| Chaldean Archbishop opposes death sentence
AN ARCHBISHOP of the Chaldean Church in Iraq has spoken against the death sentence imposed on Ahmed Ali Ahmed for his involvement in the murder of 65-year-old Archbishop Faraj Rahho in Mosul (News, 21 March). “This conviction does not meet Christian values,” the Archbishop of Kirkuk, the Most Revd Louis Sako, told Agence France-Presse. “The Church is against the death penalty.” The sentence was announced on Sunday, but no details were given of the trial or the date of execution.
Water meters a threat to human rights
PRE-PAID water meters in South Africa and other African countries, which dispense water on the insertion of a card bought by the consumer, have been denounced by the Ecumenical Water Network, formed by Christian agencies to raise awareness of water issues. “If you run out of money and the card is empty, you cannot afford water for basic needs. This is a violation of the human right to water,” Michael Windfuhr, human-rights director of the German Protestant agency Bread for the World, told the Ecumenical News Agency. Water problems were the result of policy, not scarcity, he said.
Don’t exaggerate convert numbers, says group
THE Barnabas Fund, a charity that aims to make known the plight of the persecuted Church, has warned against exaggerating the numbers of people who convert from Islam to Christianity. “These false reports, often initiated by non-Christians and then circulated by Christians, are a matter of grave concern, not just for those who love truth and accuracy, but also for the many individuals whose lives are being endangered by the publicity given to these exaggerated figures,” Canon Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, its international director, said in a statement. More Muslims were converting than at any other time in history, he said. But Muslims thought apostasy brought shame on their community, and could seek to remove the shame by shedding the blood of converts, evangelists, or the Christian West.
Humanists set up Sunday schools
THE Kochhar Humanist Education Center (KHEC), launched by the American Humanist Association, is to develop a humanist equivalent of Sunday schools, Ekklesia, a web-based think tank, reports. The programme will include ethics for atheists, agnostics, and free-thinkers. KHEC’s education co-ordinator, Dr Bob Bhaerman, said it was time for non-theistic people to share their values with future generations.
‘Amazing Grace’ appeal
CANADIAN Anglicans are being encouraged to sing “Amazing Grace” wherever and whenever they can in the Amazing Grace Project, which wants to get the Church singing together across the land. www.anglican.ca/amazinggrace
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