered as the birthplace of Abraham. Popular with Western visitors in the 1970s and 1980s, Ur is scarcely visited today after decades of war and political instability shattered Iraq's international tourism industry. The coronavirus crisis now also keeps local tourists away. Located about 300 km (200 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, the site comprises a pyramid-style Ziggurat and an adjacent residential…

Feb

21

2021

By The African Mirror

African cardinal who clashed with pope leaves post

RELIGION

PHILIP PULLELLA POPE Francis has accepted the resignation from a top Vatican post of Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hero to many conservatives who often clashed with the pontiff on theological matters. The African cardinal, who is from Guinea, held various Vatican positions in the last 20 years, the latest as head of the department that oversees matters of worship and sacraments. Sarah had submitted his resignation in June last year when he turned 75, as Church law requires of all bishops, but the pope often allows Vatican officials to remain in their posts longer. The Vatican announced on Saturday that…

Jul

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis renews curbs on Latin Mass in rebuff to conservatives

RELIGION

PHILLIP PULLELLA POPE Francis has overturned decisions by his two predecessors and re-imposed restrictions on the old-style Latin Mass preferred by traditionalist Roman Catholics, saying it was being exploited to divide the Church. Conservative groups reacted with dismay and anger to the latest episode of what some have dubbed the Church's "liturgy wars". Some conservatives in the Church, particularly in the United States and some European countries, have used the Latin Mass as a battle cry in their general opposition to the reforms of the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, which included the introduction of Mass in vernacular languages. Before the…

Jul

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Learn to switch off, says pope in first appearance at Vatican after hospital stay

RELIGION

POPE Francis made his first public appearance since returning to the Vatican mid-week after an 11-day hospital stay, telling wellwishers they should take a break and switch off from the stresses of modern life. "Let us put a halt to the frantic running around dictated by our agendas. Let us learn how to take a break, to turn off the mobile phone," Pope Francis said in his weekly address from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square. The 84-year-old pope had part of his colon removed in an operation on July 4 -- the first time that Francis has faced a…

Apr

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Seek post-COVID renewal, Holy Land archbishop urges on Easter Sunday

RELIGION

DAN WILLIAMS WITH Jerusalem emerging from COVID-19 curbs and the faithful flocking there again, Easter Sunday brought a message of renewal from the traditional site of Jesus' death and resurrection. Deserted a year ago after the pandemic hit, the Church of the Holy Sephulchre was attended by dozens of clergymen and worshippers, a turnout enabled by an Israeli vaccination campaign - the fastest in the world - that has driven down infections. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, voiced hope in his homily for a post-coronavirus world of greater substance and spirituality. "(We are) tempted to run backward,…

Jul

15

2021

By The African Mirror

No-stress scripture: Nigerian Christians relish Pidgin Bible

RELIGION

ANGELA UKOMADU AT the Heavenly Citizen's Church in Lagos, the pastor and congregation have adopted a new tool to help them understand Christian scripture: the first Bible translated into Nigerian pidgin. Sometimes called pidgin English, the language is widely used and understood across regions and ethnic groups in the nation of 200 million people, although most books and newspapers on sale in Nigeria are in English. "Most people here, they are not properly schooled, you know, and so we do more pidgin English here," said pastor Ben Akpevwe, who has been using the Pidgin Bible during services at his church…