Faith

Vatican document challenges Church to change attitude to gays

In a dramatic shift in tone, a Vatican document said on Monday that homosexuals had “gifts and qualities to offer” and asked if Catholicism could accept gays and recognize positive aspects of same-sex couples. Roman Catholic gay rights groups around the world hailed the paper as a breakthrough, but Church conservatives called it a betrayal of traditional family values. The document, prepared after a week of discussions at an assembly of 200 bishops on the family, said the Church should challenge itself to find “a fraternal space” for homosexuals without compromising Catholic doctrine on family and matrimony.

Are The World’s Religions Ready For E.T.?

In 1930, Albert Einstein was asked for his opinion about the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. “Other beings, perhaps, but not men,” he answered. Then he was asked whether science and religion conflict.

Temple Institute Raises One Hundred Thousand Dollars For Third Temple Plans

The Temple Institute’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the modern architectural plans for the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem came to a close on Rosh Hashanah after surpassing its $100,000 goal in 60 days. The initiative began on the first day of the month of Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples. Almost 900 pledges have come in from more than 30 countries worldwide.

Temple Institute In Israel Raises $100k for Third Temple Plans

The Temple Institute’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the modern architectural plans for the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem came to a close on Rosh Hashanah after surpassing its $100,000 goal in 60 days. The initiative began on the first day of the month of Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples. Almost 900 pledges have come in from more than 30 countries worldwide.

Pope’s Astronomer Guy Consolmagno Says ‘Aliens Exist’

The astronomer of Pope Francis has said he believes there is life beyond Earth. Brother Guy Consolmagno, president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, made the comment in the booklet Would You Baptise an Extraterrestrial?, which he wrote with astronomer Father Paul Muller.

A Man With A Gun Stopped The Oklahoma Beheader From Murdering Another Woman

Anti-gun liberals of the world please take note – it was a man with a gun that stopped the Oklahoma beheader from beheading another woman. If a man with a gun had not been there and had not shot 30-year-old Alton Alexander Nolen, he would have finished his attack on his second female victim. And after that, Nolen would have probably kept beheading people for as long as he could before the authorities arrived.

Arizona Football Coach Suspended for Praying with Team

A high school football coach in Arizona has been suspended for two weeks for joining his team in prayer. Tom Brittain is the head varsity coach for Tempe Preparatory Academy, a state funded charter school. According to reports, Brittain recently asked one of the players on his team to lead the group in prayer, and then joined the team as they thanked the Lord following a winning game.

100 Christians, Including Children, Arrested During Major House Church Raid in China

Over 100 Christians, including children, were arrested during a major house church raid on Sunday in Foshan city in China’s Guangdong Province. Close to 200 police officers stormed in during the service, eyewitnesses said, believed to be part of a large-scale crackdown on Christians in the country. “We don’t know exactly why they raided our church,” a local believer told watchdog group International Christian Concern, which has been keeping track of the rising tide of persecution in China.

‘Shemitah’ starts at sundown: Are you ready?

The ancient principle of the “Shemitah” goes back 3,000 years to the time of Moses, but a rabbi from New Jersey is warning Americans to pull out their Bibles and take note. The year of the Shemitah, also called the Sabbath year, begins at sundown Wednesday with the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and continues through Sept. 13, 2015.

Vatican astronomer: Just a matter of time until life found elsewhere in the universe

Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, the new president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation, has no doubt that life exists elsewhere in the universe and that when humanity discovers it, the news will come as no big surprise. He suggested that the likely discovery — whether next month or a millennium from now — will be received much the way that news of planets orbiting far off stars has filtered in since the 1990s. “The general public is going to be, ‘Oh, I knew that.

The Biblical Stance That Has Canada’s First Christian Law School Locked in a Major Debate Over Gay Rights

A plethora of debate continues to rage surrounding a proposed Canadian law school’s mandatory requirement that students and faculty sign a pledge affirming that they will not enter into same-sex relationships. While the council of the Law Society of New Brunswick, the province’s independent legal body, decided in June to offer accreditation to the School of Law at Trinity Western University, an opposing resolution was passed by members Saturday, asking that the decision be overturned. The nonbinding resolution passed 137 to 30, according to a press release from Trinity Western University, which is planning to open Canada’s first Christian law school in 2016.

U.N. to dump flood of Muslim refugees in the United States

Displaced Syrians will likely make up the next big wave of Muslim refugees coming to America. Since the early 1990s, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees has selected 200,000 to 250,000 refugees from Islamic countries to be resettled in the United States. Most of them have come from Somalia and Iraq.

Dozens of Christians ‘including women and children’ are arrested in Saudi Arabia after tip-off about prayer meeting

Islamist police in Saudi Arabia have stormed a Christian prayer meeting and arrested its entire congregation, including women and children, and confiscated their bibles, it has been reported. The raid was the latest incident of a swingeing crackdown on religious minorities in Saudi Arabia by the country’s hard-line Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The 28 Christians were said to be worshipping at the home of an Indian national in the eastern city of Khafji, when the police entered the building and took them into custody.

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