John Bendor-Samuel is the new president of Wycliffe Bible Translators International, succeeding Australian David Cummings, who has held the post for 15 years. Bendor-Samuel, who has been with Wycliffe since 1955, will also remain director of Wycliffe United Kingdom.
By a 2-to-1 vote, the Australian Northern Territory Supreme Court on July 24 upheld the world’s first voluntary euthanasia law, which became effective earlier in the month. The regional law provides for administration of lethal doses of drugs to the terminally ill, provided there is approval from two physicians and a psychiatrist, plus a nine-day waiting period. A federal law banning euthanasia is pending in Australia’s Parliament.
The lower house of Poland‘s Parliament voted 199 to 170 in July to postpone ratification of a concordat with the Vatican until a national constitution has been adopted. The agreement would have sanctioned Catholic church teachings in public schools and made seven Catholic feast days state holidays in Poland, where 95 percent of the population claim affiliation with the Catholic church.
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