Anti-Arab chants as young Jews march in Jerusalem
Groups of young Israeli Jews chanted “Death to Arabs” and sang “May your village burn” as they marched through Muslim neighbourhoods of Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday. Palestinian shopkeepers closed early and police lined the streets before the annual march marking Israel’s conquest of the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Six-Day War. With temperatures hitting 37C in late afternoon, the march threatened to inflame tensions rife in Jerusalem after nearly 600 days of war in Gaza. AP report here.
Quakers accused over trans-inclusive loos
Quakers have been accused of “destroying” their reputation on women’s rights by refusing to provide lavatories for females, The Daily Telegraph reports. Quakers say their toilets will remain “trans-inclusive” despite the Supreme Court ruling that the word “sex” in the Equality Act refers to biological sex and not gender identity. Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at Sex Matters, a women’s rights group, said: “Early Quakers were famously supportive of women’s rights — they would surely be shocked and ashamed if they could see the destruction of that proud legacy.”
French headscarf ban is sidelining Muslim athletes
A new law banning headscarves in France could keep female athletes on the sidelines. Thousands of young Muslim women prevented from taking part in competitive sport because of rules in several disciplines that ban clothing carrying a religious or political significance. Critics say they disproportionately target hijab-wearing Muslim athletes. Now, a contentious bill backed by right-wing politicians that would ban headscarves in all sporting competitions has cleared its first legislative hurdle in the Senate. AP report here.
American men join Russian church to ‘become more manly’
A weightlifting priest in Texas says he is using his masculinity to convert young men to the Russian Orthodox Church. Father Moses McPherson shows off his strongarm skills in YouTube videos that denounce “feminine” traits such as using an iron, wearing skinny jeans and eating soup. He converted from Protestantism to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russian, a branch of the mother church in Moscow. The BBC reporter Lucy Ash, who interviewed McPherson, writes: “Almost all the converts I meet have opted to home-school their offspring, partly because they believe women should prioritise their families rather than their careers.”
St Raphael icon for abuse survivors installed in cathedral
An icon remembering victims of historic abuse in the Catholic church has been unveiled in St Anne’s Cathedral in Leeds. The 3ft by 11ft icon showing St Raphael has been carved in English oak and painted in oils by artist Martin Earle. It was blessed by the Bishop of Leeds Marcus Stock. The victims endured abuse from Comboni Missionary Fathers, in the junior seminary of St Peter Claver, Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in the 1960s and 1970s. Similar memorials have been in the grounds of Catholic churches worldwide. The Tablet’s report here.
Will Pope Leo remain a US citizen?
The US government is considering reviewing the citizenship status of Americans who “serve as a foreign head of state, foreign head of government, or foreign minister” – and that includes the new pope, Leo XIV, The Guardian reports. Leo — born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955 — serves as leader of both the Holy See and Vatican City, an independent state, raising the question of whether he can remain a US citizen while leading a foreign government. “Such cases raise complex questions of international law, including issues related to the level of immunity from US jurisdiction that the person so serving may be afforded,” the US State Department says.
Cash-strapped kirk cuts 146-year-old magazine
Life and Work, the Church of Scotland magazine founded in 1879, is to shut. Last year the title made a loss of £133,000 and the Kirk, whose number of registered worshippers has fallen to about 240,000, has been forced to close the title. Lynne McNeil, who has edited Life and Work for 23 years, told the annual general assembly: “We are living in a market of diminishing returns.” Last year, to cut its £6.5 million deficit, the church announced the sale of 400 places of worship. Times report here.
