THE Church of England is considering reducing the number of its bishops in order to save millions of pounds. A working group of senior bishops has discussed whether shedding as many as 35 top jobs could help the Church to reduce its annual running costs significantly. The most vulnerable posts could be those of the Church’s 69 suffragan bishops, whose numbers have doubled in the past hundred years. A senior figure said: “The subject has to be tackled as a matter of urgency but obviously it will not be easy to bring about as there are so many vested interests.”
THE Salvation Army has criticised a Government proposal to allow alcohol to be consumed in casinos. “We believe the introduction of alcohol to casino gaming floors is a mistake that can lead only more people to lose more money,” said a spokesman, Jonathan Lomax.
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A SWASTIKA and slogans extolling the Nazi Holocaust have been sprayed on the wall of a mosque in the northern French town of Lens. The graffiti read “Death to Islamists” and “Hitler would have gassed you.” The regional Union for the Algerian Community said it was “perturbed” by the incident.
AN American woman is suing her pastor after he allegedly told his congregation that she had had an affair and was planning to divorce her husband. A court in Fort Worth, Texas, ruled that Peggy Penley could bring the action against the Rev “Buddy” Westbrook, leader of the Crossland Community Bible Church. Mrs Penley claims that the pastor issued a letter to worshippers ordering them to break “fellowship with her until the time of repentance and restoration” after she confided in him during a counselling session.
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THE Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is considering sacking employees who marry their same-sex partners, after the legalisation of gay marriage in Massachusetts last month. Daniel Avila, an adviser to the state’s four Roman Catholic bishops, said: “The Church has long had a position that the people working on its behalf need to display conduct consistent with its beliefs.”
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THE pop star Madonna has reportedly changed her name to Esther in honour of the biblical heroine. The singer is said to have taken on the new name following intensive study of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah.
A 13-YEAR-OLD Hindu swami has been kidnapped by his parents. Bharanidharan, who has renounced all worldly goods and wears a rough cloth, was abducted while giving a speech in Salem, south west of Madras. But the boy insisted on being allowed to return to the ashram he founded in the nearby town of Ayodhyapattinam and demanded police protection. “I embraced this way of life for which I am ordained,” he said. “That is the wish of the Creator.”
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AN INDIAN mystic who buried himself underground as a penance to bring world peace suffocated to death, police said this week. Ananda Swami asked his followers to bury him in a deep pit near Madras, saying he would return to bless them. His devotees then covered the pit with five wooden planks and lit fires. Two days later the swami was discovered dead. “Perhaps his mission on Earth had come to an end,” said one devotee. “We still revere him as God’s own representative on Earth.”
AN ANGLICAN bishop in Australia has issued an apology for supporting the war in Iraq. Dr Tom Frame, Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, was the only Anglican bishop to have endorsed publicly the Australian Government’s case for war. He said he now realised that the war was not just, but simply “just another war”. “Looking back over the events of the last 18 months I continue to seek forgiveness for my complicity in creating a world in which this sort of action was ever considered by anyone to be necessary,” he remarked.
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NINE out of ten Muslim women in Australia have suffered verbal or physical abuse since the September 11, 2001, attacks, according to a survey. The country’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission claimed that while most Muslims had experienced some form of abuse, women who wore headscarves were particularly likely to be targeted.
The Chinese Government has announced plans to restore two synagogues in the northeastern city of Harbin. The official Xinhua News Agency said that the buildings would be turned into a museum recording the city’s history as a refuge for Jews fleeing Tzarist Russia and the Nazis. More than 20,000 Jews lived there in the 1920s, making it the largest Jewish centre in the Far East at that time.
THE Sri Lankan Supreme Court has banned the importation of bikinis with images of the Buddha. The court took the action after a Buddhist monk, Kusaladhamma Thera, complained that he had seen an advertisement for swimsuits “with Buddha’s image on the breast and crotch areas”. The Supreme Court has also forbidden the importation of candles with depictions of the Buddha.
A GROUP of Muslim comedians is seeking to combat prejudice against Islam in the United States. The “Allah Made Me Funny” comedy show made its debut appearance at a club in Washington this month. The comedian Azhar Usman said the show was likely to tour Muslim countries to help the Islamic world gain a better understanding of America. “I think that this tour, without a doubt, is ready to explode in the Muslim world,” he said. “No pun intended.”