Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: the role of Islam in promoting gender equality and ethical banking, the Pope's "angel of peace" comment, and Roman Catholicism in Cuba.
AROUND THE WORLD
Morocco's Islamic Women Preachers Lead Social Revolution
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/05/19/moroccos-islamic-women-preachers-lead-social-revoluti...
The morchidat were introduced in 2006, partly in an attempt to counter Islamist radicalism following suicide bombings that rocked Casablanca in 2003. The hope is that these female spiritual leaders can both encourage a more tolerant Islam and improve the position of girls and women in Moroccan society. The are the subject of a new British film "Casablanca Calling."
The Nature of Money
by Harris Irfan
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-05-15/nature-money
In 2010 Sharia scholar, Muhammad Taqi Usmani, was invited to present a paper at Davos with a somewhat radical theme: reforming the world’s post-crisis financial landscape through the lens of religion. (...) Usmani’s paper proved inspirational for introspective Islamic bankers searching for direction. It questioned the very nature of money, inviting a radical philosophical shake-up of their ordered universe. Perhaps few in the audience (if any) were moved that day to tweak their banking practices, but they nonetheless came away with the counsel that social awareness ought to be the underpinning of finance.
Vatican Seeks to Quite Uproar over 'Angel of Peace' Remark
by Isabel Kershner and Elisabetta Povoledo
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/world/middleeast/vatican-seeks-to-quiet-uproar-over-popes-angel-of...
Did the pope tell Mr. Abbas “You are an angel of peace,” as many news outlets, including the main Italian news agency ANSA, The Associated Press and The New York Times, reported? That phrasing pleased Palestinians but infuriated some Israelis and Jewish leaders around the world. Or was the pope encouraging Mr. Abbas with the words, “May you be an angel of peace,” as other major Italian news media?
related | The Pope, Abbas, and the Fuss over 'The Angel of Peace'
by John Allen
Crux Now
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/05/19/the-pope-abbas-and-the-fuss-over-the-angel-of-peace/
After a Visit From the Pope, Mr. Castro has Much to Confess
by Richard Cohen
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-castro-has-much-to-confess/2015/05/18/1718930a-fd72-11e4-8...
Who am I to tell the pope how to be, well . . . the pope? But after President Raúl Castro of Cuba, an observant communist for most of his life, said he was so impressed with Francis that he was considering returning to the Roman Catholic Church, I would have liked for the pope to have handed Castro a list of political prisoners, adding, “Free these people, and then we’ll talk.”
DOMESTIC
Kevin Eckstrom Steps Down as Editor-in-Chief of Religion News Service
RNS
http://religionnewsservice.cmail1.com/t/ViewEmail/j/B81DA12EB27F557C/D76D6626BF0E2BCEC5EC08CADFFC107...
Eckstrom, who lent a steady hand and a deft touch to the nonprofit news organization, will become Chief Communications Officer for Washington National Cathedral on June 1.
Morocco's Islamic Women Preachers Lead Social Revolution
Reuters
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2015/05/19/moroccos-islamic-women-preachers-lead-social-revoluti...
The morchidat were introduced in 2006, partly in an attempt to counter Islamist radicalism following suicide bombings that rocked Casablanca in 2003. The hope is that these female spiritual leaders can both encourage a more tolerant Islam and improve the position of girls and women in Moroccan society. The are the subject of a new British film "Casablanca Calling."
The Nature of Money
by Harris Irfan
Foreign Affairs
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-05-15/nature-money
In 2010 Sharia scholar, Muhammad Taqi Usmani, was invited to present a paper at Davos with a somewhat radical theme: reforming the world’s post-crisis financial landscape through the lens of religion. (...) Usmani’s paper proved inspirational for introspective Islamic bankers searching for direction. It questioned the very nature of money, inviting a radical philosophical shake-up of their ordered universe. Perhaps few in the audience (if any) were moved that day to tweak their banking practices, but they nonetheless came away with the counsel that social awareness ought to be the underpinning of finance.
Vatican Seeks to Quite Uproar over 'Angel of Peace' Remark
by Isabel Kershner and Elisabetta Povoledo
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/19/world/middleeast/vatican-seeks-to-quiet-uproar-over-popes-angel-of...
Did the pope tell Mr. Abbas “You are an angel of peace,” as many news outlets, including the main Italian news agency ANSA, The Associated Press and The New York Times, reported? That phrasing pleased Palestinians but infuriated some Israelis and Jewish leaders around the world. Or was the pope encouraging Mr. Abbas with the words, “May you be an angel of peace,” as other major Italian news media?
related | The Pope, Abbas, and the Fuss over 'The Angel of Peace'
by John Allen
Crux Now
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/05/19/the-pope-abbas-and-the-fuss-over-the-angel-of-peace/
After a Visit From the Pope, Mr. Castro has Much to Confess
by Richard Cohen
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-castro-has-much-to-confess/2015/05/18/1718930a-fd72-11e4-8...
Who am I to tell the pope how to be, well . . . the pope? But after President Raúl Castro of Cuba, an observant communist for most of his life, said he was so impressed with Francis that he was considering returning to the Roman Catholic Church, I would have liked for the pope to have handed Castro a list of political prisoners, adding, “Free these people, and then we’ll talk.”
DOMESTIC
Kevin Eckstrom Steps Down as Editor-in-Chief of Religion News Service
RNS
http://religionnewsservice.cmail1.com/t/ViewEmail/j/B81DA12EB27F557C/D76D6626BF0E2BCEC5EC08CADFFC107...
Eckstrom, who lent a steady hand and a deft touch to the nonprofit news organization, will become Chief Communications Officer for Washington National Cathedral on June 1.
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