World

Wiccan celebration of summer solstice is a reminder that change, as expressed in nature, is inevitable

By Helen A. Berger — June 17, 2022

(The Conversation) — For Wiccans, midsummer, with the maximum hours of sunlight, is the time for celebrating new life.

Belgian bishop declines cardinal honor over abuse record

By Nicole Winfield — June 17, 2022

(AP) — Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy had asked Francis for permission to decline the honor in order “to not harm victims again,” and Francis accepted the request, the bishops said in a statement.

A humanitarian is wrongly convicted of helping besieged Palestinians in Gaza

By Daoud Kuttab — June 16, 2022

(RNS) — The case against El Halabi has dealt a blow to the Israeli justice system.

Disney’s ‘Lightyear’ banned in Muslim world for lesbian kiss

By Jon Gambrell — June 16, 2022

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) —“Lightyear” includes a female character voiced by actress Uzo Aduba briefly kissing her female partner in one scene in the $200 million film.

In Yemen, child soldiering continues despite Houthi promise

By Samy Magdy — June 16, 2022

CAIRO (AP) — Houthi officials said the rebels recruited several hundred children including some as young as 10 over the past two months.

Pope’s charitable fund still weighed by financial scandals, costs of Curia

By Claire Giangravé — June 16, 2022

(RNS) — Peter’s Pence, a fund dedicated to the pope’s charitable works, has been at the heart of a Vatican financial scandal.

UK sanctions Russian Orthodox head; decries forced adoption

By Associated Press — June 16, 2022

LONDON (AP) — Truss also targeted children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been accused of enabling the taking of 2,000 vulnerable children from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine and facilitating their forced adoptions in Russia.

Why Muslim countries are quick at condemning defamation – but often ignore rights violations against Muslim minorities

By Ahmet T. Kuru — June 16, 2022

(The Conversation) — A scholar of Islam writes about how widespread authoritarianism in the Muslim world shapes governments’ foreign policy toward Muslim minorities abroad.

Christian Reformed Church codifies homosexual sex as sin in its declaration of faith

By Yonat Shimron — June 15, 2022

(RNS) — Over the years, the small Calvinist denomination has given its churches a degree of latitude in ministering to LGBTQ people. That may now change.

Where the witches were men: A historian explains what magic looked like in early modern Russia

By Valerie Kivelson — June 15, 2022

(The Conversation) — The idea of a ‘witch’ was usually female in Western Europe, but not so in Orthodox Russia – partly because of the period’s rigid social hierarchies.

Thousands protest ‘bulldozer justice’ against Indian Muslims

By Biswajeet Banerjee — June 15, 2022

LUCKNOW, India (AP) - The protests were sparked by derogatory remarks about Islam and the Prophet Muhammed made recently by two spokespeople of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Global summit on religious persecution presents opportunity to fight abuse

By Knox Thames — June 14, 2022

(RNS) — The power of these summits is in bringing together all stakeholders around advancing religious freedom.

Israeli lawmaker chided for wishing Palestinians ‘disappear’

By Tia Goldenberg — June 14, 2022

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Matan Kahana's remarks drew condemnation from Palestinian Israeli lawmakers and from his own coalition members.

Pope says traditionalist Catholics “gag” church reforms

By Associated Press — June 14, 2022

ROME (AP) — Francis told a gathering of Jesuit editors in comments published Tuesday that he was convinced that some Catholics simply have never accepted the Second Vatican Council.

Pope blasts Russian ‘cruelty,’ lauds Ukrainian ‘heroism’