The Catholic Church is under growing pressure to relax its ban on artificial contraception as women in some Latin American countries have been advised not to get pregnant for up to two years amid fears over the Zika virus. The official Catholic view is that artificial birth control is forbidden under any circumstances, even to help prevent HIV infection. Church leaders who have spoken out have reaffirmed the catechism teaching that contraception is evil. Father Luciano Brito, spokesman for the area most severely affected, said that Catholics should avoid using birth control, regardless of Zika. A bioethicist and priest at Boston College said, ‘I've never seen this advice before, and when you hear it, you think, “What are the bishops going to do?”’ Pray for adolescents, poor women, and those living in rural areas, who are most likely to be exposed to the virus.

In a town east of Damascus, now under regime control, a stream of filthy water runs in the street and children refer to it sarcastically as ‘the river’. An unfinished building houses 25 families displaced by the war. A chill blows through cracks in the walls, dim light enters the windows. They get three hours of electricity a day and have mouse-traps everywhere against rodent infestation. ‘We used to live in dignity in our own houses. Now we're chasing charities.’ Meanwhile 35,000 people fled a government offensive in Aleppo last week. They hoped to enter Turkey at the Kilis border region. But Turkey closed the border despite appeals by EU leaders to allow access. Turkey already shelters over 2.5 million refugees and is trying to achieve a balancing act between providing sanctuary to Syrians and reducing the numbers of refugees travelling to Europe. Deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said, ‘Turkey has reached its capacity to absorb refugees.’ See also:

An Australian Christian missionary was freed after she and her husband were kidnapped last month in Burkina Faso. Jocelyn and Ken Elliott, both in their 80s, have run a hospital for forty years there, meeting physical needs with the ultimate aim of showing the love of God to everyone. They were abducted by an al-Qaeda-linked group three weeks ago, and held in neighbouring Niger. Mrs Elliott was freed following mediation by the president of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou. He said that efforts to release her surgeon husband were being intensified. A statement released to Al-Jazeera by al-Qaeda said the woman had been released because of guidance from its leaders ‘not to involve women in war’.

The mother of a thirteen-year-old Israeli Arab girl who stabbed a security guard issued an impassioned apology, praising the guard for not opening fire on her and said she hoped all Israel would soon find peace. She had no idea her daughter was planning a terror attack, or where she got the knife from. The student and a friend in the mixed Jewish-Arab town of Ramle pulled kitchen knives out of their clothing and stabbed the guard in the leg and hand, saying the attack was ‘revenge for the situation in the Al-Aqsa Mosque,’ and in protest against Israel ‘killing Palestinians.’ The stabbing was the latest in a series of attacks (killing 31 Israelis) carried out mainly by Palestinians, and a handful of Israeli Arabs, over several months. Some of the attackers have been young teens. On Wednesday, Palestinians opened fire on a group of policemen, killing one and seriously wounding another.

The Association of Turkish Protestant Churches released its annual report summarising human rights violations and the challenges faced by Christians in 2015. The numerous cases of threats made to pastors and churches by radical Islamists make for disturbing reading. Misleading newspaper reports warning Muslims of Christian missionary activities also surfaced again, and school religious education textbooks continue to portray Christian missionaries as a national threat. Escalated violence between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is affecting the small number of Christians who live in the Kurdish South, home to Syrian Christians with roots in the first centuries of Christianity. A 1,700-year-old Syrian Orthodox church in Diyarbakir was damaged in crossfire, and the priest and his family were forced to leave. Media outlets falsely claimed police found PKK weapons in the church. Pastors from across the country travelled to Diyarbakir to meet local government officers, and called on all participants to seek peace.

Rev Kwa Shamaal, head of missions for the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC), was arrested on 18 December. From 21 December he was allowed home daily from midnight to 8 am, then required to report to the office of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), where he was held from 8 am until midnight daily. But now he has been released from this obligation and can go free. His colleague, Rev Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor, SCOC vice-moderator, is still in detention 24/7 without charges. NISS officials were said to have been upset with the pastors for telling others that Christians faced persecution in Sudan, and the two pastors were arrested from their respective homes at the same hour. No charges were brought against them, although officials objected to their Christian activities.

Unable to cope after her husband was imprisoned in North Korea, Min-Hee escaped to China. There, abandoned, alone and frightened for her life, she fell prey to human traffickers and was forced into marriage to avoid starvation. Tragically, her story is not unusual. Many desperate, starving North Korean women are sold into marriage or prostitution. But Jesus is still able to heal and to save. Min-hee says, ‘After three years, I finally joined some other ladies at a Bible study group meeting. Previously I had a negative idea about Christianity. But the other North Korean women in my village told me their lives had changed a lot since attending those meetings. There I heard the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time, and I totally opened my mind to accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I regretted that I had not visited these Bible studies earlier.’ Now Min-hee is learning what it is to follow Jesus, even in her circumstances.

A Europol document released last week stated that investigations indicate IS is going global with the possibility of attacks against member states of the EU in the near future. IS has developed an external action command trained for special-forces-style attacks in the international environment. IS terrorist cells currently operating in the EU are largely domestic and/or locally based. Recruitment and radicalisation is being done through social elements of peer pressure and role modelling. Suicide bombers see themselves more as heroes than as religious martyrs. A significant portion of foreign fighters have been diagnosed with mental problems prior to joining IS, and a large proportion have criminal records. An increasing phenomenon is Islamist ‘brotherhood gatherings’, similar to ‘Bible camps’ - a relatively new concept for Muslims.

Thousands of people rallied in Rome on Saturday against a proposed bill giving gay couples legal recognition and adoption rights. Organisers estimated that two million had attended from across Italy for the ‘Family Day’ rally, which featured conga-dancing Catholic priests. Last Thursday parliament began considering proposals to give heterosexual and homosexual partnerships rights, including being allowed to adopt each other’s children and to inherit their partner's pensions. Last week, Pope Francis entered the debate, defending traditional marriage as ‘the family God wants’. Hence this rally was named ‘Family Day’ as opposed to rallies across Italy last week demanding legal recognition for same-sex couples. Italy is the last major Western nation not to give legal recognition to same-sex couples. Many of those attending the rally held up banners saying ‘It is wrong even if it becomes law’. See also:

The Queen has a strong Christian faith and in recent years has displayed it more openly. In June she will become Britain's longest-reigning monarch, and her 90th birthday is on 21 April. The country is expecting to celebrate these events with special church services and street parties. Two prayers approved by the Queen herself have been published by the Church of England, to be used in services marking these national celebrations. The modern version of one says, ‘Heavenly Father, as we celebrate the 90th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen, receive our heartfelt thanks for all that You have given her in these 90 years and for all that she has given to her people. Continue, we pray, Your loving purposes in her, and as You gather us together in celebration, unite us also in love and service to one another; through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Two graces have also been published for use at the start of more local celebrations such as street parties.