Enter any public debate about the pros and cons of religion today, and it will not be long before someone raises the thorny issue of ‘texts of terror’ in the Bible, says Simon Barrow. Yet in the person of Christ our understanding of violence is turned upside-down.

The president of the Methodist Conference has joined public figures from around the world in lighting a candle for Rwanda on camera, to highlight the consequences of the genocide there.

Following the decision taken by the High Court not to extradite four Rwandan men suspected of genocide and other crimes under international law, human rights activists have called for a third-party location for a trial.

Congolese Catholic bishops have issued a "cry of grief and protest" about the murderous situation in their country - calling for more concerted action from the UN, the authorities and the international community.

Zimbabwean women have told the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva they are watching a "silent genocide" unfurl in their country, as President Mugabe's reign of terror against all opposition continues apace.

An arms embargo on Zimbabwe is being urged as church leaders in the country say that without international intervention Zimbabweans face genocide.

As Kenyan churches are struggling to help prevent the country from descending into genocide, they envision a long term healing effort that will require the sustained engagement of international ecumenical partners.

Leaders of Britain's 250,000 strong Jewish community are among those welcoming a decision by the Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Islamic organization, to end its boycott of Holocaust Day on 27 January every year.

A joint campaign to eliminate genocide around the world has been initiated by leading civic, academic and religious figures in a conference room at the Interchurch Center near the campus of Columbia University in New York, USA.

The National Council of Churches USA and the development agency Church World Service, holding their annual meeting, have urged the US House of Representatives to officially recognize the slaughter of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide.