Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: the role of faith in refugee crises and response to migrants, Vatican relations with Russia and China, the Catholic legacy in South America and Zika, and Islam and liberal values in Europe.
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
Kenya: Faith in a Protracted Refugee Crises
by Katherine Marshall
Huffington Post
http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/kenya-faith-in-a-protracted-refugee-crises
Religious beliefs and practices are an important part of the refugees' daily lives and respecting this reality is a vital part of managing all refugee communities but especially protracted refugee situations. Camps like Dadaab are more than an emergency shelter. Schools are a high priority, symbolizing hope for new generations. Religious festivals are celebrated insofar as possible. Religious leaders among the refugees can play leadership roles, helping to forge communication links with administrators.
Obama, Islam and the American Religious Landscape
by Michael Naughton
India New England News
http://indianewengland.com/2016/02/obama-islam-and-the-american-religious-landscape/
Harvard Divinity School communications reached out to Visiting Professor of Religion and Politics Jocelyne Cesari, director of Harvard’s Islam in the West Program, for insight about Obama’s visit, its significance, and why she believes it comes too late in his presidency.
AROUND THE WORLD
In Historic Move, Pope to Meet With Leader of Russian Orthodox Church
by Elisabetta Povoledo and Jim Yardley
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/world/europe/pope-francis-cuba-russian-orthodox-church.html?ref=world
For Francis, the meeting is the result of delicate and sustained diplomacy, some of which began decades ago under Pope John Paul II, and it is another important milestone in his efforts to reconcile the Roman Catholic Church with Eastern Orthodox churches.
The Pope Looks East Toward Russia and China
by Sebastian Maillard
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sebastien-maillard/pope-russia-china_b_9143376.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&ir=Religion
From the Kremlin's point of view, showing closeness with the Vatican is a way not to remain too isolated on the world stage. As for the Russian Patriarch, the Catholic Church is a needed partner in order to safeguard traditional Christian values in Europe. Relations with China have not reached that point at all. But Pope Francis is doing whatever it takes to patiently undo the knot.
In Supposed No-go Zone, British Muslims, Christians say no to Fanatics
by Griff Witte
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-supposed-no-go-zone-british-muslims-christians-say-no-to-fanatics/2016/02/04/bd2bcba2-ba11-11e5-85cd-5ad59bc19432_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b
When Donald Trump raised the specter of Muslim-dominated no-go zones in London, Britons from the prime minister on down responded with indignation. But Stephen Lennon thought that Trump wasn't altogether wrong. Lennon, however, is no ordinary young white lad: Under the alias Tommy Robinson, he’s the driving force behind a national movement that seeks to ban Muslim immigration to Britain and advocates tearing down many of the country’s mosques.
China Commands that even Retired Officials Shun Religion
by Reuters Staff
Reuters FaithWorld
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2016/02/05/china-commands-that-even-retired-officials-shun-religion/
Chinese officials who are also Communist Party officials are banned from religious activities even when they have retired, and must also oppose what the government terms cults, state media said on Friday. China’s constitution might proclaim freedom of belief, but in reality the officially atheist ruling Communist Party keeps a tight rein over religious activities and officials who are party members are not supposed to practice religion.
Zika Could Change the Abortion Conversation in Latin America
by Zoë Schlanger
Newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/zika-could-change-abortion-conversation-latin-america-421761
With no vaccine or cure for Zika, nor much clinical knowledge as to how and why it and birth defects keep showing up together, world health officials are nervous. In El Salvador, and in many other South American countries, the government has urged women not to get pregnant until 2018. It is a difficult request to carry out in countries where, due to strong Catholic legacies, contraception is aggressively regulated and abortion is illegal.
The Elephant in the Room – Islam and the Crisis of Liberal Values in Europe
by Alexander Betts
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/2016-02-02/elephant-room
Europe is still struggling to cope with a massive influx of refugees, with over a million asylum seekers arriving across the Mediterranean Sea. Nearly all of them are Muslims. This fact has shaped public and political opinion but has rarely been openly and honestly discussed. The elephant in the room is an underlying Islamophobia. The simple fact is that European member states don’t really want to welcome Muslim migrants.
Egypt's New Radicalism: The Muslim Brotherhood and Jihad
by Mokhtar Awad
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/egypt/2016-02-04/egypts-new-radicalism
Egyptian Islamism is going through a transformational phase no less significant and unpredictable than that which gave birth to the first jihadi cells that eventually became al Qaeda. Some of the Egyptian youth may not be satisfied with the Brotherhood’s attempt at “incremental jihad,” and instead join or form more serious and committed factions. But one thing is for sure: the reservoir of angry Islamist youths who are susceptible to recruitment will only deepen if the violent faction of the Brotherhood continues to indoctrinate thousands of Brotherhood youth with its new treatise and if the government continues with its extreme repression of Islamists.
DOMESTIC
Prayer Breakfast: Obama says Faith is 'Great Cure' for Fear
by Darlene Superville and Kathleen Hennessy
AP
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/73b153f967c942248bbe595686f38c53/obama-says-faith-great-cure-fear
"Fear does funny things. Fear can lead us to lash out against those who are different. Or lead us to try to get some sinister other under control," Obama said at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. "Faith is the great cure for fear. Jesus is a good cure for fear."
The Moral Urgency of Immigration Reform
by Archbishop José H. Gomez
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/27/politics/gomez-immigration-column/index.html
People do not cease to be our brothers and sisters just because they have an irregular immigration status. No matter how they got here, no matter how frustrated we are with our government, we cannot lose sight of their humanity -- without losing our own.
The Word of God, Per Black Ministers, Now Available Online
by Samuel G. Freedom
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/us/roho-the-word-of-god-per-black-ministers-available-online.html
“It’s the whole idea of Spotify meets the word of God,” said the Rev. Dr. Charley Hames Jr., the senior pastor of Beebe Memorial Cathedral in Oakland, Calif., and one of the ministers featured on Roho.“It’s a continuation,” said Dr. Lawrence Mamiya, an author of the authoritative history “The Black Church in the African-American Experience.” “Black churches got into radio technology quite early, in the ’20s, and when television came in, they got into that. The pastors who have become savvy with technology have tried to use it, putting information and sermons online. And collecting data from sermons is a real advance.”
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