Tag: religion ‘

Jobs, not doctrine, the lure for Africa’s jihadists: UN

by Nina LARSON  Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Poverty and the prospect of better-paid work, rather than ideology, are what fuel recruitment to jihadist and other violent groups in Africa, the United Nations said Tuesday. The conclusion casts doubt on conventional wisdom that religious doctrine is the main lure for joining groups like Boko Haram, al-Shabaab and the Al-Qaeda-linked Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM). The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in 2021 interviewed […]

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After pope’s call for peace, violence rages in east DR Congo

by AFP eastern Congo correspondents Agence France-Presse GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Pope Francis made repeated appeals for peace during his landmark trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo this week, but there was no let-up in fighting in the east. Putting an end to violence was a dominant theme of the pontiff’s visit to Africa’s largest Catholic country, where he arrived on Tuesday and was to depart for South Sudan on Friday. Dozens of […]

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Australian Church mourns cardinal Pell, despite protests

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s Catholic Church held a prayer vigil for late cardinal George Pell who lay in state Wednesday, as sexual abuse survivors tied ribbons to the cathedral gates in protest. Pell, a Vatican powerbroker who rose from humble beginnings in small town Australia, died in Rome in January, aged 81. Once considered Pope Francis’s “right-hand man”, Pell’s final years were marked by sexual abuse allegations and criticism of his hard-line positions on […]

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‘Sacred goal’: Russia paints Ukraine assault in spiritual terms

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a powerful ally of President Vladimir Putin, is embracing the rhetoric of the mediaeval crusades in urging support for Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine. When Pope Urban ordered the first crusade to the Middle East in 1095, he told Christians to rise up and defend fellow believers, promising that their sins would be wiped away. Nearly 10 centuries later, Kirill has called on believers to support pro-Russian […]

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Nicaragua bishop who criticized govt charged with conspiracy

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP) — A Nicaraguan bishop who has been a sharp critic of the government of President Daniel Ortega and who has been under house arrest since August was charged Tuesday with conspiracy and propagation of false news, a judicial body reported. Bishop Rolando Álvarez, 56, was charged with “crimes of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the Nicaraguan state and […]

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Flash flood kills 14 at Johannesburg church ritual

Johannesburg, South Africa (AFP) Flash flooding that followed heavy rains has killed at least 14 people taking part in religious rituals in Johannesburg, with others still missing, emergency services said Sunday. A group of 33 worshippers had joined church rituals on the banks of the Jukskei river when the flooding struck on Saturday, said Robert Mulaudzi, spokesman for the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services. An earlier toll of nine dead rose after the discovery […]

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Gunmen kidnap worshippers in Nigeria mosque attack

  Kano, Nigeria (AFP) Gunmen abducted 19 Muslim worshippers after attacking a mosque in the restive northwest of Nigeria, police said Sunday. The attackers stormed the mosque in Maigamji village, in Katsina state, during evening prayers Saturday and carried out the kidnappings after shooting and wounding the imam and another worshipper, said local police spokesman Gambo Isah. “Our men mobilised and went after the bandits and succeeded in rescuing six of the worshippers from their […]

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Ukraine to limit Moscow-linked religious groups: Zelensky

Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) Ukraine will move to impose limitations on religious organisations in the country which have links to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Thursday. “The National Security and Defence Council has instructed the government to propose to (parliament) a bill on proscribing activities in Ukraine by religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence in Russia,” Zelensky said. “National security officials should intensify measures to identify and counteract the subversive […]

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Bad abbot: Thai temple left empty after monks fail drug tests

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Buddhist temple in central Thailand has been left without monks after all its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked, a local official said Tuesday. Four monks including an abbot at a temple in Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday, district official Boonlert Thintapthai told AFP. The monks have been sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation, the official said. “The […]

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French cardinal faces legal probe over child abuse: prosecutor

by Sandra LAFFONT with Karine PERRET in Lourdes French prosecutors said Tuesday they had opened an inquiry into child abuse by a cardinal after he confessed publicly to “reprehensible” acts with a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s. Jean-Pierre Ricard, a retired bishop made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, was named among 11 senior clergymen who face sexual abuse allegations in an announcement by the French Catholic church on Monday. In a message read […]

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Japan minister quits after scrutiny over links to religious sect

  Tokyo, Japan | AFP | by Natsuko FUKUE A Japanese minister resigned Monday following scrutiny over his links to a religious sect that is under pressure over ties with top politicians after the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister for economic revitalisation, said his conduct had “caused trouble for the government” but did not name the Unification Church. The movement and its links to senior politicians have been in the […]

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16 missing in Venezuela found ‘safe and sound’

SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (AFP) — A group of 16 people who went missing after setting off on a religious retreat in Venezuela two weeks ago were found “safe and sound,” officials said Thursday. The group had not been heard from since departing on August 22 for what officials described as a religious retreat in the town of La Grita in western Tachira province. The 16 people “were located in perfect health, they were praying at […]

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