World

In cities across Europe, officials are wrestling with a choice as energy prices have gone up because of Russia’s war in Ukraine: Dim Christmas lighting to send a message of energy conservation and solidarity or let the lights blaze in a message of defiance after two years of pandemic-suppressed Christmas seasons.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we’ll coach you up on the history of the men’s World Cup and the particular details around the 2022 tournament in Qatar that begins in just a few days — and we’ll explain why the penalty cards should come out for these games. Then we ask an important question: Should Christians (and others) watch the contests knowing the blood, sweat, and tears required to make them possible?

Novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has awarded Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service $15 million in donation funds, the single largest contribution in the advocacy organization’s 83-year history. Scott’s $15 million donation comes as the group works to resettle Afghan refugees, people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and asylum-seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

With the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference beginning this coming Sunday in Egypt, we are offering a piece originally published as the cover story of Word&Way magazine in October 2019 but which has never been published online. In addition to making an argument for why Christians should care about climate change, it includes reports from when Brian attended COP21 in Paris, France, in 2015.

An ancient Christian monastery possibly dating as far back as the years before Islam spread across the Arabian Peninsula has been discovered on an island off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, officials announced Thursday.

During the Day of the Dead celebrations that take place in late October and early November in Mexico, the living remember and honor their dearly departed, but with celebration — not sorrow. Marigolds decorate the streets as music blares from speakers. It is believed that during the Day of the Dead — or Dia de Muertos — they are able to commune with their deceased loved ones.

The acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches met this week with Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church head who has drawn global criticism for lending spiritual support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The meeting followed months of controversy surrounding the Russian Orthodox Church’s membership in the WCC.

Pope Francis on Sunday denounced Europe’s indifference toward migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea as he elevated to sainthood an Italian bishop and Italian-born missionary whose work and life paths illustrated the difficulties faced by 19th Century Italian emigrants.

A Baptist pastor and his wife remain missing after being kidnapped Sept. 21 from their church in Russian-occupied Mariupol, Forum 18 news service reported Oct. 6. 

Reporting from a meeting of the Middle East and North Africa Evangelical National Councils, Daoud Kuttab notes that pressure from Arab governments and other Christian groups has only contributed to evangelicals’ cooperation in the region.