Tearfund urges Christians to 'light up' for poverty

Aid agency Tearfund are urging Christians from around the world to ‘light up' beacons of hope for the world's impoverished communities through a week of prayer.

Hundreds of thousands of Christians throughout the globe are being asked by Tearfund to participate in One Voice 2011, a worldwide week of prayer focused on social justice issues and ending global poverty.

Tearfund Chief Executive Matthew Frost said: “One Voice 2011 hopes to make an incredible difference to the world’s poorest people, those suffering social injustice and the effects of natural disasters.

“As Christians, when we engage with God in prayer, we re-focus our hearts on the mission Christ calls us into - to love our neighbours, to reach out to people living in poverty and care for those in need.”

He added: “When we as the people of God around the world ‘light up’ like this – united as one global movement – together – we light up the darkness."

Tearfund are producing resources to assist Christians in reflecting on urgent social issues, and will specifically be highlighting those still suffering in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, as well as thousands of refugees displaced by post-electoral violence in the Ivory Coast, and those affected by the floods in Pakistan.

One Voice is a program that is being partnered by 24/7 Prayer and churches will being requested to organise around the clock prayers spaces throughout the week, from 27 February to 6 March 2011.

The 'One Voice’ movement also has provided a Twitter page at twitter.com/onevoiceprayer where key prayer themes will be Tweeted and reTweeted to further involve Christians in the pray effort.

Justin Bieber's new movie explains the role of faith in his life

In 2010 Justin Bieber sold 3.7 million albums in the States alone and has become a heartthrob for millions of young girls the world over, but he relies upon his Christian faith to keep him grounded.

Paramount Pictures is releasing a new 3-D concert film/documentary entitled, “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” and it has a heavy faith focus.

With this in mind it has been pre-screened for faith leaders in communities, and is accompanied by a a “spiritual resource guide” for those who may be interested. The guide has been developed specifically for use in small groups.

The film shows Bieber praying before concerts and giving thanks before meals as well as expressing his faith in other ways.

“[The movie] provides an opportunity to teach our children about the power of hope, prayer, faith and family,” the guide reads.

Bieber sang Christian songs on Youtube before he became a pop sensation, and since then has never hesitated to share about the role faith plays in his life.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Bieber said:

“I’m a Christian, I believe in God, I believe that Jesus died on a cross for my sins. I believe that I have a relationship and I’m able to talk to Him and really, He’s the reason I’m here, so I definitely have to remember that. As soon as I start forgetting, I’ve got to click back and be like, you know, this is why I’m here.”

Bieber believes that his faith keeps him grounded in “scary” Hollywood, while his manager Scooter Braun said it helped keep his perspective when he receives adulation almost every time he steps out the door.

“There are some stars who speak their faith because they’re trying to do outreach to that audience and there are others who share that side of their lives because that’s who they are ,” said Braun to the Religion News Service, “and I think that’s just who Justin is.”

“When there are 20,000 people chanting your name night after night after night, if there’s no sense of faith, if there’s not a sense of something bigger than yourself, you can get lost,” added Braun.

No go on the iPhone ‘Confession’ say the Vatican

The Vatican have moved to clear confusion regarding the launch of an iPhone ‘confession’ app, which has been sanctioned by the Catholic Church in the United States.

A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, stated that technology could never replace personal presence when confessing sins to a priest.

"One cannot speak in any way of confessing via iPhone," Father Lombardi said, before emphasising that confession required the presence of both priest and penitent.

"This cannot be substituted by any IT application," added Lombardi.

It has now been made clear that the application, which made news throughout the globe upon its launch, is not designed to replace going to confession but rather to assist Catholics through the act.

The app guides Catholics through the sacrament and contains what is described as a "personalised examination of conscience for each user."

A hex on taxes and fines say Romania’s witches

This is one of those stories that you struggle to believe is actually true, but the Romanian government has decided to institute taxes on their witches. Witches, soothsayers and fortune tellers are such big business in the country that they are rumoured to generate untold millions. Hence the decision by local government to tax their trade.

In other news that should further concern the local witch trade, Romanian authorities are also pushing through a new bill to institute fines or even prison sentences for soothsayers and fortune tellers if their predictions don't come true.

Practitioners are arguing that they cannot be blamed for the failure of their tool.

In an telephonic interview with The Associated Press, Queen Witch Bratara Buzea said: "They can't condemn witches, they should condemn the cards."

Bratara also argued that practitioners could not be held responsible in every case because sometimes people provide false details.

In a country suffering through severe economic recession and constant political bungling, many experts argue that this move is nothing but a silly move by the government to divert attention from its own incompetence, and that there are far more important issues to deal with.

"The government doesn't have real solutions, so it invents problems," said Stelian Tanase, a renowned Romanian political commentator. "This is the government that this country deserves."

When the taxation bill was passed in January, witches responded by dumping dump poisonous mandrake into the Danube in an attempt to put a hex on government officials.

The new bill would also require witches to have a permit, to provide their customers with receipts and bar them from practicing near schools and churches.

Israeli parents fight for right to use dead son's sperm

Mali and Dudi Ben-Yaakov, whose 27 year old son Ohad Ben-Yaakov died in a work-related accident last year, are fighting a legal battle for ownership rights to his sperm, which was taken after Ben-Yaakov had been declared brain dead but before he died.

While their son did not leave behind verbal or written instructions on using his organs, or more specifically his sperm, his parents are convinced they are faithfully representing his wishes in this matter to continue the family line.

Ben-Yaakov was not in a relationship when he was killed, but the couple have stated they will find a woman willing to bear their grandchild and raise it.

"If we were entitled to donate the organs of our son why are we not entitled to make use of his sperm in order to bring offspring into the world?" they informed the newspaper Ha'aretz.

"He was a giving person, and when we realised that there is no way to bring him back, we wanted that Ohad will continue to live in the bodies of others. This is what he would have wanted," they added.

Catholic bishop blesses new “Confession” iPhone app

An Indiana-based company called Little iApps recently developed "Confession: A Roman Catholic App." This app is designed to be used in the confessional and is intended "for those who frequent the sacrament and those who wish to return."

The developer of the app, Patrick Leinen, says that it includes a step-by-step guide to the sacrament, and has received an imprimatur from Bishop Kevin Rhoades, making it the first mobile program to receive the stamp of the church.

Leinen cited Pope Benedict XVI's call to the faithful to use new media to good purposes as his inspiration for the app.

"Our desire is to invite Catholics to engage in their faith through digital technology," Leinen wrote in a press release on his littleapps.comwebsite.

"Taking to heart Pope Benedict XVI's message from last year's World Communications Address, our goal with this project is to offer a digital application that is truly 'new media at the service of the Word,'" he said.

"Individuals who have been away from the sacrament for some time will find Confession: A Roman Catholic App to be a useful and inviting tool," Leinen added.

The application costs $1.99 in Apple's iTunes store, and offers password protected customized profiles, a guide to performing the sacrament as well as a list of acts of contrition.

Concern expressed over rising number of displaced Iraqi Christians

This rising number of displaced Iraqi Christians seeking refuge in the country’s north was recently highlighted by the International Organization for Migration.

A report compiled by the organisation shows that an estimated 1,078 Christian families have fled to Kurdistan, the autonomous region governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, within the past three months. Of that total, 747 have left their homes since Dec. 15, while another 276 families were displaced to the nearby northwest province of Ninewah during this period. Many other Christian families have expressed the desire to flee due to the insecurity of their position.

The report further revealed that many others have sought refuge in nearby countries, particularly in Turkey.

“Our monitors do report though that they are hearing of many emigrations abroad, and many more who hope to emigrate in the future,” IOM Displacement Monitoring Officer Keegan de Lancie said in an interview with Agence France-Presse. “Colleagues in Turkey have reported a spike in Christian families seeking refuge there.”

This movement of Christians to the north has escalated despite efforts by Iraqi security forces to institute more effective protective measures for the minority group. However, attacks like the Oct. 31 attack at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad have generated great fear among local Christians.

The IOM has partnered with different organizations including UNICEF, to provide non-food items such as mattresses, stoves and hygiene kits to nearly 600 displaced Christian families trying to settle in the northern governorates of Erbil, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah and Ninewa.