Pope Francis Pleads for Peace as Israel-Palestine Fighting Carries On

As the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip carried on with no breakthrough in efforts for an enduring ceasefire, Pope Francis on Sunday broke off from his scripted weekly Angelus address and said, "Please stop," pleading for peace in the world. "Brothers and sisters, never war, never war! I am thinking above all of children, who are deprived of the hope of a worthwhile life, of a future," the pontiff said in Saint Peter's Square on Sunday, speaking of the forthcoming centenary of the World War I. "I think especially of the children whose hopes for a dignified future are taken from them, dead children, injured and mutilated children, orphans and children who have bits of weapons as toys, children who don't know how to smile," news.va, the official Vatican network, quoted him as saying. "Please stop. I ask you with all my heart," Francis pleaded, saying he was especially thinking of the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine. More than 1,000 Palestinians have died since Israel launched a military operation over 20 days ago. An Israeli soldier was also killed last week by a shell fired from Gaza. At least 43 Israeli troops have died in the fighting, including three civilians, according to the Israeli army. The UN Security Council on Monday called for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza." On Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an "immediate, unconditional" ceasefire, according to Sky News. Obama "made clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities," according to the White House. Hamas, which claimed it had accepted a UN request for a 24-hour extension of a humanitarian truce in Gaza on Sunday, fired rockets at Israel. However, Sky News correspondents in Gaza and Israel said fighting has calmed on both sides since the start of the 12-hour humanitarian truce Saturday, followed by a 24-hour ceasefire. Pope Francis has been calling for better relations between Israel and Palestine since before the fighting began. At a ceremony attended by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Vatican Gardens at the Vatican on June 9, Francis said God alone can bring peace to the Holy Land and that it is the "evil one" who is blocking it. "More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it," the pope said, according to Catholic News Service. "That is why we are here, because we know and we believe that we need the help of God." Francis invited the two leaders during his first visit as pope to the Holy Land in May. The two presidents met for the first time at a public meeting in more than a year. During his trip to the Holy Land, the pope spoke in favor of the rights of Palestinians to a sovereign homeland as well as Israel's right to exist in peace.

Church Members Weep, Pray Around 10-Foot Cross Removed by Police in China

Chinese police in the city of Wenzhou have removed a cross from a local church in their most recent crackdown on Christianity in the Asian country, specifically in the Zhejiang province. Media outlets report that local church members gathered around their fallen cross, weeping and praying. Although congregants attempted to protect their church, hundreds of police arrived at the Longgang Huai En Church in Wenzhou on Monday and removed the 10-foot-tall red cross from the church's steeple. Wenzhou is considered to be "China's Jerusalem" due to its large Christian population. According to the Associated Press, about 200 congregants attempted to protect the cross from being removed, but ultimately allowed the police to take down the religious symbol using a crane. Police officials have said the cross violated a city ordinance regarding the height of buildings in Wenzhou. The cross was returned to congregants, who reportedly wept and prayed around their destroyed religious image. This most recent police action is reportedly one of the many attempts to subdue Christianity in China, especially in the city of Wenzhou where the Christian population is rapidly growing. Last week, congregants of the local ShuiTou Salvation Church, also located in Wenzhou, said they'd rather die than have their cross removed. The congregants have held a month-long vigil at the church, forming a human blockade when police approach and attempt to remove the cross. One church member told International Christian Concern (ICC) that he and other congregants "will continue to guard our church cross to the end." "We divide people into two groups and take turns to guard the church through the night." Local officials have reportedly told ICC that they are competing to see who can remove the most church crosses in the region in an attempt to boost their own political careers. According to the Associated Press, authorities in the Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, have successfully removed or threatened to remove 130 crosses at local churches. Congregants at another church, Wuxi Christian Church, have also vowed to protect their cross from demolition. The cross was once removed by government officials, but a local congregant used his welding equipment to reattach the cross. "I won't let them take down the cross even if it means they would shoot me dead," one congregant, 73-year-old Fan Liang'an, told the Associated Press. Fan built the church with his grandfather back in the 1970's. Despite the argument that the Chinese government is directing targeting Christians, government officials continue to insist that they are simply enforcing strict city ordinances regarding building height, pointing to the numerous non-religious structures that they have also demolished for being too tall.

Pope Francis Becomes First Pope to Visit Pentecostal Church; Calls Evangelicals His 'Brothers'

Pope Francis became the first pope to make an official visit to a Pentecostal church, after he flew on Monday to speak at the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation in the southern city of Caserta, Italy. The pontiff apologized for persecution of Pentecostals the Roman Catholic Church was involved with in the past, and reached out with friendship to evangelicals. "Among those who persecuted and denounced Pentecostals, almost as if they were crazy people trying to ruin the race, there were also Catholics," Francis said, according to The Associated Press, referring to Italy's fascist regime when the Pentecostal practice was forbidden. "I am the pastor of Catholics, and I ask your forgiveness for those Catholic brothers and sisters who didn't know and were tempted by the devil." Francis spoke before 350 worshipers at the church and met privately with the Pentecostal preacher Giovanni Traettino. "Someone will be surprised: 'The pope went to visit the evangelicals?' But he went to see his brothers," the pope added. The Vatican leader has met unofficially with a number of evangelicals in recent months including Texas televangelists James Robinson and Kenneth Copeland and other Pentecostal preachers. Traettino returned the sentiment, Catholic News Service added, and called Francis "my beloved brother" when welcoming him to the church, which is under construction. He added that there is "great affections" for Francis even among evangelicals, and said that many pray for the pope every day. "Many of us, in fact, believe your election as bishop of Rome was the work of the Holy Spirit," the Pentecostal pastor added. Francis and Traettino first met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the late 1990s, where the pastor was establishing ties between charismatic Catholics and Pentecostal Protestants. Msgr. Juan Usma Gomez, who handles the Catholic Church's official relations with evangelicals and Pentecostals, previously explained that Francis teaches that "to work for Christian unity you need brotherhood." Francis has reached out to other Christian denominations as well with a message of Christian unity, and in June told Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during a meeting that their division is a "scandal" and a "obstacle" to preaching the Gospel. "We cannot claim that our division is anything less than a scandal and an obstacle to our proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the world," Francis told the Anglican head, and added: "The goal of full unity may seem distant indeed, [. . .] it remains the aim which should direct our every step along the way."

End of Christianity 'Very Near' in Iraq, Anglican Bishop Warns

The end of Christianity in Iraq could be "very near" according to Canon Andrew White, the vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq, as Islamic militants continue their attacks of Christians and the central government. "Things are so desperate, our people are disappearing," White said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 over the weekend. "We have had people massacred, their heads chopped off. "Are we seeing the end of Christianity? We are committed come what may, we will keep going to the end, but it looks as though the end could be very near." ISIS militants had warned Christians in the northern state of Iraq that they need to convert to Islam, pay a tax or be put to death, forcing thousands of them to flee the region. The militants have also been painting the letter "N" for Nasrani, the Arabic word for Christian, in Christian homes in Mosul. The Islamic extremists have declared an "Islamic state" in the territory of Iraq and Syria, and have vowed to take control of Baghdad. ISIS killed 31 people in the capital during a suicide bombing last week, which wounded another 58. White, who was in London at the time of the interview, urged the international community to offer urgent help to the persecuted minority. "The Christians are in grave danger. There are literally Christians living in the desert and on the street. They have nowhere to go," the vicar said. He continued: "We do not want Britain to forget us. We – and I'm saying 'we' talking like an Iraqi Christian – have always been with the British because they have already been with us. "Individual churches, individual Christians in Britain, have been a bigger help than anybody around the world." Watchdog groups like International Christian Concern have said that up to a million Christians lived in Iraq prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 against the government of dictator Saddam Hussein, but that number has dropped to less than half. Other church leaders, such as Syriac Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, who last week traveled to Washington to speak with federal government representatives and members of Congress, have also condemned the "mass cleansing" of Christians from Mosul by what he called "a bed of criminals." "We wonder how could those criminals, this bed of criminals, cross the border from Syria into Mosul and occupy the whole city of Mosul ... imposing on the population their Shariah (law) without any knowledge of the international community," Patriarch Younan said, referring to Islamic State fighters, according to Catholic News Service. "What happened is really kind of a cleansing based on religion. You have heard about what they did: proclaim -- they announced publicly with street microphones, the ISIS – there's no more room for Christians in Mosul, that they either have to convert, pay tax, or just leave. And they have been leaving now since then with absolutely nothing," he added. Patriarch Younan noted that "there is no more Christian presence" in Mosul, which he described as "tragic" because it had been the largest Christian city in Iraq, and a nucleus of Christians for many centuries. Culled from Christian Post

5 Killed in Bombing of Catholic Church in Nigeria

At least five people were killed and eight others injured in a bomb attack on a Catholic church in Nigeria's northern city of Kano on Sunday. The bombing was blamed on the Islamist terror group Boko Haram. The Saint Charles Catholic church, which is situated in Kano's Sabon Gari (foreign quarter) area, a mainly Christian area, was attacked shortly after the end of Sunday mass, police spokesman Frank Mba told Agence France Presse. "We suspect an IED (improvised explosive device) that was thrown from across the road," the spokesman said. In a separate incident in Kano city on Sunday, police prevented a woman from carrying out an attack outside a university, following which she blew herself up. Five police officials were injured while isolating her. Following the two incidents on Sunday, Kano's emir cancelled the celebration of the Eid festival, which marks the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan. On May 19, at least five people were killed when a car bomb exploded in the Sabon Gari area of Kano. Those killed included a young girl. Dozens were killed last March and July in a series of blasts in the same area. Boko Haram, whose men kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in April, has killed more than 2,000 civilians in three states in northeast Nigeria thus far this year. The girls were abducted on the night of April 14-15 from the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok in eastern Borno State. It is not clear exactly how many girls were kidnapped, and how many remain captive. Reports suggest more than 300 had been abducted and at least 270 are still with Boko Haram men. Boko Haram translates as "Western education is sin." The outfit, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization in the United States and the European Union, was formed by an Islamic cleric, Mohammad Yusuf, about a decade ago to fight Western education, which he claimed was behind moral and political corruption in the country. Yusuf was from the Salafi movement, which has promoted jihadist terrorism in several countries. Thousands of people have died in attacks since Boko Haram's insurrection began in 2009. Boko Haram has killed numerous Christians and attacked several churches. It is apparently seeking to create an Islamic state in the Muslim-majority northern Nigeria. It is believed that it gained technical sophistication and weaponry with help from groups like al-Shabaab in southern Somalia and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Mali.

Nigeria, a project in God’s hand — Bishop Oke

National Vice President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, South West, Bishop Reuben Oke yesterday in Lagos, said despite the security and other challenges facing the country, the nation remained a unique instrument in the hands of God to influence affairs within Nigeria and beyond. Bishop Oke advised Nigerians to remain steadfast and united in tackling the current challenges confronting the country, saying Boko Haram was an evil wind that blew no good and declared that “the wind will not last as God will soon intervene to end it.” The cleric while speaking on national issues during a four-day conference of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, Lagos zone 11 at the zonal headquarters a.k.a Victory & Integrity Center, Victoria Island, said Nigeria was a project in God’s hand. According to him, “I did not know why God allows the issue of Boko Haram to get to this stage but I know that sometimes He allows some situation to get to the peak before He intervenes and we cannot question Him but what I know is that things will change for better for Nigeria. ”Nigeria will not go under, only that God’s intervention might not come the way we are expecting as human. Boko Haram comes and it will go. It will not last forever. “One thing I will love Nigerians to know is that this nation belongs to God and not any particular religion or ethnic group. Nigerians should always remember that there is a God up there who owns our life and that we don’t own anything to ourselves, so they should keep serving God, praying, be their brothers’ keeper and I am sure we will laugh at last in this country. On speculations that the country will break up, he said “I so much believe in the unity of Nigeria, it is a project in God’s hand, and I strongly believe Nigeria has purpose to fulfill in the end time project of God. ”Ordinarily when you look at the challenges it is easy to conclude that it’s better for the country to break and we all go our different ways but how are we sure that such break-up will be the solution to the current challenges confronting us”. Culled from Vanguard Newspaper

Cleric Reveals What'll Happen to B'Haram Leader,Shekau

General Overseer of God of Cham­pion Royal As­sembly, Brother Joshua Ignila, has reiter­ated his earlier prediction that a lower rank military officer of the Nigerian Army will arrest Abuba­kar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram sect.

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau

He reminded members of the church of his earlier prediction about the mili­tary aircraft that crashed in the southern part of Bama wherein he predicted that there would be survivors three months ago. Bro. Ignila, who listed some prophecies that were about to happen and those that would take place in 2015 during the general elections, said none of his prophecies had ever failed because he spoke the mind of God.
He told his congrega­tion that a Nigerian soldier would shoot Shekau in the leg and capture him. He advised security leaders to tighten security in Abuja be­tween today and Wednesday.
According to him: “I hear the sound of bomb in the city and I call on security agen­cies to tighten security in Abuja between Monday and Wednesday.” He predicted also that a private jet carry­ing some governors who are opposed to certain decisions in the country would crash.
He said: “I have warned them through my broadcast on Champions Television and I have tried to reach out to those I saw in my predic­tion.
“It is going to happen soon and nobody should blame anybody for it. It is either they retreat from that meeting they want to attend or they will perish.”
On the 2015 general elec­tions, Bro. Ignila said he saw the man presently on the seat at the Villa, still sitting com­fortably on the seat in 2015 and advised the ruling party to formulate policies that would pacify the opposition after a hard fight at the polls.
He said: “It is not win­ning the election that is the issue, but the problem that would emerge after the elec­tion. It will make the present insecurity in the country a child’s play.”
Recall that Bro. Ignila ac­curately predicted the exit of Brazil in the World Cup and the victory of Germany in the FIFA World Cup.
Culled from The Sun