Mexico gets serious about fighting human trafficking

Mexican President Felipe Calderon is so intent on dealing with the serious problem of human trafficking in his country that he is attempting to push through changes to the constitution.

Calderon wants his congress to approve a new law, which requires an individual to be sent to prison during the trial period if accused of violating human trafficking laws.

The law also guarantees anonymity for the victims of human trafficking, a crime referred to in documents as the “new form of slavery.”

The changes in Mexico’s constitution would also require an individual to be sent to prison during the trial period if accused of violating human trafficking laws.

Calderon informed members of Mexico’s congress that criminal organizations that ship and sell drugs and weapons are now relying on human trafficking to make millions.

“Lawmakers and citizens alike must take action,” Calderon said in a speech to lawmakers last week. "We have to create a unified front to end human trafficking in Mexico. This front is not limited to police or officials, this front starts in the streets, in the neighborhoods and in the communities."

It is believed that approximately 10,000 women have been victims of human trafficking in Mexico's capital, but reports indicate only 40 investigations and three convictions in the city last year.

Tens of thousands of woman and children are pulled into sex rings through human trafficking, and thousands are sent over into the United States for the same purposes. Victims are lured away from their homes in poor rural areas using shady recruitment tactics, such as the promise of false jobs.

"There are thousands and thousands of cases, in a society that is still unaware of the seriousness of this crime," Calderon added. "We have to break through this curtain. We are hiding a criminal reality that is in front of us."

Human rights advocates say that in the last ten years, the issue of human trafficking has become a global phenomenon of unforeseeable proportions

Further Catholic cover-ups discovered

An inquiry into the Irish Catholic Church’s abuse scandals has found evidence of further cover-ups after it discovered that a rural diocese and its bishop ignored Irish church rules requiring all suspected molestation cases to be reported to police officials, and that the Vatican was aware of and encouraged this concealment.

The Irish government, who ordered the investigation into 1996-2009 cover-ups in the County Cork Diocese of Cloyne, warned that parishes across their country could pose a further danger to children’s welfare. It pointed out that Cloyne promised to be adhering to church child-protection policy while actually ignoring it.

The Justice Minister in charge of the investigation, Alan Shatter promised to enforce a law making it an imprisonable crime to withhold knowledge of suspected child abuse and added that pledges by Irish church leaders to place Irish civil law first and report all abuse cases dating back to 1995 had been “built on sand.”

Shatter said he was concerned that other dioceses, who are yet to be investigated, were withholding similar crimes and therefore posed an ongoing threat to children.

The document details the church’s suppression of information on 19 suspected child-abusing priests, according to The Washington Times.

Backlash over plans for world’s biggest Jesus statue

Plans by the mayor of a major Croatian city to build the world’s biggest statue of Jesus on a nearby hill have been heavily criticised by many in the staunchly Catholic country, with thousands opposing it on social networks.

Mayor Zeljko Kerum said last week he intended to build a 39-metre high statue of Christ, around 3 metres bigger than the world's current largest in Swiebodzin, western Poland.

"It would be a tourist attraction, a new shrine . . . We are however a Catholic town and a Catholic country," said Kerum.

"The project would be financed by donors and the city would not have to give a single kuna for it," he added.

However the idea has sparked vociferous debate with many accusing the multi-millionaire of grandstanding to deflect attention away from his political failings.

A Facebook page entitled: "Kerum, in Jesus' name, don't build Jesus" attracted the attention of almost 4,000 people with many arguing the money could be better spent on windmills or solar panels.

"Mr Kerum, sins cannot be redeemed in such a way," read one posted in an apparent reference to Kerum's private life.

Others insisted this was simply not the right place for such a statue.

"If I want to see the statue of Jesus I will go to a church and pray to Him," posted Marko Gundic.

Almost 88 per cent of Croatia’s population of 4.4 million are Roman Catholics.

Struggling to pronounce difficult Bible names? There’s an App that can help with that

A newly developed iPhone application will help Bible readers to properly pronounce some of the more difficult names, places and terms.

The Bible Audio Pronunciations app offers assistance on over 1,000 of the Scripture's most difficult words to pronounce.

"We wanted to give people an easy tool to raise their level of understanding and enjoyment from reading the Bible," stated the app's developer, Michael Vance. "It will speak out loud some of its most difficult words."

"The Bible is meant to be shared with others, and this app helps people do that with confidence," he added. "It is perfect for reading to your children, speaking at church, or reciting at a Bible study group."

The app is easy enough to use. All you have to do is search or browse a database of words, and then tap the one you want to learn how to pronounce to hear it spoken out aloud. Each word is accompanied by a Google and Wikipedia button so that further research can be done.

The Bible Audio Pronunciations app is available at only $0.99 on iTunes, although if you want to test it first you can download a ‘Lite’ version for free that offers a list of 100 words to choose from. The app is available on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

Kevin McNeese reviewed the app for ChristianiPhoneApps.com and was impressed.

“I can't count the number of times I've stumbled on the pronunciations of different names in the Bible,” he wrote. “And as a worship leader, I make sure that when reading passages during the service, I skip those verses that I know will display my full ignorance in front of everyone.”

“The app is a fantastic learning tool, reference for personal study and would also be a lot of fun with friends to see who can pronounce words the best,” he added. “For what this app does, I can't rate it any lower than 5-stars!”

Three killed by bomb at Christian mission station in Nigeria

A bomb explosion at the All Christian-Fellowship Mission in Suleja, Niger State has killed three people.

The attack happened just after 3pm on Sunday as several church members were participating in a committee meeting after the church service. Two women and a man were killed, while several others were injured.

Suleja is situated close to the Nigerian capital, Abujua. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack although religious tensions have been high in the areas lately with the Islamic militant group Boko Haram warning all Nigerians to avoid Christian, security agents, and government institutions, or else face trouble.

Several other churches in the areas were forced to close on Sunday following violence on Saturday with multiple explosions around the city. The violence included an alleged attack by Boko Haram on an army patrol. The Joint Military Task Force, who are tasked with maintaining security in the city, apparently went on a rampage following this particular attack. Their actions have concerned many, just as much as the terrorist attacks have.

Churches, and other institutions in the city, are now on high alert against possible further attacks.

Stuart Windsor, Special Ambassador for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said that:

“If the alleged Boko Haram statement is accurate and their target is now shifting increasingly towards the church, Christians are in greater danger than ever, as their places of worship provide soft targets.

"It is vital that state and federal authorities ensure that adequate protection is afforded to these establishments, and that security is deployed during church services.

"However, reports of possible irregular actions and extra-judicial executions by some members of the Joint Military Task Force are deeply worrying and must be investigated as a matter of urgency.

"It is crucial that security arrangements for the country as a whole and for Maiduguri in particular are conducted with sensitivity, in order not to alienate and further victimise innocent members of the public, who are already traumatised by the actions of this violent group.”

Uncovering the Philistines

Archaeologists are making some exciting discoveries at the ancient city of Gath in Southern Israel as they uncover some of the secrets of the people remembered in the Bible as the ultimate bad guys - the Philistines.

Around 3000 years ago, Gath was on the frontier between the Philistine and the Israelite territories. When David was on the run from King Saul, he tried to seek asylum at Gath by pretending to be mad. Gath, of course, is also famous for producing one of the biggest of the ‘bad guys’ in history in the giant Goliath.

The Philistines "are the ultimate other, almost, in the biblical story," Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University, the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, told the Associated Press.

Scholars now think the Philistines arrived by sea from the area of modern-day Greece around 1200 B.C. They went on to rule large parts of what is now Palestine and Israel, with most of their power centred around the Mediterranean coastal plain while Israel controlled the inland hills.

Archaeologists have discovered from the site of Gath that while the Philistines adopted aspects of local culture, they never forgot their roots as they still worshipped gods with Greek names five centuries after leaving Greece.

Archaeologists have also discovered that the Philistine diet was very similar to the Greeks, while evidence at Gath shows they ate pigs and dogs, which were considered unclean by the Israelites.

The archaeologists believe the city of Gath was destroyed sometime in the the 9th century B.C., an incident mentioned in the Book of Kings as being the work of the Aramean king Hazael.

"Gath fills a very important gap in our understanding of Philistine history," said Seymour Gitin, director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and an expert on the Philistines.

Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon stamped the Philistines out of history in 604 B.C. when he destroyed all the Philistine cities, after which no further evidence of them as a culture has been found.

Three Out Of Ten Take Bible Literally

In its latest poll, Gallup has found that three in ten Americans interpret the Bible literally, believing it is the actual word of God. 49% of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally, while a further 17% consider the Bible an ancient book of stories written down by people with no divine assistance at all.

In terms of subgroups, a majority, 54%, of those who worship on a weekly basis believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, which is twice that of those who attend church less often.

Gallup also found that belief in a literal interpretation of the Bible declines as educational attainment increases, with 46% of those with a high school education or less taking the Bible literally, compared to 22% of those with some form of tertiary education.

There was also a difference in economic levels, with 50% of lower-income respondents believing the Bible is the actual word of God, compared to 27% of middle-income and 15% of high-income respondents.

Two-thirds of Protestants who attend church weekly believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 5-8, 2011, with a random sample of 1,018 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.