Elsewhere, Fr Philip Ekweli of the Diocese of Auchi in Edo State was kidnapped alongside a seminarian on 3 March, while Fr Livinus Maurice, parish priest of St Patrick’s Church in Isokpo, Rivers State, was abducted alongside two others while returning from a hospital visit on 12 February.
None of the five had been released by the end of last week, though police shot dead a suspect while pursuing Fr Ekweli’s kidnappers. In Adamawa State on Sunday, police rescued two priests, Fr Abraham Samman of the Diocese of Yola and Fr Mathew David Dusam of the Diocese of Jalingo, who they said had been abducted by a parishioner on 22 February.
Leaders in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are proposing the death penalty for those who allegedly force people into religious conversion — a change that could harm the state’s Christians, who already are persecuted under the law through false accusations.
Mohan Yadav, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, said March 8 that he plans to amend the state’s anti-conversion law to capitally punish those found to be fraudulently forcing people to convert, adding that “religious conversion will not be tolerated”. Christians make up just 0.27% of the 72 million population of Madhya Pradesh,
Since 2021, the state’s anti-conversion law has already resulted in sentences of 10 years in jail for violators.
Though religious freedom is provided for in the Indian Constitution, anti-conversion laws have been an increasing problem for adherents of minority faiths. In recent years, at least a dozen of India’s 28 states passed laws to criminalize “forced” conversions, most of them in Hindu nationalist party-ruled states from the early 2000s onward.
The CSO has reported a 60pc decline in the number of women “engaged in home duties” since 2010.
This comes despite an Iona Institute/Amarach poll last year showing that 69pc of mothers would prefer to stay at home with their children if they could.
Additionally, the State is bound to ensure mothers are not forced by “economic necessity” to work outside the home, with the electorate solidly opposing a referendum last year to delete that provision from the constitution.
The CSO figures are contained in the latest Women in the Labour Market 2023-2024 published last Friday.
A key finding is that women who reported their Principal Economic Status as “engaged in home duties” decreased by 60% from 520,500 in 2010 to 208,200 in 2024.
Escalating sectarian violence in Syria has prompted an urgent appeal for prayer from a global charity dedicated to protecting minority Christian communities. Last year, the Assad Government was overthrown by an organisation that was once an Al-Qaeda affiliate but is currently presenting itself to the West as having changed its ways.
Reports from the coastal region in the Middle East country say hundreds of civilians have been killed in clashes, many in indiscriminate attacks.
According to sources in Latakia close to Aid to the Church in Need, last Friday was described as “a very black and painful day” in the cities of Tartus, Banias, Jabla, and Latakia, and the surrounding villages.
“Massacres against many Alawites, often indiscriminately, in response to an ambush by some Alawite militants that killed about 20 members of the new security forces.”
The same source stated: “The number of victims is very sad; the majority were civilians, more than 600, who lost their lives, including young people, women, university doctors, and pharmacists. Some families with their children were killed in cold blood.” Among the deceased were also members of Christian communities, such as “a father and son from an evangelical church in Latakia, who were stopped in their car and killed, as well as the father of a priest in Banias.”
New independent guidelines in the UK to produce ‘equitable sentencing’ of minority faith, ethic, and cultural communities has been slammed by both the Government and the opposition. The guidelines say that if an offender comes from a historically discriminated against minority, this could be a reason to hand down a more lenient sentence. However, critics say this means those who are not from such backgrounds, including Christians and straight, white men will receive heavier sentences which is a form of “two-tier justice”.
The Justice Secretary, Labour MP Shabana Mahmood, has said she will be registering her “displeasure” and will be recommending the guidance is reversed – however, as the Sentencing Council is independent, she cannot order them to do so.
The Tory justice spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, said the guidelines show a “blatant bias”.
Mr Jenrick told Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast it was evidence of “two-tier justice” and will be “very corrosive to public trust and confidence in the criminal justice system”.
“To me, this seems like blatant bias, particularly against Christians, and against straight white men,” he said.
In recent days, congressional staff working in the U.S. Capitol have reported finding Jesus figurines in the building in what appears to be part of a TikTok trend.
The social media app’s booming faith content is changing religious practice in innovative and notable ways.
TikTok is even selling packs of up to 100 tiny Jesus statuettes on the app’s store, TikTok Shop. Many Christian users are encouraging others to buy them to place in stores, hospitals, gas stations, or any other stops they make throughout their days.
Some people are posting videos of themselves leaving the figurines in public spaces, often with the hashtags #jesuslovesyou and #spreadingthelove. The trend is meant to serve as a reminder that “everyone needs a little Jesus,” according to some of the viral videos.
Users can search the phrase “hiding mini Jesus” on the app to see dozens of people spreading Jesus by placing the figures around for strangers to find.
Assisted suicide and euthanasia must be available on the National Health Service (NHS), paid for by British taxpayers, a bill to legalise it will require.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP driving the legislation through Westminster, is planning amendments to stipulate that the practice must be available free at the point of use, even if it is provided by private companies.
Ministers believe that thousands of people a year may ultimately end up being helped to kill themselves under the new regime as they work to establish the impact of the law on the NHS.
The London Times revealed this week that ‘assisted dying’ would be provided by private companies under options being developed to stop requests hampering efforts to bring down NHS waiting lists.
The NHS would contract out ‘assisted death’ services to the private sector to ensure that patients had free access at the point of use.
A retired medical scientist will face trial this week after she held up a sign reading “here to talk, if you want to” near an abortion facility in Bournemouth
Several individuals approached Livia Tossici-Bolt, 63, to take up her offer of a conversation about matters going on in their lives.
Local authorities confronted Tossici-Bolt, alleging that she had breached a local abortion “buffer zone”, which bans “expression of approval or disapproval of abortion”. They issued a Fixed Penalty Notice, which Tossici-Bolt refused to pay, on the grounds that she did not breach the terms of the PSPO, and had the right, protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, to offer consensual conversations.
“There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this,” said Livia Tossici-Bolt, whose legal defence is being supported by ADF UK.
The United States has officially rejoined the pro-life Geneva Consensus Declaration. The Geneva Consensus Declaration was signed in 2020 by 37 nations at UN level.
It seeks to protect the sovereignty of independent nations, particularly in the developing world, to adhere to pro-life laws. It explicitly seeks to curb the ‘neo-colonial’ influence of transnational corporations, NGOs, and (Western) governments from pushing pro-abortion policies on the developing world.
The previous US administration withdrew from the Geneva Consensus Declaration in 2021, but the new administration has taken the decision to support it again.
In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is “committed to supporting families, promoting women’s health, and protecting children at all stages of life.”
A father is due to testify in a court in Spain against granting an assisted suicide to his own daughter.
The 23-year-old woman called Noelia who wants to end her life is paraplegic, meaning she has lost the use of her legs, due to injuries suffered when she tried to take her own life in 2022.
A local euthanasia guarantee and evaluation board unanimously supported her decision in July 2024 despite her not being terminally ill.
Her father, however, has argued that she is suffering from a personality disorder which affects her judgement and he has pointed to “the obligation of the state to protect the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable, as is the case with a young person with mental health problems.”
He has also said that she has responded well to rehabilitation treatment.
His legal representation has also claimed that the young woman has changed her mind about undergoing euthanasia several times.
The public prosecutor has not positioned itself with regard to the case, instead calling for the judge to hear the opinions of experts and the woman herself before taking a decision.
