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A British Cabinet minister has hit out at the way in which faith is being attacked by a rising tide of ‘militant secularisation’. Baroness Warsi, a Muslim, is leading a delegation of government ministers on a two-day visit to the Vatican. She said Europe needed to be ‘more confident and more comfortable in its Christianity’ as she criticised the way in which Christianity had virtually been written out of the European Constitution. Faith, she said, had been ‘neglected, undermined – and yes, even attacked – by governments’ in recent years. ‘My fear today is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies’, she said. ‘We see it in any number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings; when states won’t fund faith schools; and where religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere.
Pray: that faith would rise and take a frontline position against those who criticise believers. (Is.26:2)
Parliament's organised crime, corruption and money laundering special committee (CRIM) has adopted a report which calls for a comprehensive acti organisations active in the EU, of which most have members from more than one country. The new report, adopted on Tuesday, calls for the creation of a European public prosecutor, for corrupt politicians to be banned from office and for a common definition of organised crime which includes the involvement with mafia-type organisations. Tanja Fajon, S&D spokesperson on organised crime and corruption, said, ‘EU countries are not immune to political corruption and we need to introduce stronger and more efficient measures to tackle it, including enhanced transparency for political parties' budgets and a five-year ban for corrupt politicians.’
Pray: for the authorities to be granted success against criminals. (Ecc.8:13)
Christian Aid has vowed to keep pressing the EU for tougher action on climate change after MEPs voted down a proposal to increase carbon emission cuts. The plan would have seen the level of emission cuts increase from 20 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020. The MEPs rejected the proposal despite intense lobbying by activists. The vote is non-binding, however Christian Aid said it would be pushing the EU to play a leadership role in the international climate negotiations in Durban at the end of the year. The aid agency argues that cuts of 30 per cent must be introduced by European countries, ‘as an absolute minimum’ if the climate crisis is to be addressed. Christian Aid, Greenpeace, Oxfam, WWF and Green Alliance have written jointly to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to bring the Conservative MEPs into line with the Government’s support for the proposal.
Pray: for the authorities and nations to take action to protect the world that God has given us to look after. (Ge.1:26-30)
A new report has voiced concern over the ability of Christians in Europe to publicly express their faith. It warned that discriminatory laws were preventing the equal exercise of freedom in the areas of speech, conscience and religion, while the introduction of equality legislation was leading to ‘side-effect discrimination’ against Christians. The report raised concern over recent threats to freedom of conscience. They included the UK Supreme Court’s refusal to grant an appeal to a Christian registrar who was disciplined because she refused to perform ceremonies for same-sex couples. The report pointed to the arrest of Christian street preachers in the UK and an ongoing case against Christians in Turkey for supposedly slandering Islam as evidence that freedom of expression is coming under threat in Europe. Many of the incidents of discrimination highlighted by the report related to the experiences of Christians in the UK.
Pray: that this report will be widely read and seriously considered. (Ps.37:18)
European and American experts say changing Malta's divorce ban would show weakness to radical Muslims, who could capitalize on the island's drift toward secularism to push for Islamic laws. ‘Forced secularism is a gift to the radical Muslims,’ said Stephen Schwartz, a U.S. author and researcher on the Islamic world. ‘Everybody has reason to be worried about radical Islam, and this is an issue of radical Islam,’ said Schwartz, founder of the Washington-based Centre for Islamic Pluralism. ‘My opinion is: Malta should not change its divorce laws.’ Malta is the only European country that does not allow divorce. But this could change, depending on the outcome of a May 28 referendum in this tiny Mediterranean island nation of 408,000 people. Voters will decide the fate of proposed legislation that would permit divorce. If the referendum passes by popular vote, the legislation would then go before parliament for its approval.
Pray: that the people will be guided by God’s Spirit and not allow further incursions against His laws. (Mt.5:32)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue12941.html
On Thursday, May 24th 17 Serbian Orthodox monks, nuns and other believers were released from prison, having been detained for two days on alleged tax evasion charges. Churches and Monasteries have been systematically raided recently as part of a fresh crackdown on the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. Rights investigators have linked these and other raids to the government's refusal to register the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. An Interior Ministry blacklist lists over 20 Serbian Orthodox bishops banned from entering Macedonia. The Serbian Orthodox Church Synod in Belgrade condemned as ‘political and not judicial’ the sentence of two and half years to Archbishop Jovan, in Idrizovo prison. It’s not clear how the EU will react to these developments. Macedonia is seeking membership of the EU and the NATO military alliance. Tensions over religious and national identities are a left-over of the 1990’s Balkan wars.
Pray: against the desire to eradicate the Church in Macedonia, and pray for a modern and democratic approach to Christianity. (Ps.135:13)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/21798-breaking-news-macedonia-frees-nuns-monks-but-confiscates-passports
Security forces detained 17 monks, nuns and believers as part of a fresh crackdown on the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. On Tuesday, May 22nd police entered several monasteries and homes of church members of the Serbian Orthodox Church's ‘Ohrid Archbishopric’ in Macedonia. Police said the raids were part of an investigation into ‘tax evasion fraud’. But rights investigators have linked these and other raids to the government's refusal to register the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. An Interior Ministry blacklist lists over 20 Serbian Orthodox bishops banned from entering Macedonia. The Serbian Orthodox Church Synod in Belgrade condemned as ‘political and not judicial’ the sentence of two and half years to Archbishop Jovan, in Idrizovo prison. It’s not clear how the EU will react to these developments. Macedonia is seeking membership of the EU and the NATO military alliance. Tensions over religious and national identities are a left-over of the 1990’s Balkan wars.
Pray: against the desire to eradicate the Church in Macedonia, and pray for a modern and democratic approach to Christianity. (Ps.135:13)
A German Protestant bishop has urged Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches to draw up a joint declaration on their shared beliefs about the Eucharist, one of the issues that have divided them for hundreds of years since the Reformation. ‘Our understandings of the Eucharist or Lord's Supper are no longer that far apart,’ said Lutheran Bishop Friedrich Weber, who deals with relations between the Catholic Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), a grouping of eight German regional Protestant churches. This follows a separate initiative of a group set up by Lutheran and Catholic churches in Sweden and Finland that has been discussing ways in which the two church traditions might advance the results of a 1999 joint Lutheran-Catholic declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. There is now greater consensus on, ‘the foundations of spiritual life, faith and sacraments, especially baptism and Communion’. Differences nevertheless remain in the ministry of pastors and bishops.
Pray: for the world-wide Church in all its diversity that ways would be found to bring about unity. (Jn.17;20-21)
More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=4038
Christians are being ‘vilified’ by British courts and ‘driven underground’, Lord Carey, a former archbishop of Canterbury, has said. In a written submission to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), he blames judges for treating some worshippers as ‘bigots’. He also warns that believers are being sacked for expressing their faith. The criticism is part of an appeal to Strasbourg judges to protect religious freedom ahead of a landmark case. Lord Carey has voiced concern that a recent ‘secular conformity of belief and conduct’ has meant that conduct in keeping with the Christian faith is effectively being ‘banned’ in the public setting. He also argues that if rulings against wearing crosses and expressing Christian faith are not reversed it could lead to believers facing a ‘religious bar’ to employment.
Pray: that Lord Carey’s submission to the ECHR will be acted upon, leading to changes so that Christian views and practices would be deemed acceptable. (Gal.5:1)
Churches in Liechtenstein, one of the world's smallest countries, could face financial disaster under government plans to withdraw state subsidies under new legislation. ‘This will be a drastic change - we depend on financial support, and there'll be no chance of obtaining it if the new law goes ahead,’ said Markus Meidert, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liechtenstein. But the new law will be especially hard and treacherous for smaller churches like ours, who have none of the Catholic Church's resources.’ A bill before Liechtenstein's 25-member parliament proposes to end the Roman Catholic Church's status as official state church and also withdraw state subsidies from recognised religious communities. Mr Meidert told ENI news that state grants account for half the current budget of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has no means of generating income like Christian churches in neighbouring Germany.
Pray: for the churches in Liechtenstein as they face this challenge and pray that they remember that God is Jehovah Jireh and He will provide. (Mt.16:18)