Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: the Catholic Church and religious divisions in the Middle East, religion and gay marriage in Ireland and the United States, and the intersection of religion and gender equality.
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Paradoxes of Women's Equality in Bangladesh
by Katherine Marshall
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-marshall/paradoxes-of-womens-equal_b_7304408.html
Progress is most visible in rapid increases in girls' education and in a dynamic garment industry where 80 percent of workers are women. Women are political leaders, professors, artists, doctors, etc. But at the family level and in social norms women are often subordinate and, if anything, observers see a rise in traditional behaviors, most marked in women's dress as the hijab and niqab are increasingly common. Challenges to women's full equality are often framed in religious terms, and it is the more fundamentalist elements of religious leadership and media that fuel debates, in homes, in newspapers, and in practical matters like divorce.
AROUND THE WORLD
Two Arab Nuns From Palestine are Canonized by Pope Francis
by Elizabetta Povoledo
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/europe/two-arab-nuns-from-palestine-are-canonized-by-pope-fr...
The canonization of Sister Mariam Baouardy, who founded a Carmelite convent in Bethlehem, and Sister Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, who founded a congregation of nuns, was not related to the Vatican’s announcement last week of a new treaty with the Palestinians, Vatican officials said Friday. The two new saints, now named St. Mary of Jesus Crucified and St. Marie-Alphonsine, are being held up as beacons of encouragement to Christian communities in the Middle East that are being persecuted by Islamic extremists.
In Vatican, Abbas Is Praised as ‘Angel of Peace’
by Elizabetta Povoledo
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/world/europe/in-vatican-abbas-is-praised-as-angel-of-peace.html?re...
Pope Francis praised Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, as an “angel of peace” during a meeting at the Vatican on Saturday. (...) With regard to the peace process with Israel, the Vatican reiterated its hope that “Israelis and Palestinians may take with determination courageous decisions to promote peace.” Interfaith dialogue was also emphasized as a means to combat terrorism in the Middle East.
Iraqi Sunnis Flee Anbar Only to Find New Dangers in Baghdad
by Loveday Morris
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-sunnis-flee-anbar-only-to-find-new-dangers-in-...
Newcomers have fled the bloodshed in Anbar only to be met with suspicion and hostility. Some officials in Baghdad have linked the influx of Sunnis to a wave of car bombings. The displaced complain of harassment by security forces and powerful Shiite militias who worry that the people reaching Baghdad may have ties to the Sunni extremists in the Islamic State.
A Celebration of Jerusalem's Unification Helps Point Up Its Divisions
by Diaa Hadid
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/middleeast/a-celebration-of-jerusalems-unification-helps-poi...
The decades-old Jerusalem Day march has taken on a polarizing and nationalistic tone in recent years, with marchers attacking Palestinians in the cramped Arab quarter here and clashes erupting between Jewish and Palestinian youths, particularly near the Damascus Gate. Yet there has been a broad-based effort this year to keep the parade from erupting into outright violence, as the city did last summer after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli youths from a West Bank settlement, and the subsequent kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager from East Jerusalem.
Ireland's Marriage Equality Moment
by Fintan O'Toole
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/opinion/irelands-marriage-equality-moment.html?ref=todayspaper
In spite of opposition from the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches, from Islamic leaders and conservative civic groups,surveys of public opinion consistently show more than 70 percent in favor of the government’s starkly simple proposal to add a line to the Irish Constitution: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”
A "Bulletproof" Cross Rises in Karachi
by Tim Craig
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistans-biggest-city-has-unlikely-addition-to-sky...
In this overwhelmingly Muslim country, in the heart of a city where Islamist extremists control pockets of some neighborhoods, the 14-story cross is nearly complete. It is being built at the entrance to Karachi’s largest Christian cemetery, towering over thousands of tombstones that are often vandalized. Once his cross looms over such acts of disrespect, Gill said, he hopes it can convince the members of Pakistan’s persecuted Christian minority that someday their lives will get better.
DOMESTIC
Losing Faith: A Religious Leader on America's Disillusionment with Church
NPR Weekend Edition
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/16/407073073/losing-faith-a-religious-leader-on-americas-disillusionment-...
An interview with the National Cathedral's Rev. Gary Hall.
Eyeing Gay Marriage Case, Evangelicals and Catholics Rally around Battling Poverty
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/14/eyeing-gay-marriage-case-evangelicals...
Conservative evangelicals and Catholics are clear on their theological divisions. In recent years, though, they have been coming together increasingly to support one another in a shared cause: fear of the impact of same-sex marriage. (...) This week, Washington saw a high-profile example of another new way conservative evangelicals and Catholics are teaming up in public more — a summit around poverty.
Paradoxes of Women's Equality in Bangladesh
by Katherine Marshall
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-marshall/paradoxes-of-womens-equal_b_7304408.html
Progress is most visible in rapid increases in girls' education and in a dynamic garment industry where 80 percent of workers are women. Women are political leaders, professors, artists, doctors, etc. But at the family level and in social norms women are often subordinate and, if anything, observers see a rise in traditional behaviors, most marked in women's dress as the hijab and niqab are increasingly common. Challenges to women's full equality are often framed in religious terms, and it is the more fundamentalist elements of religious leadership and media that fuel debates, in homes, in newspapers, and in practical matters like divorce.
AROUND THE WORLD
Two Arab Nuns From Palestine are Canonized by Pope Francis
by Elizabetta Povoledo
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/europe/two-arab-nuns-from-palestine-are-canonized-by-pope-fr...
The canonization of Sister Mariam Baouardy, who founded a Carmelite convent in Bethlehem, and Sister Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, who founded a congregation of nuns, was not related to the Vatican’s announcement last week of a new treaty with the Palestinians, Vatican officials said Friday. The two new saints, now named St. Mary of Jesus Crucified and St. Marie-Alphonsine, are being held up as beacons of encouragement to Christian communities in the Middle East that are being persecuted by Islamic extremists.
In Vatican, Abbas Is Praised as ‘Angel of Peace’
by Elizabetta Povoledo
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/world/europe/in-vatican-abbas-is-praised-as-angel-of-peace.html?re...
Pope Francis praised Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, as an “angel of peace” during a meeting at the Vatican on Saturday. (...) With regard to the peace process with Israel, the Vatican reiterated its hope that “Israelis and Palestinians may take with determination courageous decisions to promote peace.” Interfaith dialogue was also emphasized as a means to combat terrorism in the Middle East.
Iraqi Sunnis Flee Anbar Only to Find New Dangers in Baghdad
by Loveday Morris
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqi-sunnis-flee-anbar-only-to-find-new-dangers-in-...
Newcomers have fled the bloodshed in Anbar only to be met with suspicion and hostility. Some officials in Baghdad have linked the influx of Sunnis to a wave of car bombings. The displaced complain of harassment by security forces and powerful Shiite militias who worry that the people reaching Baghdad may have ties to the Sunni extremists in the Islamic State.
A Celebration of Jerusalem's Unification Helps Point Up Its Divisions
by Diaa Hadid
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/world/middleeast/a-celebration-of-jerusalems-unification-helps-poi...
The decades-old Jerusalem Day march has taken on a polarizing and nationalistic tone in recent years, with marchers attacking Palestinians in the cramped Arab quarter here and clashes erupting between Jewish and Palestinian youths, particularly near the Damascus Gate. Yet there has been a broad-based effort this year to keep the parade from erupting into outright violence, as the city did last summer after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli youths from a West Bank settlement, and the subsequent kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager from East Jerusalem.
Ireland's Marriage Equality Moment
by Fintan O'Toole
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/opinion/irelands-marriage-equality-moment.html?ref=todayspaper
In spite of opposition from the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches, from Islamic leaders and conservative civic groups,surveys of public opinion consistently show more than 70 percent in favor of the government’s starkly simple proposal to add a line to the Irish Constitution: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”
A "Bulletproof" Cross Rises in Karachi
by Tim Craig
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistans-biggest-city-has-unlikely-addition-to-sky...
In this overwhelmingly Muslim country, in the heart of a city where Islamist extremists control pockets of some neighborhoods, the 14-story cross is nearly complete. It is being built at the entrance to Karachi’s largest Christian cemetery, towering over thousands of tombstones that are often vandalized. Once his cross looms over such acts of disrespect, Gill said, he hopes it can convince the members of Pakistan’s persecuted Christian minority that someday their lives will get better.
DOMESTIC
Losing Faith: A Religious Leader on America's Disillusionment with Church
NPR Weekend Edition
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/16/407073073/losing-faith-a-religious-leader-on-americas-disillusionment-...
An interview with the National Cathedral's Rev. Gary Hall.
Eyeing Gay Marriage Case, Evangelicals and Catholics Rally around Battling Poverty
by Sarah Pulliam Bailey
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/14/eyeing-gay-marriage-case-evangelicals...
Conservative evangelicals and Catholics are clear on their theological divisions. In recent years, though, they have been coming together increasingly to support one another in a shared cause: fear of the impact of same-sex marriage. (...) This week, Washington saw a high-profile example of another new way conservative evangelicals and Catholics are teaming up in public more — a summit around poverty.
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