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More on Sudan:

• Sudan flogs 53 Christians for rioting (Associated Press/Los Angeles Times)
• Easter crusade canceled after threats | Violence erupted after threats from suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and other Muslim extremists had forced Christian leaders to cancel a mass rally celebrating Good Friday in Khartoum. (UPI)
• Clashes over church services | Sudanese Christians were arrested and others injured on Wednesday as they protested against a government order to transfer Easter services from central Khartoum to the suburbs (UN Integrated Regional Information Network)

Sanctuary no more
Not so long ago, churches were considered "sanctuaries." That is, they offered asylum for criminals. This was, of course, because churches were seen as holy, consecrated places, and arrests by civil authorities would defile them—not to mention remove the opportunity for the criminal to seek spiritual help. How times have changed. A man wanted for murder in Texas was arrested in the parking lot of an Oklahoma City church over the weekend. But the suspect, Francisco Dias Perez, probably wouldn't have received sanctuary in days of old either. According to television station KOCO, Perez was first apprehended for relieving himself near a car.

More on church-related crime:

• Church attacker convicted | The man who robbed and beat a 73-year-old woman as she prayed in a Solana Beach church will spend the next two decades behind bars. (KGTV, San Diego)
• Life-size statue of Jesus missing from church | During Holy Week, police say, it was removed from a cross and stolen from a La Crescenta Catholic congregation. (Los Angeles Times)

Persecution:

• Vietnam 'troublemakers' face prosecution | "Strong measures [are to be taken against] those profiting from the Protestant faith … to bend the truth and sabotage the revolution," says official with the ruling Communist Party's provincial committee. (BBC)
• India, Pakistan in human rights battle | Faced with criticism on several counts of human rights violations from UN special reporters as well as nongovernmental organizations, their response has been to defend themselves by pointing fingers at each other rather than by making out a positive case for their own countries. (Asia Times)

Prisons:

• A spiritual approach to time behind bars | Many prisoners are turning their jail cells into monks' cells. (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Washing of their feet touches inmates' hearts | The ceremony, recalling Christ at the Last Supper, inspires prisoners at an Orange jail. And a retired bishop enjoys a new life. (Los Angeles Times)
• Scourge of rape in U.S. prisons sparks action | A coalition of religious and human rights groups is pressing for a federal law to make state prison authorities accountable for sexual abuse of prisoners by prisoners. (Reuters)
• Little sympathy or remedy for inmates who are raped | Widespread social reluctance to address the issue is reinforced by many legal constraints (The New York Times)
• Earlier: Brutality behind bars | Savage prison gang rapes turn many run-of-the-mill prisoners into violent felons-in-waiting. Reformers say it's time to rein in jailhouse predators (World, Feb. 3, 2001)

Christians and Jews:

• Alleged remarks concern parents | Students complained that a visiting pastor said Jews killed Jesus. (The Miami Herald)

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April (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45