IGIHE

Category: Religion

  • Popes John XXIII & John Paul II Canonised

    Popes John XXIII & John Paul II Canonised

    {{There is only one story in town for the Vatican press today: the unprecedented canonisation of two pontiffs watched by two living popes.}}

    Tens of thousands of pilgrims marched on St Peter’s Square to see Pope John XXIII and John Paul II declared saints in the eyes of the Roman Catholic church in the first dual ceremony of its kind.

    The day was made further historic by the presence of the two living popes at the event, with Pope Francis joined by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, in a rare public appearance for the 87-year-old following his resignation last year.

  • Muslim Clerics Denounce Radicalisation

    Muslim Clerics Denounce Radicalisation

    {{Muslim clerics from around the world have urged local religious leaders to reach out to the youth and deter them from falling into the trap of radicalisation.}}

    At the first Annual Islamic Conference in Nairobi on Saturday attended by thousands of Muslim faithful, the clerics said the core message of Islam had been corrupted by a few individuals posing as Sheikhs with the intent of turning the youth to violence.

    “Many in the world have misunderstood and abused the message of Prophet Muhammad. That is why we call on all local teachers to refresh the people’s understanding of the lifestyle and teachings of the Prophet,” said Sheikh Ahmed Hameed.

    London based Muslim scholar and Imam Wasim Kempson said Prophet Muhammad is “the most misunderstood individual” in modern times but this is not a reason to respond with violence and say “off with the heads” of those who insult the Prophet.

    “We are emotional beings, and someone who insults the Prophet is seen as someone who has insulted your mother. But we should practice restraint and avoid knee-jerk reactions. We should respond in a way that reflects and demonstrates the good nature of the Prophet,” said Imam Hameed.

    National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale who also attended the conference said that a small group of false teachers had managed to grab media attention and propagate false stereotypes about the religion and those who practice it.

    “Islam stands for peace, tolerance and co-existence, and none of these radical Sheikhs seem to be preaching this message. It is really unfortunate that our sisters’ mode of dressing (the hijab) is now being seen as a security risk,” said Duale.

    The conference comes at a time when tensions are running high in the country after a series of terrorist attacks that led to heightened security and the arrest of hundreds of suspects.

    NMG

  • Pope Calls For End to War & Hunger

    Pope Calls For End to War & Hunger

    {{Pope Francis, in his Easter address before a huge crowd, on Sunday denounced the “immense wastefulness” in the world while many go hungry and called for an end to conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Africa.}}

    “We ask you, Lord Jesus, to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent,” he said in his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.

    Francis, marking the second Easter season of his pontificate, celebrated a Mass to an overflowing crowd of at least 150,000 in St. Peter’s Square and beyond.

    The crowd stretched back along all of Via della Conciliazione, the boulevard between the Vatican and the Tiber River.

    Speaking under a sunny sky after a midnight rainstorm soaked the tens of thousands of flowers that bedecked the square, Francis weaved his message around the suffering of people across the globe.

    He prayed to God to “help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible”.

    Since his election as the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, Francis had made defense of the poor a hallmark of his papacy, often criticizing developed nations and the excesses of capitalism and consumerism.

    The 77-year-old pope, wearing white vestments for the service, prayed for the protection of those members of society who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and abandonment – women, children, the elderly and immigrants.

    Easter is the most important day on the liturgical calendar because it commemorates the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead after his crucifixion and the Church sees it as a symbol of hope, peace and reconciliation among peoples and nations.

    wirestory

  • Celebrating Easter in Rwanda

    Celebrating Easter in Rwanda

    {{Although over 90% of the Rwandan population are Christians, its evident that there is low enthusiasm for Easter day celebrations despite being on the calendar days.}}

    During the month of April, the Rwandan community marks Commemoration of Genocide against ethnic Tutsi.

    Over a million Tutsi were killed from April 7 until after hundred days of gruesome murders that were halted after intervention by the advancing RPA/F rebels in 1994.

    Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda was well planned and executed through a network of institutions in the country at that time. Foreign Powers including France and the church were involved in the genocide.

    For the Tutsi that ran to hide in churches in anticipation that they would be both physically and spiritually protected within the walls of the church, it turned out to be their instant grave as they held tight onto the rosary. The church never protected them as they believed.

    Good Friday marks the start of Easter celebrations. In other parts of the world the season brings together families, pray together and share.

    On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches.

    Christians believe, according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross.

    As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter.

    Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for sin, thus purchasing for all who believe in him, eternal life in Christ Jesus.

    In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end ofLent, a 40-day period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter.

    Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. Eastern Orthodox churches observe Lent or Great Lent, during the 6 weeks or 40 days preceding Palm Sunday with fasting continuing during the Holy Week of Easter.

    Lent for Eastern Orthodox churches begins on Monday and Ash Wednesday is not observed.

    Because of Easter’s pagan origins, and also because of the commercialization of Easter, many Christian churches choose to refer to the holiday as Resurrection Day.
    Easter in the Bible.

    The biblical account of Jesus’ death on the cross, or crucifixion, his burial and his resurrection, or raising from the dead, can be found in the following passages of Scripture: Matthew 27:27-28:8; Mark 15:16-16:19; Luke 23:26-24:35; and John 19:16-20:30.

    {{Determining the Date of Easter}}

    In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon. Previously Easter was always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox.

    However, this was true prior to 325 AD; however, over the course of history (beginning in 325 AD with the Council of Nicea), the Western Church decided to established a more standardized system for determining the date of Easter.

    There are, in fact, as many misunderstandings about the calculation of Easter dates, as there are reasons for confusion.

  • Pope Washes Feet of Disabled, Including Muslim

    Pope Washes Feet of Disabled, Including Muslim

    {{Pope Francis washed the feet of a dozen elderly and disabled people including a Libyan Muslim during an Easter ritual in Rome on Thursday imitating Jesus Christ’s humility.}}

    The 77-year-old bent down with difficulty to wash and kiss the feet of the nine Italians and three foreigners aged between 16 and 86 years old at the Don Carlo Gnocchi foundation’s Santa Maria della Provvidenza centre.

    Francis arrived in a Ford Focus to cheers from crowds and stopped to speak with elderly and disabled people gathered at the centre’s modern Church in Rome’s suburbs, before picking up a silver urn of water and a white towel, and kneeling in front of the chosen 12.

    “It was the slaves, the servants who washed the dirt from the street off the feet of arriving guests. Jesus did a slave’s job. He is God and became our servant,” the pope said.

    The youngest to have his feet washed at the ceremony, which is part of the run-up to Easter Sunday, was 16-year-old Osvaldinho from Cape Verde, who is wheelchair bound after damaging his spine diving into the sea last summer.

    Angelica, 86, who fell and broke her hip last year, was the oldest — along with artisan Pietro, who suffers from muscular problems and poor balance.

    Among the others was 75-year-old Hamed, a Libyan Muslim who worked for years for the Italian-Arab chamber of commerce, before a road accident left him with serious neurological damage.

    Francis has often shown particular attention to disabled people and the elderly, condemning a “hidden euthanasia” in modern societies against the old.

    Shortly after his election last year, Francis visited a youth detention centre where he performed the washing of feet ritual on a group of young inmates — including two Muslims, the first Catholic leader ever to do so.

    AFP

  • Pope Asks Forgiveness for Child Abuse by Priests

    Pope Asks Forgiveness for Child Abuse by Priests

    {{Pope Francis made his first public plea for forgiveness on Friday for the “evil” committed by priests who molested children, using some of his strongest words yet on the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis.}}

    Yet the Argentine-born pontiff said the Church had to take an even stronger stand against the scandal that has haunted it for over two decades.

    “I feel compelled… to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage that they have done by having sexually abused children,” he told members of members of the International Catholic Child Bureau, an NGO committed to protecting the rights of the child.

    Francis said the number of guilty priests was “quite a few in number” but “obviously not compared to the number of all the priests”.

    {{“Personal, moral damage”}}

    “The Church is aware of this … personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church, and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem, and to the sanctions that must be imposed,” he continued.

    “On the contrary, we have to be even stronger. Because you cannot interfere with children,” Francis said.

    Victims’ groups have criticised Francis in recent months for not taking a bold enough stand on the issue. He was also criticized for failing to meet with victims of sexual abuse in Italy and in a July trip to Brazil.

    The Vatican announced in December the creation of a new dedicated group to help the Church fight the abuse crisis but only named its members in late March.

    The group of clerics and lay people includes Marie Collins, a survivor of abuse in Ireland in the 1960s, who has campaigned for the protection of children and for justice for children who were molested.

    {france24}

  • Yoga and Religion

    Yoga and Religion

    {{Yoga, for some, becomes a spiritual experience, leading to confusion about how its practice impacts one’s religious beliefs. Fortunately, the vast majority of people who explore yoga actually discover that it strengthens and deepens their own faith.}}

    In her book Back Care Basics, my colleague Dr. Mary Pullig Schatz explains: “Because yoga has its roots in the Hindu culture of India, there is a popular misconception that yoga is a religion.

    Just as the practice of the Japanese martial arts of karate and aikido does not require becoming a Buddhist, the practice of yoga does not require you adopt Hinduism. Rather yoga is nonsectarian, promoting health and harmonious living.”

    Yoga is fabulous for physical health. A regular regimen will strengthen your muscles, increase your flexibility and improve your balance.

    In Western cultures, many people pursue the practice strictly for these benefits. However, most long-term yoga participants discover that the ultimate goal of yoga is to strengthen your connection with the source of all creation.

    In many cultures, this source is called God. In other cultures, the source has different names. Regardless of your religious beliefs, the practice of yoga enhances your physical and mental well-being and can strengthen your relationship to the Divine.

    {{What is the difference between spirituality and religion?}}

    Dr. Larry Dossey, a leader in the field of spirituality and healing, describes spirituality as “a sense of connectedness with something greater than oneself.” Dr. Rachel Remen describes it in this way: “Spirituality is inclusive.

    We all participate in the spiritual at all times, whether we know it or not. There’s no place to go to be separated from the spiritual. The most important thing in defining the spirit is the recognition that spirit is an essential need of human nature.”

    Religion is an organized system of faith or worship. According to Dr. Dossey, it is “a ritualized form of spirituality involving a specific set of beliefs, worship and conduct.”

    As a path for spiritual growth, yoga enhances and deepens many different religious practices. Yoga is not a system of faith or worship, but it does foster a sense of connectedness with something greater than oneself.

    In other words, yoga fosters spirituality in a way that is compatible with many different religious beliefs.

    {{How does one practice spirituality in yoga?}}

    Many people begin to cultivate a greater sense of connection with each other, with the physical world and with the Divine simply by practicing the physical postures, control of the breath and meditation.

    People who choose to can also study the moral precepts of yoga. These guidelines for healthy living are known as the yamas and the niyamas.

    The yamas are universal guidelines for ways of interacting with others and include nonviolence, truthfulness, no stealing, moderation and no hoarding.

    The niyamas are personal observances and include purity, contentment, zeal, self-study and devotion to a higher power.

    Together, the yamas and the niyamas are moral and behavioral observances that serve as a catalyst to self-acceptance, healthy relationships and spiritual growth.

  • Church of England Says Homosexuality May Cause Backlash in Africa

    Church of England Says Homosexuality May Cause Backlash in Africa

    {{Justin Welby, the leader of the world’s Anglicans, warned Friday that if the Church of England accepted gay marriage, it could prove “catastrophic” for Christians in Africa.}}

    The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion’s mother church, warned that doing so could potentially lead to massacres of Christians.

    Gay marriage became legal in England and Wales on March 29, with the first couples tying the knot after the stroke of midnight.

    Religious organisations can opt in. However, the Church of England, the state church, is barred from performing same-sex marriages to provide it with an additional layer of legal protection.

    “What we say here is heard around the world,” Welby told LBC radio.

    “Why can’t we just do it now? Because the impact of that on Christians in countries far from here, like South Sudan, like Pakistan, Nigeria and other places, would be absolutely catastrophic, and we have to love them as much as we love the people who are here.”

    Anglicans – who number 80 million – “are one of the great international groups that there is in this world, whose massive majority are not (to be found) in England.”

    Mass grave

    Welby said he recently visited a mass grave of 369 bodies in South Sudan where it was believed that “if we leave a Christian community here we will all be made to become homosexual and so we will kill all the Christians”.

    “I’ve stood by a graveside in Africa of a group of Christians who’d been attacked because of something that had happened far, far away in America,” he said.

    “That burns itself into your soul, as does the suffering of gay people in this country,” he added.

    He said that the church had to listen “incredibly carefully” to gay communities in England, but also study scripture, “which is definitive, in the end”, before drawing conclusions.

    “I really don’t want to say no to people who love each other but you have to have a sense of following what the teaching of the church is. We can’t just make sudden changes.”

    On his four-nation tour of Africa earlier this year, the former oil executive wrote to the presidents of Nigeria and Uganda warning against the “victimisation or diminishment” of homosexuals.

    wirestory

  • US Churches to Honor Mudslide Victims

    US Churches to Honor Mudslide Victims

    {{Churches planned services on Sunday to offer prayers for the victims of last week’s devastating mudslide in Washington state as the death toll from the disaster kept rising but the number of missing fell sharply.}}

    The presumed body count rose to 28 on Saturday from the March 22 catastrophe northeast of Seattle, with the official tally of those killed now 18 based on bodies extricated and identified by medical examiners.

    But despite the grim toll, news also came that the number of missing fell to 30 from 90 as officials were able to account for dozens of people as “safe and well.”

    Rescue and recovery workers pushed through wind and rain on Saturday to comb through debris a week after a rain-soaked hillside above the north fork of the Stillaguamish River gave way without warning and sent a wall of mud cascading over dozens of homes near the rural Washington town of Oso.

    Churches will lead prayers on Sunday for victims and their families as well as rescue workers who have been searching through a debris field that covers a square mile (2.6 square km).

    Gordy Beil, a 63-year-old photographer and painter in Darrington, about 10 miles from Oso, said he anticipated a painful service at the Episcopal church he plans to attend on Sunday morning.

    “It will be good for people to go and get what they need to get out of it,” he said.

    Don Little, 66, a Redmond, Washington, resident in town to visit his son, said he would attend the Church of God of Prophecy in Darrington, where one of the congregants has a husband among the missing and is having a hard time grasping that he is gone.

    Those at the service will be praying both for the miracle of his safety and for the woman’s coming to accept her loss with a measure of peace, Little said.

    “She’s still hoping beyond hope that they find him alive, and everybody’s wishing for that,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t get what we really want but we’ve got to learn to accept things.”

    {wirestory}

  • Nairobi Sex Workers Drop Mini Skirts for Hijab

    Nairobi Sex Workers Drop Mini Skirts for Hijab

    {{Commercial sex workers in some parts of Nairobi have ditched the miniskirt for the Hijab to lure men, a move that has sparked condemnation from Muslim clerics}}.

    The Hijab — worn by Muslim women — is a symbol of piety but sex workers in Eastleigh use it to make men believe that the women they are picking up are either Muslim or from the Coast. Some men also associate it with Ethiopian and Eritrean women.

    Investigations by the Nation revealed that non-Muslim sex workers are wearing the veil to attract men who believe they are less promiscuous than those who put on miniskirts.

    Nairobi’s Jamia Mosque Imam, Mohamed Swalihu, said he was aware that the Hijab was being abused.

    “It is sad and incredible; but it is unfortunately true,” he said. “It is very unfortunate that we see Hijabs being misused by commercial sex workers who are non-Muslims. It is satanic and should be condemned in the strongest terms possible.”

    He said even men had started using the Hijab for criminal activities.
    He said it was sad for Muslim women to enter into prostitution which is contrary to every teaching in Islam.

    Clients’ demands

    But the Kenya Sex Workers Alliance defended the sex workers who were conducting their trade in Hijabs saying they were doing business in line with their clients’ demands.
    The co-ordinator of the alliance, Ms Phelister Abdalla, asked the government to decriminalise commercial sex work, citing high unemployment levels.

    “We want it to be treated like any other profession. Most of us depend on it,” she said.
    Interviews with sex workers at Eastleigh established that men were no longer interested in women who wear miniskirts. Instead, they prefer women from Ethiopia and Muslims.

    One sex worker who chose not to be named said she bought two hijabs which she uses only when she is waiting for clients. She also uses make-up to lighten her complexion.
    According to her, Hijab-wearing sex workers charge the highest prices and have the highest number of pick-ups.

    Random interviews with some of the commercial sex workers revealed that men perceive Hijab-wearing women as more “pure” than the other sex workers. They also perceive them to be less sexually active.

    One sex worker said male clients prefer Ethiopian women and the easiest way to spot one was by the colour of the skin and a Hijab. A sex worker who fits the description can earn up to three times more than one who doesn’t.

    One way that the sex workers camouflage their true complexions is by using red or blue lighting once they get to their hotel rooms.

    The choice of perfume is also used to create the impression that they are Muslim women even when they are not.

    On 12th Street, a host of Hijab-wearing sex workers will be spotted from 8pm.

    {nation}