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News Briefing and Comment

Ekklesia runs a syndicated news and events listings service for churches, journalists, organisations and charities. Hundreds of churches and organisations now carry Ekklesia's news on their web sites. You can get Ekklesia's news on your web site in seconds, or by signing up for our daily email bulletin.

  • 12 Mar 2013
    What do the cardinals in conclave stand for?

    This morning the 115 cardinals begin their period in conclave, where they will choose the next pontiff of the 1.2 billion strong Roman Catholic Church, by celebrating Mass before beginning their deliberations in the Sistine Chapel.

    But who are the men who will seek a common mind on the new leader of the largest Christian communion in the world?

  • 12 Mar 2013
    Another church is possible: the example of Bishop Raúl Vera

    BBC Newsnight finally offered a different perspective on the Catholic Church on the eve of the conclave to choose the next pope (11 March 2013), profiling a remarkable and inspirational Mexican bishop.

  • 12 Mar 2013
    Churches to act on violence against women with disabilities

    An ecumenical conference in Johannesburg has identified violence against women and children with disabilities as a priority concern for churches.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Religious freedom and LGBT rights

    'Religious Freedom and LGBT Rights - are they compatible?' This was the title and theme of the Cutting Edge Consortium meeting in The Jubilee Room (off Westminster Hall) this evening, 11 March 2013.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Call to re-focus on road crime after Huhne and Pryce verdicts

    There has been too much attention to deceit and not enough on road crimes that can lead to deaths, says a London politician after the Huhne-Price verdict.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Human rights gap in Burma remains serious, says UN

    The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Burma (Myanmar) says that the process of reform needs to go far deeper.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Age UK launches major report into the lives of over-85s

    Age UK has launched a definitive new report into the lives and health of people over 85, the fastest growing demographic group in the UK.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    The next Pope, social change and liberation theology

    It is widely assumed that the next pope, whoever it is, will be of a highly conservative disposition, because both Benedict XVI and John Paul II ensured that the College of Cardinals that now exists was shaped firmly in that direction.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Sri Lankan citizens’ group condemns anti-Muslim hate campaign

    Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority has faced a hate campaign in recent months. The Friday Forum, a citizens’ group which includes former Anglican Bishop of Colombo Duleep de Chickera, has written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa calling on him to act. The letter reads as follows:

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Lent: experiencing discomfort with complacency and injustice

    As well as an opportunity to re-evaluate priorities, re-set our goals and pathways, and look at what we might fruitfully take up and usefully give up, the period of Lent in the Christian tradition is one of deepening our wrestling with the heart and with God (or prayer, as it is usually known).

  • 11 Mar 2013
    The Monarch of Wit: a celebration of the life and mind of John Donne

    A live performance, followed by a discussion, on the Life and Work of John Donne will take place at 4.15pm, Thursday 14 March 2013. Martin Hall, New College, the University of Edinburgh, EH1 2LX. The show is entitled 'The Monarch of Wit: a celebration of the life and mind of John Donne'.

  • 11 Mar 2013
    Papal conclave: What lurks behind the white smoke?

    The Conclave of the College of Cardinals starts in earnest this week, when the Master of the Papal Liturgical Celebrations, Monsignor Guido Marini, will solemnly announce extra omnes - or the “outside, all” - and the 115 cardinals will find themselves alone in the Sistine chapel alongside their faith, consciences and beliefs. Dr Harry Hagopian, an Armenian Orthodox Christian and Ekklesia associate who advises the Catholic Church in England and Wales on Middle East and interfaith issues, gives his assessment of what is at stake in the choice that is about to be made.

  • 10 Mar 2013
    Scottish government offers help for those hit by UK bedroom tax

    The Scottish government will offer extra advice and support to those who will lose out under UK Government housing benefit cuts like the bedroom tax.

  • 10 Mar 2013
    #TruthfromPoliticians: time to demand better

    Not long ago, a solicitor who has recently started attending Quaker Meetings for Worship told me that over a lifetime of practice, he had on many occasions been impressed by Friends who would put themselves at a legal and financial disadvantage by strict adherence to the truth. Although this is by no means a virtue confined to Quakers, its absence is perhaps more common than its presence and has in recent weeks, come into sharp political focus.

  • 10 Mar 2013
    Concern over 'blurring' of North Korea prison camps and villages

    Civil rights groups are calling on the United Nations to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights violations in North Korea.