Tag - church

 
 

CHURCH

Ukrainian servicemen fire an anti aircraft cannon near the town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on March 6.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
Kyiv slams Pope's 'white flag' call, vows no surrender to Russia
Vatican officials said the pontiff's call was simply intended to end fierce fighting in the war that has entered its third year.
Pope Francis presides over a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024
Pope says Ukraine should have the ‘courage of the white flag’
Pope Francis has reiterated in a new interview that Ukraine should negotiate to end the war with Russia, but this time he used language — adopting his interviewer’s expression, "white flag” — that has drawn attention and raised questions about whether the pope was suggesting that Ukraine surrender....
Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2024
Japan panel OKs putting Unification Church under increased scrutiny
Once an organization is designated, it will be obliged to notify authorities of any disposal of its real estate assets at least one month in advance.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024
Japan opposition fails with censure motion against education minister
The CDP's move against a Unification Church-linked minister came as the party also called for questioning over a slush funds scandal.
Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and a professor at the Gregorian, the Harvard of Rome's pontifical universities, in his office at the university in Rome on Jan. 29. Benanti advises the Vatican and the Italian government on navigating the tricky questions — moral and otherwise — raised by artificial intelligence.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024
The friar who became the Vatican’s go-to guy on AI
Father Paolo Benanti, an ethics professor and self-proclaimed geek, spends his days thinking about the Holy Ghost and the ghosts in the machines.
Stella Belia (right), a member of the Rainbow Families of Greece, an organization which focuses on LGBTQ parents, poses for a portrait with her son, Yannis, in Athens, on Jan. 30. Greek lawmakers are set approve a historic bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption this week, having previously been condemned for anti-gay discrimination by the European Court of Human Rights in 2013, after gay couples were excluded from a prior civil unions law in 2008.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024
No longer invisible, Greek same-sex couples await landmark law
The issue is a strong taboo for a large part of Greek society — and for the powerful Orthodox Church of Greece.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2024
Hayashi denies agreeing to Unification Church policies
The chief cabinet secretary said he had not agreed to the policies of the church during a meeting with people linked to the religious group in 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 7, 2024
Education minister under fire for unreported ties to Unification Church
Masahito Moriyama said he could not remember 2021 meeting with the group or the agreement he signed with it for electoral support.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
Kishida insists corporate donations have no effect on LDP policy
The responses came during Lower House budget committee questions from Akira Nagatsuma, policy chief of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2024
Japan to use ex-believers' help for Unification Church victim aid
Some will participate as instructors in the training of consultation staff, to help them understand the feelings of victims.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visit the cenotaph for atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima on May 21 during the Group of Seven summit. Zelenskyy’s visit to one of the two cities attacked with a nuclear weapon came amid Russia’s veiled threats to use its nuclear arsenal in its war against Ukraine.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2023
Images of 2023: Japan
Outside of the successful G7 summit, the year was not kind to PM Fumio Kishida's unpopular administration. A kickback scandal provided one final headache.
The Tokyo headquarters of the Unification Church in Shibuya Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2023
Japan enacts law to monitor Unification Church assets
The special legislation is designed to ensure that victims of the organization's malpractices have a source of relief.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2023
Bill for victims' relief in Unification Church case clears Lower House
The bill aims to prevent a religious organization's assets from being transferred overseas so that it can be set aside to provide relief.
Police inspect the site of a bomb attack inside a gymnasium at Mindanao State University in Marawi, the Philippines, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 4, 2023
Philippines IDs suspects after IS-claimed bombing at Sunday Mass
Authorities have vowed to hunt down those behind the blast, which was claimed by Islamic State militants.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 4, 2023
Kishida denies media report of ties to Unification Church
The prime minister reportedly had an exchange with Masayoshi Kajikuri, the head of the Universal Peace Federation Japan, in 2019.
Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. visits wounded victims of an explosion that happened during a Catholic Mass in a gymnasium at Mindanao State University, in Marawi, the Philippines, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 3, 2023
Philippine military on high alert after bombing called terrorism
The blast happened during a regular service at Mindanao State University's gymnasium in Marawi, the country's largest Muslim city.
Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei has frequently referred to both his study of the Torah — the Jewish scripture that is also the first part of the Christian Bible — and his identity as a Catholic.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023
Javier Milei's spirituality: Catholicism, Torah and a 'libertarian' God
Argentine President-elect has offered glimpses into how his seemingly contradictory spiritual practices influence his idiosyncratic worldview.
Pope Francis had planned to attend the COP28 conference in Dubai this week, but canceled on Tuesday due to health concerns.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 29, 2023
U.S. bishops cling to fossil fuels, despite Pope's 2015 appeal
Not a single diocese has announced it has let go of its fossil fuel assets since the pope's landmark encyclical on environmental stewardship.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 24, 2023
Japan's parliament debates relief for Unification Church victims
The two separate bills being discussed are in part aimed at safeguarding and preventing the transfer of the church’s assets.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023
Lawmakers submit proposal to revise law on Unification Church assets
A group of lawmakers has submitted proposals to amend existing laws governing religious organizations, aiming to prevent the outflow of church funds.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.