Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: looking forward to an encyclical on the environment, refugees in the Middle East and North Africa, and the varying fate of religious buildings around the world.
AROUND THE WORLD
Climate Encyclical Expected to Send Strong Moral Message to the World
by Barbara Fraser
Catholic News Service/National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/climate-encyclical-expected-send-strong-moral-message-world
The encyclical is not expected to be a theological treatise or a technical document about environmental issues, but a pastoral call to change the way people use the planet's resources so they are sufficient not only for current needs, but for future generations, observers said.
Mideast Patriarchs Urge the World to Help Persecuted Christians Survive
by Reuters Staff
Reuters FaithWorld
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/06/09/mideast-patriarchs-urge-the-world-to-help-persecuted-christians-survive/
At a meeting in Damascus on Monday, the heads of five major eastern Christian churches of Antioch urged the world to help Christians survive in the region and said it was time to confront the hardline ideology of groups such as the Islamic State.
Malala Speaks Out In Support Of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims
by Carol Kuruvilla
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/malala-yousafzai-rohingya_n_7537222.html?1433793551
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai calls on world leaders and officials in Myanmar to help end the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, who have faced repeated discrimination and violence in the predominantly Buddhist country.
Jews And Muslims Work Together At Salaam Shalom Kitchen To Serve Nottingham's Needy
by Carol Kuruvilla
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/salaam-shalom-kitchen-nottingham_n_7538358.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
Muslims and Jews in the United Kingdom have teamed up to work toward a common goal--eradicating hunger in their city of Nottingham. The Nottingham Liberal Synagogue and Himmah, an Islamic social justice group, unite on Wednesdays in a pop-up kitchen to provide hot food and conversation for anyone in need.
The Unbelievable Damage Islamic State has Done to Ancient Sites in Iraq and Syria
by Swati Sharma
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/09/the-unbelievable-damage-islamic-state-has-done-to-ancient-sites-in-iraq-and-syria/
While the Islamic State has inflicted tremendous losses in human life, it has also played a major role in the destruction of historic sites with significant cultural and religious value.
Church of England Decline Heralds Calls for Innovative Use of Church Buildings
by Esther Addley
Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/church-of-england-decline-heralds-calls-for-innovative-use-of-church-buildings
Church of England attendance has been falling for decades, but the recent, more drastic decline has left clergy scrambling for creative solutions.
North Korea on the Red Sea: Why Thousands of Migrants Are Fleeing Eritrea
by Elias Groll
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/08/north-korea-on-the-red-sea-why-thousands-of-migrants-are-fleeing-eritrea/
Besides Syrians, no refugee population is trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in greater numbers than Eritreans — or paying so heavy a price in lives lost beneath the waves. Yet there has been significantly less attention given to the persecution and suffering this group has faced.
DOMESTIC
Congregations Fight in Court for Ownership of Historic Rhode Island Synagogue
by Reuters Staff
Reuters FaithWorld
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/06/09/congregations-fight-in-court-for-ownership-of-historic-rhode-island-synagogue/
A dispute over the ownership of the oldest U.S. synagogue headed to court on Monday, as leaders of the New York congregation that holds the deed to the house of worship battled against local congregants for the building's ownership.
Climate Encyclical Expected to Send Strong Moral Message to the World
by Barbara Fraser
Catholic News Service/National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/climate-encyclical-expected-send-strong-moral-message-world
The encyclical is not expected to be a theological treatise or a technical document about environmental issues, but a pastoral call to change the way people use the planet's resources so they are sufficient not only for current needs, but for future generations, observers said.
Mideast Patriarchs Urge the World to Help Persecuted Christians Survive
by Reuters Staff
Reuters FaithWorld
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/06/09/mideast-patriarchs-urge-the-world-to-help-persecuted-christians-survive/
At a meeting in Damascus on Monday, the heads of five major eastern Christian churches of Antioch urged the world to help Christians survive in the region and said it was time to confront the hardline ideology of groups such as the Islamic State.
Malala Speaks Out In Support Of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims
by Carol Kuruvilla
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/malala-yousafzai-rohingya_n_7537222.html?1433793551
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai calls on world leaders and officials in Myanmar to help end the persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, who have faced repeated discrimination and violence in the predominantly Buddhist country.
Jews And Muslims Work Together At Salaam Shalom Kitchen To Serve Nottingham's Needy
by Carol Kuruvilla
Huffington Post Religion
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/08/salaam-shalom-kitchen-nottingham_n_7538358.html?utm_hp_ref=religion
Muslims and Jews in the United Kingdom have teamed up to work toward a common goal--eradicating hunger in their city of Nottingham. The Nottingham Liberal Synagogue and Himmah, an Islamic social justice group, unite on Wednesdays in a pop-up kitchen to provide hot food and conversation for anyone in need.
The Unbelievable Damage Islamic State has Done to Ancient Sites in Iraq and Syria
by Swati Sharma
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/09/the-unbelievable-damage-islamic-state-has-done-to-ancient-sites-in-iraq-and-syria/
While the Islamic State has inflicted tremendous losses in human life, it has also played a major role in the destruction of historic sites with significant cultural and religious value.
Church of England Decline Heralds Calls for Innovative Use of Church Buildings
by Esther Addley
Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/church-of-england-decline-heralds-calls-for-innovative-use-of-church-buildings
Church of England attendance has been falling for decades, but the recent, more drastic decline has left clergy scrambling for creative solutions.
North Korea on the Red Sea: Why Thousands of Migrants Are Fleeing Eritrea
by Elias Groll
Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/08/north-korea-on-the-red-sea-why-thousands-of-migrants-are-fleeing-eritrea/
Besides Syrians, no refugee population is trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in greater numbers than Eritreans — or paying so heavy a price in lives lost beneath the waves. Yet there has been significantly less attention given to the persecution and suffering this group has faced.
DOMESTIC
Congregations Fight in Court for Ownership of Historic Rhode Island Synagogue
by Reuters Staff
Reuters FaithWorld
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/06/09/congregations-fight-in-court-for-ownership-of-historic-rhode-island-synagogue/
A dispute over the ownership of the oldest U.S. synagogue headed to court on Monday, as leaders of the New York congregation that holds the deed to the house of worship battled against local congregants for the building's ownership.
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