Cuba: First new church since 1959
Twenty-five tonnes of scrap metal are at the heart of a major religious recycling project - the plan is to transform them into the first Catholic church built in Communist Cuba since the 1959 revolution. The beams were once part of the stage built for Pope Benedict XVI's historic visit to the city in 2012. The building team need one final permit of five to get started. The days when believers would baptise their children in secret or attend mass surreptitiously in distant neighbourhoods have passed, and even Communist Party members now practise their religion openly. However, since Fidel Castro took power five decades ago the Catholic Church has only renovated existing properties or rebuilt where old ones collapsed. New churches were never sanctioned. Nowadays, local Catholics meet to pray in private houses and are struggling with gradually increasing numbers. Across Cuba, the Catholic Church says around 60% of the population are baptised, though only a small fraction regularly practise their faith.
Pakistan: Protest marches and Christian persecution
A Believer in Pakistan writes, ‘He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:21-22. Al Qaeda is lashing out hard in Pakistan. Many are being killed, particularly minority groups like Christians. We never hear about it in the news because the Pakistani government does not want it broadcast (they´re supposed to have everything ‘under control.)' The army is still trying to take out the Taliban in the northwest part of the country. Please pray for two huge separate marches on Thursday. Two major political parties want to overthrow the government. One is led by Imran Khan, the second is led by Tahir ul Qadri. These are not peaceful marches. Lives could be lost and property damaged, but people are getting fed up with the present government.’ For more information about these marches planned for Pakistan's Independence Day click the more button.
West Africa: Ebola - cultural practices and weak health systems
Ebola is spread through close physical contact with infected people in West African countries practices around religion and death involve close physical contact. All previous outbreaks of Ebola occurred in places where the disease was already known. In Uganda and the DR Congo for example the education message about avoiding contact has had years to enter the collective consciousness. In West Africa there has not been time for the necessary cultural shift where hugging is part of religious worship. Also The Wellbeing Foundation Africa said the outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is no surprise. They have the worst doctor-patient ratios in West Africa. (Liberia at 86,275-to-1 and Sierra Leone 45,588-to-1) This deadly pandemic should serve as a wake-up call to all in global health and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and national governments and aid agencies. ‘Weak health systems threaten the global community, including the developed world.’ See:
Israel: Hamas' political interests overlook people's needs
Bassem Eid, a senior Palestinian human rights activist and political commentator, writes on the website of i24 News, ‘The majority of Palestinians oppose firing rockets into Israel. The Palestinians have understood that these rockets will achieve nothing. Palestinians have called on Hamas to stop firing on Israel and to try to negotiate with the Israeli occupation. But Hamas has never considered Palestinian needs - only its own political interests. Since Israel began its attack in Gaza on July 8 following an increase in cross-border rocket strikes by Hamas nearly 1,900 Palestinians have died. Hamas continued firing rockets at Israel knowing full well what the result would be. Hamas paved the road for the death of our people. We knew Hamas was digging the tunnels that would lead to our destruction. Hamas was never interested in ‘liberating the Palestinian people from the occupation and Israel could never destroy the infrastructure set up by Hamas. Only we, the Palestinian people, could dismantle it.’ See also:
Israel: Hamas' political interests overlook people's needs
Bassem Eid, a senior Palestinian human rights activist and political commentator, writes on the website of i24 News, ‘The majority of Palestinians oppose firing rockets into Israel. The Palestinians have understood that these rockets will achieve nothing. Palestinians have called on Hamas to stop firing on Israel and to try to negotiate with the Israeli occupation. But Hamas has never considered Palestinian needs - only its own political interests. Since Israel began its attack in Gaza on July 8 following an increase in cross-border rocket strikes by Hamas nearly 1,900 Palestinians have died. Hamas continued firing rockets at Israel knowing full well what the result would be. Hamas paved the road for the death of our people. We knew Hamas was digging the tunnels that would lead to our destruction. Hamas was never interested in ‘liberating the Palestinian people from the occupation and Israel could never destroy the infrastructure set up by Hamas. Only we, the Palestinian people, could dismantle it.’ See also:
Iraq: How do the Kurds fit in?
The total number of Kurdish Christians is probably in the tens of thousands. There are large numbers in the Syrian Catholic, Orthodox, Assyrian, Armenian Catholic, and Chaldean Catholic churches. Thousands of Christian families have fled violence and threats in other parts of Iraq and found refuge in the Kurdistan Region. Since the ISIS campaign Kurdish forces (Peshmerga) have been the most effective at battling them. (Iraq’s security forces discarded their weapons, uniforms and command posts then fled ISIS advances). The Peshmerga helped regain control of key cities and have put up a strong fight. The Kurds are outgunned by ISIS militants, who possess heavy artillery and armoured vehicles amassed by purchasing weapons with extortion-racket money, seizing from Iraqi forces fleeing their posts, and collected during years of fighting in Syria. The CIA is now shipping weapons directly to the Peshmerga fighters. Australia, France and Britain are providing aid but not military action.