One of the world’s oldest monasteries under threat of closure
The 6th century St Catherine’s monastery, at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt, one of the oldest continuously functioning monasteries in the world, is under threat of closure. An Egyptian court has challenged its ownership and given the 20 monks residing there only “usage rights”. There are fears that the Egyptian state changed the property’s status in order to turn it into a museum. The monks have now locked themselves in and are not allowing any visitors, while mounting a global campaign alerting churches to their plight. It is an Eastern Orthodox Christian monastery under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The monks primarily follow Greek Orthodox liturgy, and the official language of the monastery is Greek. Ierenemos II, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, has condemned the change of status and called on the Greek government to help ensure that the monastery “is not effectively abolished.”
Village church dispute now involves the local police and the bishop
Complaints against the rector of a village church in Cheshire have escalated to “libellous” fly posting and the involvement of the local police and the bishop. Flyers were posted around Chester cathedral at Easter, complaining about the Rev Dr Janine Arnott, rector of St Oswald’s, Malpas, with allegations relating to the choir and bellringers. Now the Bishop of Chester, Mark Tanner, has written to the church council saying the leaflets were “anonymous, factually incorrect, libellous, and sought by forgery to impersonate a bishop”. He said he was engaged with every valid concern raised. The police have told the local paper, the Whitchurch Herald, that they are investigating reports of harassment and are appealing for information.
Zambian nun urges church to confront abuse of women religious
A Zambian Catholic nun has called on church leaders to confront and address sexual abuse against women religious, challenging a culture of silence and complicity within religious institutions. Speaking at the Conference of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar in South Africa, Sister Linah Siabana highlighted the emotional and physical toll abuse has taken on victims, often leaving them isolated, silenced, or forced out of religious life. Crux Now reports that she spoke of abuse by priests and fellow sisters, including a case where a nun attempted suicide after being abused by another sister. She criticised the church for protecting institutional reputation over victims’ well-being, describing it as a “profound failure to protect the vulnerable.” Headlines tell stories of church sexual abuse in Europe and America, but Sister Linah warned that abuse is not less present in Africa, just less reported: “At times, we just get to know about that when a sister is pregnant,” she said. She called for stronger reporting systems, safe spaces, and education to empower victims, ensuring survivors are heard and supported.
Cardinal Becciu has audience with the Pope
The Catholic publication Crux Now reports that Cardinal Angelo Becciu, convicted by a Vatican court in December 2023 of embezzlement and aggravated fraud, had an audience with Pope Leo last week. The Cardinal was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, an €8,000 fine and permanent disqualification from public office, but he is appealing in a case expected to be heard in September. Becciu withdrew from the conclave to select the next Pope when it emerged that Pope Francis wanted him excluded from the process. The article, by editor John L. Allen Jr, suggests Becciu has support among the cardinals and reports that some have raised questions as to whether the legal process was just. He says the case raises the need for a decision about structural reform to the legal system within Vatican state.
MP says inquiry into Golden Temple massacre is ‘under consideration’
The Sikh MP, Tan Dhesi, has told Sky News that an inquiry into the UK’s military role in Operation Blue Star, the 1984 Golden Temple massacre, is “under consideration”. He said he was told this in conversations “with ministers and others in Number 10” and he believes it is time for truth and transparency into the extent of the Thatcher government’s involvement in the massacre. Estimates vary, but between 500 and 3,000 people died when Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, where armed separatists seeking an independent Sikh homeland had taken refuge. Yesterday at a rally in central London, there were appeals for the government to honour election pledges to hold an independent public inquiry.
France moves to posthumously promote Alfred Dreyfus to brigadier general
Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish French army officer at the centre of one of France’s most infamous miscarriages of justice, is set to receive a posthumous promotion nearly 90 years after his death. Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason in 1894 and exiled to Devil’s Island, a punishment widely recognised as fuelled by antisemitism. He was pardoned in 1899 and exonerated in 1906, returning to the army to fight in World War I, and retired as a lieutenant colonel. Tomorrow, the French National Assembly is due approve a bill to promote Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general, the position he probably would have attained, were it not for his imprisonment.
US Presbyterian leader ‘retiring’ after publicly naming ‘scandalisers’
The senor administrator, “stated clerk”, of the Presbyterian Church in America has announced his imminent retirement after making public a list of people regarded as “scandalizers”. The Rev Bryan Chapell appeared on a now deleted episode of The Gospel Coalition’s “Gospelbound” podcast, also produced as a film, during which he held up a scrap of paper with names of people he said had caused scandal by upbraiding others for lack of faith, while “every name on that list has either left his family, left the faith, or taken his life — every name on that list.” The list could be easily read and was republished on social media, implicating people in the church and causing an outcry. The Christian Post reports that Mr Chapell has asked a church committee to accept his retirement, when it meets this week.
Churches power social projects in Bristol
A report has highlighted the scale and impact of church-led community work in Bristol, identifying more than 420 projects supporting vulnerable people across the city. The Bristol Thriving Communities Report, released by Good Faith Partnership and Christian Action Bristol, found that two thirds of the 195 churches questioned, run social action initiatives. These range from mental health support and children’s programmes to community cafés and food parcels. The report also found that churches were working with each other across denomination divides, and 68 per cent partner with local charities, tackling issues such as homelessness, addiction, and refugee support. The report calls for better infrastructure, funding, and attention to ethnic and denominational inclusion, to expand the impact.
WW1 memorial plaques stolen from a church, turn up in scrapyard
Two World War One memorial plaques, ripped from the walls of a church in Chatham, Kent, have been found in scrapyards in Essex. The plaques commemorate 163 people from the Chatham area who died in World War One and have been in place for 105 years. The Rev Andrea Leonard, vicar of Christ Church Luton, said they were “priceless” to the parish and relatives. She told BBC Radio Kent that a person who found the plaques told her: “those poor lads that gave everything, they don’t deserve this”. Police have since made seven arrests of men aged between 22 and 51.
