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Europe & Middle East

Church of England is mainly "cradle Christians", report suggests

Only two per cent of Anglicans in England and Wales are converts, a new study suggests. Research by Dr Stephen Bullivant, published this week, suggests that in a group of 100 Anglicans, 93 will have been brought up as such, five will have started life in another Christian denomination, and only two would have belonged to no religion.

27 May 2016

Church Commissioners lose ExxonMobil fight

The Church Commissioners for England have lost their bid to force energy giant ExxonMobil to report annually on the impact of climate change reduction efforts. 

26 May 2016

Book helps exploration of Holy Land

An updated version of the book “Land of Promise?” has been published to help people delve deeper into Christian attitudes to the Holy Land and Zionism.

26 May 2016

Lampedusa cross at the Anglican Centre in Rome

A cross made from wood taken from a boat used by refugees crossing the Mediterranean as they sought sanctuary in Europe is to grace the altar of the Anglican Centre in Rome. The cross was made by artist Franco Tuccio on the Italian island of Lampedusa and resembles a pastoral staff given by the artist to Pope Francis.

25 May 2016

World summit is "turning point" for humanitarian affairs

The first World Humanitarian Summit was a “turning point” in the way the world works to alleviate the suffering of millions, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said as the summit came to an end. Members of the Anglican Communion were amongst those present for the summit in Instanbul, Turkey.

25 May 2016

Anglo-Scottish ecumenical agreement approved by Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland has this morning approved the Columba Declaration – an ecumenical agreement between it and the Church of England; and instructed the creation of an ecumenical “contact group” which would include representatives of the two churches and also the Scottish Episcopal Church.

25 May 2016

Archbishop Justin Welby's speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, this morning became the first Archbishop of Canterbury to take part in a debate of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland when he addressed Commissioners in Edinburgh on the Columba Declaration ecumenical agreement. This is the text of his speech.

25 May 2016

Archbishop welcomes World Meeting of Families announcement

The Anglican Archbishop of Dublin and Glendalough, Michael Jackson, has welcomed the announcement by the Vatican this morning that the Roman Catholic Church’s next World Meeting of Families will be held in Dublin in 2018. It will be the ninth such meeting to have taken place – the last one was in Philadelphia in 2015.

24 May 2016

Children given sneak-preview of cathedral's Anglo-Saxon experience

A new multi-million-pound visitor attraction at one of Britain’s oldest cathedrals is gearing up for its official opening in July; and as part of its preparations a small group of school children were given a sneak-preview when Durham Cathedral gave them a “test run” through their new Open Treasure experience and exhibition.

24 May 2016

"When NGO's leave, faith communities remain", World Humanitarian Summit hears

There needs to be a greater involvement of local and national organisations in policy and decision making process if the world’s humanitarian response is to move from “delivering aid” to “ending need” – that was the message of ACT Alliance general secretary John Nduna to the World Humanitarian Summit today in Istanbul, Turkey.

23 May 2016