In the News, February 10, 2016

February 10, 2016

Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the world: French Muslims continue to be targeted three months after ISIS attack, the rise of anti-Islam groups in central Europe, a meeting between the Pope and the Russian patriarch, and American churches as safe havens for immigrants. 

AROUND THE WORLD
Christians are now a 'Minority' in Britain like Persecuted Roman Catholics During The Reformation Say Top Clerics
by John Bingham
Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/12149200/Christians-are-now-a-minority-in-Britain-like-persecuted-Roman-Catholics-during-the-Reformation-say-top-clerics.html
All practising Christians are now a "minority" in Britain like persecuted Roman Catholics during the Reformation, according to two of Britain's most senior Anglican and Catholic clerics. The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said the churches must set aside centuries of division and recognise they have a "common agenda" in a more secular age. 

Anti-Islam Movement PEGIDA Stage Protests Across Europe
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/02/09/anti-islam-movement-pegida-stages-protests-across-europe/
Germany’s anti-Islam PEGIDA movement staged rallies in several cities across Europe on Saturday to protest against the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa. The movement, whose name stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, originated in the eastern German city of Dresden in 2014, with supporters seizing on a surge in asylum seekers to warn that Germany risks being overrun by Muslims.

Paris Is on Wartime Footing
by Leela Jacinto
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/09/paris-is-on-wartime-footing-hollande-valls-isis-state-of-emergency/
The state of emergency has raised widespread concerns of further stigmatization and discrimination of France’s already marginalized Muslims. “Practices that discriminate against Muslims are counterproductive as well as reprehensible and unlawful, alienating French Muslims and undermining cooperation between Muslim communities and law enforcement efforts that could assist in identifying local terrorism threats based on radical Islam,” said a Human Rights Watch statement. 

A Pope, a Patriarch and Great Expectations
by Ivan Plis
National Interest
http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/pope-patriarch-great-expectations-cuba-15126
Next week’s meeting in Cuba between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, announced Friday, has already been called a “historic step” toward “healing” the thousand-year “rift” between the Catholic and Orthodox communions. While it’s true that this will be the first meeting between any pope and the head of the Russian church, predictions that the encounter will help unite Christianity’s two oldest and largest bodies are premature. 

Reprimands for 3 Lawmakers Rekindle Debate About Israel’s Arab Minority
by Isabel Kershner
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/10/world/middleeast/reprimands-for-3-lawmakers-rekindle-debate-about-israels-arab-minority.html?ref=world&_r=0
The debate about national identity among Israel’s Arab minority and its representatives in Parliament burst out again after three Arab lawmakers met recently with the families of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces when they attacked Jews. 

Decrying Graft, Pope Francis to Tour Poor, Violent Corners of Mexico
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/02/09/decrying-graft-pope-francis-to-tour-poor-violent-corners-of-mexico/
Pope Francis will visit some of the poorest and most violent corners of Mexico on his first visit as pontiff, and will also head to the northern border to address the plight of migrants trying to reach the United States. More than 100,000 people have been killed in Mexico’s drug wars over the last decade and its reputation was battered by the case of 43 students abducted and apparently massacred in 2014. 

ISIS Reaches Indonesia
by Joseph Chinyong Liow
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/indonesia/2016-02-08/isis-reaches-indonesia
On January 14, militants killed four civilians and wounded at least 20 in a terrorist attack in Jakarta, in the first successful operation that the self-proclaimed Islamic State (also known as ISIS) has launched in Southeast Asia. The Indonesian people met the attack with a spirit of defiance, rallying round the hashtag “We Are Not Afraid.” Indonesian President Joko Widodo condemned the acts of violence as terrorism but was also quick to portray that everything “has returned to normal” in Jakarta.

Saudis Mock Religious Police for Detaining a Cross-Dressing Pastry-Shop Mascot
by Hugh Naylor and Sheikha Aldosary
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/10/saudis-mock-religious-police-for-detaining-a-cross-dressing-pastry-shop-mascot/
When it comes to promoting traditional values, Saudi Arabia’s religious police have a notorious reputation. But when members of the force detained an apparent cross-dressing bakery mascot (yes, you heard us right) last week, even Saudis seemed taken aback by the bizarre events. 

NATIONAL
1 Year After N.C. Shooting, Muslims are More Vocal About their Faith
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/02/10/466250550/1-year-after-n-c-shooting-muslims-are-more-vocal-about-their-faith
After a gunman killed 3 young Muslims in Chapel Hill, many of that faith responded by being more public about their beliefs. They've been engaging others and trying to create a collective embrace. 

U.S. Churches Offer Safe Haven For a New Generation of Immigrants
NPR
http://www.npr.org/2016/02/09/466145280/u-s-churches-offer-safe-haven-for-a-new-generation-of-migrants
A dozen congregations are harboring immigrants facing deportation. It echoes the sanctuary movement of the 1980s, when hundreds of churches sheltered Central Americans escaping war and violence. 

Mega Churches Have Less Involved Members Than Smaller Congregations, Study Finds
by Michael Gryboski
Christian Post
http://www.christianpost.com/news/megachurches-less-involved-members-than-small-congregations-duke-study-finds-157080/
Members of large churches are less involved than those of smaller congregations, according to a recent study from Duke University. Research published last week by the American Sociological Association's journal Socius found, according to its abstract, "a negative relationship between size and the probability of attendance for Conservative, Mainline, and black Protestants and for Catholics in parishes larger than 500 attenders."

At This Mardi Gras Celebration, It’s All About Prayer
by Campbell Robertson
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/us/in-this-mardi-gras-celebration-its-all-about-prayer.html
Though less well known than what happens in New Orleans, Cajun Mardi Gras in the southwest Louisiana prairie has long been a prime stop for travel writers. 
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