RELIGION - The African Mirror

Aug

04

2020

Ex Pope Benedict’s condition “not particularly worrying” – Vatican

RELIGION

PHILIP PULLELLA THE Vatican, responding to a German newspaper report that former Pope Benedict XVI was seriously ill, said on Monday his condition was "not particularly worrying" and that he was overcoming a painful but not grave ailment. The clarification came hours after Benedict's biographer, Peter Seewald, sparked alarm by telling the Passauer Neue Presse that he had found the 93-year-old ex-pope exceptionally frail when he visited him on Saturday. Seewald said Benedict, who has been in shaky health for some time, was now suffering from shingles, a viral infection that causes painful rashes and is common among older people.…

Aug

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Build “free and strong” coexistence after blast, Pope Francis tells Lebanese

RELIGION

POPE Francis has urged the people of Lebanon to work together in the wake of the devastating port blast to give birth to a new "free and strong" coexistence. The pope spoke at his weekly address in St. Peter's Square as some Lebanese called for a sustained uprising to topple their leaders and the country's top Christian Maronite cleric, whose Church is a Catholic Eastern rite, said the cabinet should resign. "Last Tuesday's catastrophe calls everyone, beginning with the Lebanese people, to work together for the common good of this beloved country," Francis said. He said the coexistence of cultures…

Aug

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s Deputy President meets religious leaders

RELIGION

KENYA’S Deputy President William Ruto has held talks with faith leaders led by Bishop Daniel Nzioka and others from Kitui, Makueni and Machakos counties. The Deputy President and the religious leaders discussed the progress made in the establishment of an Africa Inland Church Prayer Centre at Ikutha in Kitui County, Karen, Nairobi County. “We appreciate the church for its spiritual and socioeconomic guidance and contribution to our efforts to transforming our country. We will continue supporting the church in its activities and programmes to establish a more united country,” Ruto said. https://twitter.com/WilliamsRuto/status/1293846030627241985?s=20 https://twitter.com/williamsruto/status/1293848148587220994?s=21

Aug

18

2020

By The African Mirror

Museveni joins war over church land

RELIGION

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has expressed his anger at the extensive damage done to a church in the Ndeeba neighbourhood, in Kampala, and promised action against those responsible. Museveni stopped at the St Peter’s Church, on his way to work, to inspect the damage and talk to the church leadership. The church, built 39 years ago, has been at the centre of a land dispute which goes back to 1981 and has ended in the courts. The President has also promised that the government would build a new church on the site. “On my way to work this morning, I…

Aug

16

2020

By The African Mirror

Pope calls for dialogue between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over Nile dam

RELIGION

POPE Francis called for dialogue between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on Saturday, urging them not to let a dispute over a dam on the Nile lead to conflict. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is being built some 15 km (9 miles) from Ethiopia's border with Sudan, has become a major source of discord between the three countries. "I invite all parties involved to continue on the path of dialogue so that the eternal river will continue to be a source of life, which unites and does not divide, which nurtures friendship, prosperity and fraternity and not enmity, misunderstanding and…

Aug

22

2020

By The African Mirror

Family, Mexican lawmakers call for trafficking probe of megachurch

RELIGION

CHRISTINE MURRAY THE Mexican government came under criticism from opposition lawmakers and a victim's family who said officials have not responded to their complaints of human trafficking against the Light of the World megachurch. The leader of the church is being held in U.S. custody on rape, human trafficking and child pornography charges, but a report filed with Mexican authorities in July 2019 has not progressed, they said. Sochil Martin, who complained to Mexican prosecutors and earlier this year filed a U.S. civil suit, has claimed she was abused for 22 years as she grew up in the church. She…

Aug

31

2020

By The African Mirror

Religious tourism has been hit hard

RELIGION

FAIZAN ALI, Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism, University of South Florida CIHAN COBANOGLA, Professor of Hospitality and Tourism, University of South Florida Religious tourism is among the oldest forms of planned travel and to this day remains a huge industry. About 300 to 330 million tourists visit the world’s key religious sites every year, according to a 2017 estimate. Some 600 million national and international religious trips are made around the world, generating around US$18 billion in global revenues. It makes up a sizeable chunk of an overall tourism sector that has been significantly affected by the spread of…

Sep

03

2020

By The African Mirror

400,000 hours of volunteer work

RELIGION

NON-PROFIT organization, Scientology Volunteer Ministers (SVM) has spent 414,500 hours of volunteer work to assist South Africans in the war against COVID-19. According to SVM, its members dedicated 15 hours a day, 7 days a week as part of their humanitarian work to help mitigate the spread in the country. With a team of 300 volunteers, including about 40 pastors of various religions, they have worked non-stop to provide support for essential services who are at the forefront of fighting COVID-19. “They have sanitized more than 24, 000 buildings including government offices, army bases, municipality buildings, clinics and hospitals, Metro…

Sep

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Thousands at church service with Kenyan deputy president

RELIGION

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THOUSANDS of Kenyans joined the country’s deputy president William Ruto at an inter-denominational church service in Bumula Constituency. Ruto attended the service presided over by Bishop Godfrey Shiundy of the Reformed Catholic Church. The service was held at the DDC’s Grounds in Bumula, Bungoma County. While Ruto, seen by many as the next president of Kenya, drew an impressive crowd, questions have been asked, on social media, about the lack of COVID-19 protocols at the church service. The deputy president was not wearing a mask, neither were the thousands of his supporters who also did not observe…

Sep

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Poor should get Covid-19 vaccine first, Pope Francis says

RELIGION

THE poor and weakest members of society should get preferential treatment when a vaccine for the coronavirus is ready, Pope Francis has told the United Nations. Speaking from the Vatican in a video address to the U.N. General Assembly, Francis said the worldwide pandemic had highlighted the urgent need to promote public health and ensure access to vaccines. "If anyone should be given preference, let it be the poorest, the most vulnerable, those who so often experience discrimination because they have neither power nor economic resources," he said. Francis has said rich countries should not hoard a coronavirus vaccine and…