Facebook offers prayers on a click as religion goes online
Throughout the pandemic, people have talked about religion on Zoom and not on Facebook, but now the giant social media company, with three billion users, is taking steps to harness its power to develop religion online. In January, it started a trial of a prayer request interface, where group members can request prayers and be clicked when one has been offered. Facebook has a director for global faith partnerships and last month held a virtual faith summit where it explained its ability to create community. But the prayer request service has caused unease among believers of all sorts, writes Andrew Brown. Read his assessment here
Myanmar Catholic bishops facing national crises and Covid outbreaks, call for prayer campaign
Vatican news reports that Myanmar’s Catholic bishops are appealing to Catholics and followers of other faiths to pray in the face of the crises after the military coup, compounded by a third wave of Covid-19. It says there is an acute shortage of oxygen and basic healthcare is almost absent. The bishops are appealing for a prayer campaign lasting two weeks, urging all faiths to come together as one community so that compassion becomes “the common religion in these dark days”.
Churches have a future for secular and religious purposes
The National Churches Trust annual review includes an optimistic view of the future of church buildings, despite dwindling congregations. Sir Paul Britton, chair of its grants committee, says there is a fear that once churches shut they may never re-open. But he remains “optimistic that the great majority can have a viable future, provided that their congregations are willing to engage with their communities and make these buildings useful for both secular and religious purposes”. Church Times story here
Holocaust survivors and their legacy in Museum exhibiton
An exhibition of fifty portraits of holocaust survivors and their younger family descendants opens at the Imperial War Museum on Friday. Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors includes six video portraits of survivors, by the photographer Simon Roberts, including family members describing the legacy and impact on their lives. He was inspired by a Guardian report and its account of the exhibition is here
English Cathedrals burst into life post pandemic
English Cathedrals have burst into life with the relaxing of Covid-19 rules. Peterborough Cathedral invited visitors to walk, dance and sing on the moon with artwork and imagery recreating the moon’s surface; Sheffield has an exhibition about steel and the people who made it; Chester has a 74 foot model railway running through the nave celebrating the work of engineer Thomas Bussey; Ely had a seven metre replica of the earth installed in the nave in July; and Worcester hosted the Three Choirs Festival, with singers from Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester, in full voice for the first time since the pandemic began.
Retired vicar sews his lips together in climate change protest
Retired vicar, the Rev Tim Hewes, sewed his lips together and sat down in the entrance to News Corp at the Shard, in a protest about climate change, aimed at company and a Rupert Murdoch. He said they were silencing truths about climate science while millions are suffering from environmental emergency. Christian Climate Action reported that visitors and staff were directed to the side entrance instead, avoiding contact or conflict. Mr Hewes, a former dentist, who serves in the Oxford diocese, removed the stitches after two hours.
Global faith sport and festival in July captured in pictures
The Associated Press carries a resume of global faith sport and festival in July, captured through the lens of its photographers. It includes an altar to Maradona, a bull fighter praying before the fight, Hindu festival rituals and depleted numbers of pilgrims at the Hajj .
