3 of 3

Persecution:

• Vietnam announces prison sentences for 8 in Christian minority | Vietnam announced the latest in a string of prison terms as part of a crackdown on the Christian hill tribe minorities known as Montagnards (The New York Times)
  
  
• Christmas crackdown in Vietnam | The Vietnamese government took the largely-Christian holiday as an opportunity to launch another wave of repression against this largely-Christian Montagnard minority (Editorial, The Washington Times)
  
  
• Earlier: Christmas in Vietnam | A missionary in Saigon writes about this year's bleak holiday in the Dak Lak Province. (Christianity Today, Dec. 26, 2002)
  
  
• Pakistani Christians living in fear | They accuse government of pandering to radical Muslims (Associated Press)

Missions and ministries:

• Sydney's newest bishop prefers saving souls to saving bodies | Ivan Yin Lee is now looking at saving 10,000 sinners a year to fulfil the church's mission statement of converting 10 per cent of the population into "Bible-believing" Christians within the next 10 years (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  
• Catholic church reaches young adults with 'Theology on Tap' talks at restaurants, bars (Voice of America)

Church life:

• Ex-Union-Tribune editor explores his spiritual side | Jerry Warren, 72-year-old former Union-Tribune editor, is now an Episcopal seminarian in Virginia hoping to go into the lay ministry (San Diego Union-Tribune)
  
  
• Bending God's ear for a fee | At one Manila church, believers can hire 'prayer ladies' to do their praying for them. But many Catholics look askance at the practice (Los Angeles Times)
  
  
• Spiritual connection on the Internet | Requesting prayers and joining virtual prayer circles has become commonplace on the Internet, but e-mailing a prayer for the intercession of a saint is new (The New York Times)
  
  
• For churches, births and rebirths | Construction and renovation projects around New York City are subtly changing the ecclesiastical landscape, creating new sanctuaries and refreshing old ones (The New York Times)

Clergy sex abuse:

• Accused New London priest apparently took his own life | "The anguish, loss and fear that Father Lower most likely was dealing with must have diminished his capacity to recognize the inestimable value of his own personal dignity and the pain that his suicide would bring to many, especially his family and parishioners," says Manchester Bishop John B. McCormack (The Union Leader, Manchester, N.H.)
  
  
• Also: Accused N.H. priest a presumed suicide (The Boston Globe)
  
  
• Calif. dioceses win reprieve in lawsuits | Lawyers for purported victims in Los Angeles and Orange counties agreed Tuesday to try to mediate claims instead of taking them immediately to court (Associated Press)
  
  
• 2 pastors arrested for sexual abuse | A bishop and an assistant pastor at the Provision of Promise Pentecostal Church were arrested last week for allegedly sexually abusing a 14-year-old child (Suffolk Life, New York)
  
  
• Suit charges church coverup | Jehovah's Witness group is blamed in abuse of girl (The Boston Globe)

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Suggest links and stories by sending e-mail to weblog@christianitytoday.com

What is Weblog?

See our past Weblog updates:

December 31 | 30

December 27 | 26

December 19 | 18 | 17 | 16

December 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9

December 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2

November 27 | 26 | 25

November 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18

November 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11

November 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4

first page |  3 of 3

share this page

December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46