Japan plans to strip Moonies of non secular standing

THE Japanese authorities has requested that the Unification Church, recognized colloquially because the Moonies, be stripped of its standing as a spiritual organisation, after the assassination final yr of the previous Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. The assailant, who held a grudge towards the Church over a household chapter, instructed investigators on the time that he had shot Mr Abe for selling the Church. If the court docket in Tokyo accepts the request, the Church will lose company, property, and giving tax exemptions. But, even after the method, which might take years, the Church might nonetheless proceed to function in a brand new type, and solicit donations, thought to lift about £55 million a yr in Japan. The chief of the legal-affairs division for the Church, Nobuo Okamura, mentioned that the information was “extremely disappointing and regrettable. We believe the request for a dissolution order is a serious development not only for freedom of religion but also human rights.”

Another US bishop investigated underneath Title IV

Diocese of WyomingDiocese of WyomingTHE Bishop of Wyoming, within the United States, the Rt Revd Paul-Gordon Chandler, has been positioned on administrative depart whereas he’s investigated underneath the Church’s Title IV canons on clergy self-discipline. The Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs offered no details about the character of the allegations in its discover on Monday. A letter to the diocese from the chair of its standing committee, nevertheless, referred to “an alleged indiscretion with a member of our diocesan team”, ENS reviews. The restriction on the Bishop’s ministry was enacted by the Vice-President of the House of Bishops, the Rt Revd Mary Gray-Reeves, on behalf of the Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd Michael Curry, who’s recovering from surgical procedure. Several bishops within the Episcopal Church have just lately confronted, or are dealing with, a Title IV investigation, together with the Rt Revd Prince Singh (News, 15 September), the Bishop of Florida, the Rt Revd John Howard, and a retired bishop, who, it’s alleged, sexually harassed the President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala Harris (News, 6 September).

Boost support to Nagorno-Karabakh refugees, EU is urged

THE Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) have urged the European Union to extend funding to spice up humanitarian help to ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. In a joint letter, the WCC and CEC known as on Brussels and all members of the worldwide neighborhood “to provide immediate and sustained humanitarian support for the refugees, especially the most vulnerable and the poorer members of the community”. Last week, about 80 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh instructed the Archbishop of Canterbury of their devastation at being compelled from their homeland (News, 13 October). The Archbishop, who was in Armenia on the finish of a tour of the South Caucasus, assured them that they weren’t forgotten. “You are the most important people in this story,” he mentioned. Pope Francis has additionally drawn consideration to the disaster, deploring the worsening situations and issuing a particular enchantment for the safety of the monasteries and locations of worship within the area.

Indiana congregation to rejoin Episcopal Church

A CONGREGATION often called The Table in Indianapolis, which started as a church-plant of the conservative Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), is within the remaining levels of breaking away to hitch the Episcopal Church, ENS reported this week. The transfer, because of completely different approaches to religion, together with problems with racial justice and the half performed by girls, was introduced a yr in the past (News, 28 October 2022). The Episcopal diocese of Indianapolis is reportedly able to obtain the congregation and its three monks by the top of the yr. The Bishop of Indianapolis, the Rt Revd Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, instructed ENS: “It’s been a pretty meticulous process, because we’re aware that this is not something we have a lot of precedent for. We wanted to make sure that we’re above reproach and taking good pastoral care of both the people and the clergy who will be joining us.”