Macedonia: Persecution of Serbian Church
On Thursday, May 24th 17 Serbian Orthodox monks, nuns and other believers were released from prison, having been detained for two days on alleged tax evasion charges. Churches and Monasteries have been systematically raided recently as part of a fresh crackdown on the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. Rights investigators have linked these and other raids to the government's refusal to register the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. An Interior Ministry blacklist lists over 20 Serbian Orthodox bishops banned from entering Macedonia. The Serbian Orthodox Church Synod in Belgrade condemned as ‘political and not judicial’ the sentence of two and half years to Archbishop Jovan, in Idrizovo prison. It’s not clear how the EU will react to these developments. Macedonia is seeking membership of the EU and the NATO military alliance. Tensions over religious and national identities are a left-over of the 1990’s Balkan wars.
Pray: against the desire to eradicate the Church in Macedonia, and pray for a modern and democratic approach to Christianity. (Ps.135:13)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/21798-breaking-news-macedonia-frees-nuns-monks-but-confiscates-passports
Macedonia: Crackdown on believers
Security forces detained 17 monks, nuns and believers as part of a fresh crackdown on the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. On Tuesday, May 22nd police entered several monasteries and homes of church members of the Serbian Orthodox Church's ‘Ohrid Archbishopric’ in Macedonia. Police said the raids were part of an investigation into ‘tax evasion fraud’. But rights investigators have linked these and other raids to the government's refusal to register the Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia. An Interior Ministry blacklist lists over 20 Serbian Orthodox bishops banned from entering Macedonia. The Serbian Orthodox Church Synod in Belgrade condemned as ‘political and not judicial’ the sentence of two and half years to Archbishop Jovan, in Idrizovo prison. It’s not clear how the EU will react to these developments. Macedonia is seeking membership of the EU and the NATO military alliance. Tensions over religious and national identities are a left-over of the 1990’s Balkan wars.
Pray: against the desire to eradicate the Church in Macedonia, and pray for a modern and democratic approach to Christianity. (Ps.135:13)
Lutherans see signs of convergence with Catholics on Eucharist issue
A German Protestant bishop has urged Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches to draw up a joint declaration on their shared beliefs about the Eucharist, one of the issues that have divided them for hundreds of years since the Reformation. ‘Our understandings of the Eucharist or Lord's Supper are no longer that far apart,’ said Lutheran Bishop Friedrich Weber, who deals with relations between the Catholic Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), a grouping of eight German regional Protestant churches. This follows a separate initiative of a group set up by Lutheran and Catholic churches in Sweden and Finland that has been discussing ways in which the two church traditions might advance the results of a 1999 joint Lutheran-Catholic declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. There is now greater consensus on, ‘the foundations of spiritual life, faith and sacraments, especially baptism and Communion’. Differences nevertheless remain in the ministry of pastors and bishops. Pray: for the world-wide Church in all its diversity that ways would be found to bring about unity. (Jn.17;20-21) More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=4038
Lord Carey: Christians 'vilified' by courts
Christians are being ‘vilified’ by British courts and ‘driven underground’, Lord Carey, a former archbishop of Canterbury, has said. In a written submission to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), he blames judges for treating some worshippers as ‘bigots’. He also warns that believers are being sacked for expressing their faith. The criticism is part of an appeal to Strasbourg judges to protect religious freedom ahead of a landmark case. Lord Carey has voiced concern that a recent ‘secular conformity of belief and conduct’ has meant that conduct in keeping with the Christian faith is effectively being ‘banned’ in the public setting. He also argues that if rulings against wearing crosses and expressing Christian faith are not reversed it could lead to believers facing a ‘religious bar’ to employment.
Pray: that Lord Carey’s submission to the ECHR will be acted upon, leading to changes so that Christian views and practices would be deemed acceptable. (Gal.5:1)
Liechtenstein: Churches set to lose government funding
Churches in Liechtenstein, one of the world's smallest countries, could face financial disaster under government plans to withdraw state subsidies under new legislation. ‘This will be a drastic change - we depend on financial support, and there'll be no chance of obtaining it if the new law goes ahead,’ said Markus Meidert, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liechtenstein. But the new law will be especially hard and treacherous for smaller churches like ours, who have none of the Catholic Church's resources.’ A bill before Liechtenstein's 25-member parliament proposes to end the Roman Catholic Church's status as official state church and also withdraw state subsidies from recognised religious communities. Mr Meidert told ENI news that state grants account for half the current budget of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has no means of generating income like Christian churches in neighbouring Germany.
Pray: for the churches in Liechtenstein as they face this challenge and pray that they remember that God is Jehovah Jireh and He will provide. (Mt.16:18)
Latvia: Pastor in former USSR utilises internet
Alexey Ledyaev, the leader of the international Christian movement ‘New Generation’ revealed his reasons for blogging, something that was never allowed in the dark days of the Soviet Union. He said, ‘Some watch sermons - some don’t. Some read books - some don’t, the future is internet.’ Pastor and journalist Ledyaev leads a 5,000-strong non-denominational church in Riga, Latvia that he founded in 1989 after emigrating from Kazakhstan. He notes the main aim for the media and every journalist is to get to the truth, ‘which will help someone live’. ‘People are different now. Yesterday the biggest sin was smoking in school toilets, now this age group indulge in drugs and sex. Divorce was once a great sin, but now it’s nothing to many. Yesterday abortion was a horrible blasphemy over human life, but it is a usual thing now. Church must be more effective and modern today.’
Pray: for more Christian wordsmiths and innovators to utilise the internet across the nations as they address standards of immorality in open and frank discussions. (Ro.10:14)