Queensland Synod News

Lutheranism should no longer be described in Norway’s constitution as the country’s official religion, the Labour Party, the biggest partner in the governing coalition, has stated. The proposal would mean the end of a system under which at least half of the 19 government ministers need to be members of the majority (Lutheran) Church of Norway. But the Labour Party ...

The National Assembly has approved a proposal to go green. In November 2006 the Assembly Standing Committee adopted the statement, For the sake of the planet: A Uniting Church in Australia Statement on Climate Change. At its recent March meeting, the Assembly Standing Committee considered a report detailing how the Assembly itself could put these principles of that statement into ...

The Vatican has condemned "errors" expressed in two books on Jesus by Roman Catholic priest Jon Sobrino, a noted theologian of liberation in Latin America. However, Rome has not silenced the Jesuit cleric, banned his books or barred Catholics from reading them The British think tank Ekklesia on its Web site (www.ekklesia.co.uk) said the condemnation was a "move which will ...

Vladimir Putin’s days as a secret service officer in the Soviet KGB came in handy when he met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican to discuss world issues and strained relations between the church in Rome and the Russian Orthodox Church. Benedict met Russian President Putin for the first time officially on 13 March. During their 25-minute one-on-one meeting they ...

The South African Council of Churches, which was at the forefront of the fight against apartheid, condemned the detention by Zimbabwean police of church and opposition leaders, as well as civil society activists and human rights campaigners, who were all participating in the public prayer meeting on 11 March. The manner of the arrest left opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in ...

Pope Benedict XVI has reaffirmed a strict ruling forbidding eucharistic concelebration with ministries of non-Roman Catholic churches, while at the same time giving priests the go-ahead to revive Latin as the main language used during the church service known as the Mass. "The celebration and worship of the Eucharist enable us to draw near to God’s love and to persevere ...

Churches in England and Scotland are taking part in wedding fairs this year in campaigns to encourage couples to get married and to do so by marching down the aisle rather than into a registry office. The (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland’s Shaw lands Kirk in Glasgow was to host its own wedding fair on 10 March. Resident minister, the Rev. ...

Three British churches have renewed their call for the British government not to replace the country’s Trident nuclear weapons system in advance of a parliamentary debate and expected vote on 14 March. The joint statement by the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches comes as Britain considers whether to build a new generation of missile launching submarines costing upwards of ...

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Malawi has condemned the country’s government for granting a mining license to the Paladin Resources Company of Australia to start mining uranium. The commission of the Roman Catholic Church in the Mzuzu Diocese noted in a 2 March statement that the government granted mining permission despite calls from church and civil society ...

Membership in traditional Protestant denominations continue to decline, while membership in Pentecostal churches and other non-Protestant bodies continue to increase, yearly data collected and released by the US National Council of Churches shows. The NCC’s Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches for 2007 – data collected by US churches in 2005 and then reported to the NCC in 2006 – ...