More than 1300 pilgrims die at the Hajj
More than 1,300 pilgrims died in scorching heat during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, according to Saudi Arabia’s health minister. In a TV interview, he said 83 per cent of the deaths were among unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in temperatures reaching 50C. They included more than 660 people from Egypt, whose government has announced that 16 tourism companies involved in sending unauthorized pilgrims to the Hajj are to have their licenses revoked. Every Muslim is required to observe the Hajj once in their lifetime. It includes walking around the holy shrine, the Ka’bah. seven times, walking seven times between the two hills of As-Safa and Al-Marwah on the outskirts of Mecca, standing at Arafat from noon to sunset and casting pebbles against pillars in Mina. Authorised pilgrims have air-conditioned hotel places, water and shelter, but there are questions as to whether unauthorised pilgrims had the same protection. Almost two million people attended the Hajj this year and the government has plans to expand it. The date follows the lunar cycle so will be observed at different times in the future, including the winter months. It is not unusual for pilgrims to die in the heat, but the number is unusually high this year.
Donald Trump courts white evangelical vote again
Donald Trump is again galvanising white evangelicals to vote for him in this years’ US presidential election. Addressing a conference in Washington, put on by the conservative evangelical Faith and Freedom Coalition, he told them they could not afford to sit on the sidelines of the 2024 election, urging them to “go and vote, Christians, please!”. He endorsed the display of the Ten Commandments in schools in Louisiana: “Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal?’ I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible”, he said. The Pew Research Centre found 84 per cent of white evangelicals supported Trump in 2016 and recent polls suggest that this has stayed stable despite the many legal cases against him and his conviction for falsifying business records.
Priest killed when church attacked in Dagestan
Two synagogues, an Orthodox church and a police position have been attacked in Dagestan, a Muslim majority area in the south-west of Russia bordering Georgia and Azerbaijan. Attackers entered an orthodox church in Derbent, killed a security guard and slit the throat of the priest. A synagogue in the city of Makhachkala and another in Derbent, a city 80 miles south on the Caspian Sea, were set alight with smoke seen billowing from the buildings. An attack on a police post in Makhachkala, killed six and injured 12. Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said the attackers were armed men and two militants have been killed.
Sir Keir Starmer and his family’s Jewish heritage
Sir Keir Starmer has discussed the Jewish roots of his wife, Victoria, and her family, in a long interview with The Guardian. His wife Victoria is the daughter of a Jewish father, Bernard, and a mother who converted to Judaism. Sir Keir and his wife have two teenage children and he told the Guardian: “No, no, they’re not Jewish for reasons I won’t bore you with. Bernard’s dad’s family didn’t accept that”, which the Jewish Chronicle interprets as a reference to Jewish lineage not going through converts. His family attend a liberal synagogue sometimes, and nearly every week they say kiddush, a prayer on the eve of the sabbath day, with his wife’s father or sister. He was very keen for his children to know and understand their Jewish heritage. “Half of the family are Jewish, they’re either here or in Israel”, he said and though none were directly affected by the Hamas attack on 7 October, they had been deeply affected by it.
Nuns in Spain excommunicated for rebelling
A group of ten nuns in Spain have been excommunicated for refusing to recognise the decrees of Vatican II, nor the validity of any Pope after Pius XII, who died in 1958. The were from the Order of Poor Clares, in Belorado, northern Spain, and have rebelled against Catholic authorities for more than a year. The Telegraph reports that they are known for making mojito flavoured sweets. The nuns swear allegiance to Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco, who was himself excommunicated for sharing their views on the Pope’s invalidity. The nuns have been accused of schism and on Saturday, the Archbishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, excommunicated them, forcing them to leave their monastery and be replaced by other nuns. They offered to buy a convent and run it themselves, but the church refused.
New CofE jobs for the “unglamorous” work in maintaining buildings
Twenty-seven newly appointed Church Buildings Support Officers have met for a conference to discuss their role in maintaining and repairing buildings in the Church of England. They are overseeing £6.2 million of grants from a special “Buildings for Mission” church fund across 41 dioceses, and are being trained in conservation, development of church buildings, grant applications and fund raising. One described grants to replace and repair guttering in churches as “unglamorous but so important”.
Times Square turned into “big yoga playground”
New York’s Times Square was turned into a “big yoga playground” for the summer solstice, with hundreds of people sitting on their mats and practising yoga, while all around them life bustled on. One teacher ran a seven-hour class, sponsored in part by the Consulate General of India, New York. She asked 300 city residents to “connect your body, your breath, your mind,” sharing stories of Lord Shiva “the first creative being who practiced all 8,400,000 yoga poses.” She told the Religion News Service that yoga teaches how to interrelate with each other and how to deal with our internal world, but also gives “the compass of how to really live our lives”.
Cathedral cleric walks 200 miles for charity fundraiser
Canon Gavin Kibble, from Coventry Cathedral, has raised £26,000 from a sponsored 200 mile walk from St Bees Head in Lancashire to Robin Hood Bay in Yorkshire. The funds will go to the charity Feed The Hungry, which will provide a school and food for orphans in Zambia. Premier Christian News reports that he suffered a heart attack two years ago and could not even walk 200 feet, but now he can walk up to 20 miles a day without issue – it took him 13 days to make this journey, which he described as “a really tough walk”. He told Premier that the highlights were spectacular views over Ullswater and meeting a bride making her way to her wedding ceremony in wedding dress and hiking boots.
