Scotland's churches are enjoying a boom in tourist visitor numbers amid the publicity surrounding the Da Vinci Code. They have seen a rise of 13.8% in the overall number of visitors for 2005 from 597,107 in 2004 to 679,794 last year. The rise represented a significant recovery following a slump of 2.7% in the previous year. Rosslyn Chapel, the Midlothian church which was highlighted in the blockbusting novel, saw an increase of 72% in visitor numbers in 2005 compared with the previous year, with 118,151 compared to 68,603 the previous year and just 37,199 in 2003. Other Scottish churches which are pulling in the visitors include Glasgow Cathedral, the St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee, and the Italian Chapel on the Orkney Islands.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

The Scottish NHS is introducing controversial "lunchtime" abortions under local anaesthetic in a move it claims will make the procedure safer and quicker for thousands of women each year. But a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: "The very serious danger with this method is that so little time goes into thinking through the consequences." Margaret Cuthill, national co-ordinator of British Victims of Abortion, said: "Many of the women who come for post-abortion counselling with our organisation say they felt like they had been put on a conveyer belt and this new procedure will add to that."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

The Church of Scotland is planning to train ministers to deal with evil spirits after research showed half the clergy believe they have directly encountered "Satanic" forces. A growing number of pastors are seeking advice on issues ranging from poltergeists to "possessed" parishioners.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

Crosshill Parish Church congregation and a large number of friends said farewell to Rev W. Stuart Dunn, who had been their minister for almost 24 years. Mr Dunn and his wife Elspeth are retiring to Crieff.
Source: Motherwell Times.

Former resident of St Andrews, Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth, has been appointed provost of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow. Mr Holdsworth, who studied at St Mary's College in St Andrews, is currently rector of St Saviours Church, Bridge of Allan, and a chaplain at Stirling University. Asked for his response to the alleged decline in church attendance in an increasingly secular age, he said: "St Mary's is actually growing and many cathedrals are doing well, so rumours of decline are not true for us. We have some of the best music in Scotland and we preach a believable and credible version of the Christian faith. We are open to the young and old, to straight and gay people and folk from Glasgow and folk from far away.''
Source: Fife Now - St Andrews Citizen.

The pews were packed at Glenrothes Baptist Church on Sunday as the congregation marked their golden jubilee. Original minister, Alexander Wright, was joined by his present day counterpart Archy Macmillan at the special service.
Source: Fife Now - Glenrothes Gazette.

Ceres Parish Church held a dedication service on Sunday and plans a number of events over the coming months to mark its 200th year in the community. The foundation stone for the present church, which replaced a medieval building, was laid on April 21, 1806.
Source: Fife Herald.

Rev Sam Hosain, the first Arab to become a Church of Scotland minister, has retired after 13 years of preaching in Stewarton. The Reverend Doctor Samuel Hosain-Lamarti said farewell to the congregation of John Knox Parish Church last week on his 65th birthday. Born in Morocco, the Rev Hosain was converted to Christianity when missionaries arrived in his home town of Larache. The founder of the Christian mission came from Ardrossan. In his 20s, the Rev Hosain studied at the United States Nazarene Bible College in Beirut, Lebanon, before moving to Scotland to gain his Bachelor of Divinity degree at Glasgow University.
Source: Kilmarnock Standard.

The Church of Scotland's Church without Walls Planning Group is to tell the forthcoming General Assembly of its successes during the past year and will propose a 'People’s Assembly' for 2008.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

Joel Edwards, the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, is to take over as Chair of the Churches Media Council in June. The Council, aims to promote the Christian faith in the media and support Christians in broadcasting, and hosts the Andrew Cross awards for excellence in religious coverage.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.

At May’s General Assembly, the World Mission Council is to ask the Church of Scotland to keep up the pressure on the government over global poverty. The key section of their annual report will ask the Church to "encourage presbyteries, congregations and church members to continue to campaign actively to bring extreme poverty to an end."
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Catholic Church in Scotland has lost all sense of proportion by producing a DVD debunking the myths of The Da Vinci Code, writes Paul Riddell. "For church leaders who believe in an eternal God to take such exception to a transient work of fiction and its film version, they must feel deeply insecure about the long-term durability of their sacred institution."
Source: The Scotsman.

Another north churchman yesterday challenged Highland Council's insistence that it is listening to communities' grave fears about the effects of privatising care homes. Boat of Garten and Carrbridge minister David Whyte echoed fears voiced by Church of Scotland colleague John Chambers from Inverness that the entire process had been ill thought-out and rushed.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

The Church of Scotland’s General Assembly is to hear a report on the current practices of the Kirk’s congregations in connection with people with disabilities.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Church of Scotland Guild today announced the six projects it will invite its members to support over the next three years. These projects will link into the theme for all the Guild’s work for 2006 to 2009; Let’s Live: body, mind and soul.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Church of Scotland’s General Assembly is to hear a report on the current practices of the Kirk’s congregations in connection with people with disabilities.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

A film set in a historic Dundee church has been nominated for a national arts prize. St Salvador's Episcopal Church in Hilltown was featured in Long After Tonight, a film based on an all-night Northern Soul dance held in the church in the 1970s.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

More than 50 Scottish authors including the late Muriel Spark have donated copies of their work to this year's Christian Aid sale St Andrew's and St George's Church in Edinburgh, the UK's biggest single fundraising event for the charity which last year raised more than £1 million. Also on sale will be an 1857 first edition of David Livingstone's Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, and actor David Tennant's personal script from episode one of the current Doctor Who television series.
Source: BBC Scotland News.

A Kenyan father-of-two ordered to return to his home country has been blocked from leaving Britain - because the Home Office won't release his passport. John Ragwar agreed to leave his Scottish-born wife Karen, who works for the Church of Scotland, and their two children to apply legally from Kenya for the right to live in Britain after his appeal to stay in the UK was quashed in February. But he is now unable to leave the country because the Home Office still has possession of his Kenyan passport after he gave it to them for checks following his marriage in 2001.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

The head of the Scottish Episcopal Church believes the popularity of Dan Brown's bestselling book The Da Vinci Code is a symptom of a "spiritual thirst" among the public. Speaking in his last week as Primus, the Most Rev Bruce Cameron said the Church had to embrace that "thirst" in order to draw people back in to Christianity.
Source: The Scotsman.

Appreciation by Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Monsignor Patrick Grady, who died at the weekend.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.

Women who regret their abortions will gather in Glasgow on Saturday 29th April to launch a campaign entitled Silent No More. Linda Porter of British Victims of Abortion, a post abortion
counselling organisation, said "The legacy of almost 40 years of abortion is that around five million women have made this decision and very many are left struggling in silence with their feelings of regret and loss. Comprehensive research needs to be supported to identify the full implication to a woman when she chooses abortion."
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.

The Church of Scotland’s Mission and Discipleship Council will report to this year’s General Assembly on ways in which it is putting mission at the heart of the Church’s work. The report acknowledges that Scotland is a “mission field” and that the days have long since passed when the Kirk could expect people to come to church without the church first going to them. The report concludes that mission and change are both essential to the future of the Kirk, saying: “While it is vitally important to remember and to treasure all that is valuable in our reformed and catholic tradition, there is also a new awareness of the need to take account of the changed and ever changing society and culture in which we are placed.”
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Church of Scotland's forthcoming General Assembly will be asked to approve a covenant with the United Free Church, to be signed in Dunblane Cathedral on 16 September.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

Grants awarded by the Church of Scotland's Parish Development Fund during 2005 totalled approximately £817,000.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Moderator-Designate of the 2006 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rev Alan McDonald, is profiled in the May 2006 issue of the Kirk's magazine, Life & Work. He speaks of his passion for social justice and reveals a hidden passion for music. Rev Peter Neilson, one of the architects of Church Without Walls, reflects on progress on the fifth anniversary of its launch.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Evangelical Alliance today called on the Government to provide more and better palliative care in order to stem calls for the "legalised killing" of the terminally ill. The Alliance’s plea comes in advance of Lord Joffe’s Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill, due to get its second reading in the House of Lords on 12 May.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.

Churches should be ready to meet in gyms and pubs in a bid to reach new people, a Kirk report said today. New models of church activity are needed alongside traditional ones in a society where many people see the church as irrelevant, said the Church of Scotland's mission and discipleship council. "In today's society, the church is faced with a significant challenge in connecting with people who are outside of it and who conclude it has no relevance to them and to the way in which they live their lives."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Christian protesters picketed the controversial Jerry Springer the Opera musical when it opened in Edinburgh last night.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Christian scholars line up to criticise Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in advance of next month's movie release. Professor Larry Hurtado, director of Edinburgh University's Centre for the Study of Christian Origins whose book Lord Jesus Christ examines first century belief in Jesus' divinity, says that "on chronology, issues, developments, and all the matters asserted, Brown strikes out; he doesn't even get on base".
Source: MSNBC.

First Minister Jack McConnell has rejected an invitation to engage in a discussion with the Bishop of Motherwell over the issue of gay adoption on Premier Radio, the London-based Christian station. "It would appear that gay pressure groups have far more influence than the Christian churches in the corridors of power of the Scottish Parliament," said Bishop Joseph Devine.
Source: The Herald.

The Scottish Catholic Church is counter-attacking The Da Vinci Code by sending out hundreds of DVDs to schools and parishes lambasting what it calls the "nonsense" of the book and film. One of the church's leading intellectuals, Professor Emeritus Patrick Reilly, appears in Debunking the Da Vinci Myths, saying its inaccuracies are equivalent to claiming John Knox was a child abuser.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

An Edinburgh academic has dismissed as "tiresome" a new book, Lisa Ann Bargeman's The Egyptian Origin of Christianity, which seeks to establish that many Christian rituals and beliefs, specifically Roman Catholic ones, may have come from ancient Egyptian tradition. Larry Hurtado, professor of the New Testament at the University of Edinburgh, said: "The most immediate culture or matrix is that of Palestinian-Jewish people of that time and setting. Identifiably Egyptian influence is negligible." He added: "This is actually quite a tiresome aspect of being a scholar in my field, that books keep appearing with the author and uninformed readers breathlessly announcing its radicality and novelty, when time after time it is simply a re-tread of an idea or claim refuted long ago."
Source: Columbia Missourian.

As the Old Firm tribes clash today, the public face of sectarianism will again be on show. But how deep does the hate go and what can be done to eradicate a problem that shames us all? By Harry Reid, author of Outside Verdict: An Old Kirk in a New Scotland and The Final Whistle? Scottish Football: The Best And Worst Of Times.
Source: Sunday Herald.

A DVD warning about the Da Vinci Code is being sent to Catholic schools in Scotland. The move comes as the film based on the controversial Dan Brown novel is set for a premiere in Cannes. The DVD, Cracking the Da Vinci Code, has been made by Glasgow University's Professor Patrick Reilly and will go out to thousands of youngsters aged 11 to 17. It will also be distributed to Scotland's 500 parishes and be available through bookshops and over the net. Professor Reilly said: "Many people believe the Da Vinci Code is fact. It is a farrago of nonsense."
Source: Sunday Mail.

The Church of Scotland's HIV/AIDS Project is to ask the General Assembly to allow it to continue addressing the world-wide challenge of HIV and AIDS after the expiry of its current mandate at the end of 2007. Supporting the Project’s call to Assembly, David Johnson, director of Edinburgh’s Waverley Care, says: "The Church of Scotland HIV Project has achieved real gains in both Scotland and abroad. In Scotland it has helped kick-start important initiatives in supporting Africans living with HIV/AIDS. In Africa and in other countries overseas it has brought hope as well as financial support to projects that offer practical care and support to people living with and dying from AIDS."
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

A Church of Scotland project tackling HIV/Aids is to be extended for a further three years. When the Kirk's General Assembly takes place next month, it will be asked to allow the project to continue its work in Scotland and around the world after the expiry of its current mandate at the end of 2007.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

A tradition dating back to the Middle Ages is being revived by a Church of Scotland minister in the Borders. Rev Anthony Jones, of Ruberslaw parish, will carry out an open-air lambing service at Gospel Hall Farm at Lanton near Jedburgh.
Source: BBC Scotland News.

Although Caledonian MacBrayne say they have no plans to introduce Sunday ferries between Stornoway and Ullapool, the Lord's Day Observance Society refute this claim. "This is the inevitable goal they are trying to achieve," declared national LDOS spokesman Iain Alasdair Macdonald. He claimed that by introducing Sunday sailings between North Uist and Harris, CalMac were merely 'clawing away bit by bit' at the people of the Western Isles so that when the Stornoway-Ullapool Sunday sailing is proposed, 'there will not be such a hue and cry'.
Source: Stornoway Gazette.

A Bible presented to one of the men involved in the rescue effort at the Blantyre Colliery explosion in 1877 has been handed in to Hamilton’s Low Parks Museum. The large book, which has a dark leather cover and gold-edged pages, has a template in the frontispiece which reads: ‘Presented by the National Bible Society of Scotland. To Robert Struthers, one of the Gallant Band of rescuers. Blantyre Colliery Explosion. 22nd October, 1877. February 1878.’ A total of 216 miners were killed in the explosion, thought to have been caused by methane gas.
Source: Hamilton Advertiser.

Appreciation of the late Susan McCormick, the first ever principal teacher of religious education in a Catholic school in Scotland, a founding member of the Catholic Education Commission, on which she served for over 30 years, and the RC hierarchy’s representative on the General Teaching Council. She was presented with the Papal decoration of a Dame of the order of St Gregory in 2001 by Cardinal Winning for her contribution to the teaching profession.
Source: Wishaw Press.

Scottish churches are facing the welcome challenge of an influx of Catholic parishioners: thousands of Polish workers who have settled there for work. Now forays have been made to Poland to recruit priests to serve in the dioceses.
Source: The Tablet.

A Church of Scotland committee has backed using human embryos for stem cell research in some circumstances. The Kirk's Society, Religion and Technology Project decided it was ethical to use embryos created during IVF treatment if they were under 14 days old. Dr Donald Bruce, convenor of the Kirk's project, said: "This is the first in-depth report the Kirk has done to stand back and look at the issues fully. Our view on them can be characterised as 'under the following circumstances' rather than 'not ever'." But Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: "We don't accept the 14-day rule. The moment you say it's OK to use embryos, the time is irrelevant." He said the Kirk's willingness to accept the possible benefits from stem cell treatments gained through embryos was to enter into a discussion of "the ends justifying the means", which he described as "starting down a dangerous path". "You have to look at the issue in China of using the organs of condemned prisoners in transplant operations," he said. Sheila McLean, professor of medical ethics at Glasgow University, described the Kirk's stance as "brave" and worthy of admiration. "I think the Church of Scotland is to be admired to be able to create this type of nuanced report, trying to make proposals about this type of thing rather than just condemning it like so many faith groups."
Source: The Scotsman.

The Church of Scotland could reverse its stance on stem-cell research, instead favouring the use of surplus IVF embryos and rejecting cloned embryos during tests for medical advances. The Kirk's Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) project, which has looked again at the scientific, theological and ethical issues surrounding stem-cell research, is recommending the change of policy.
Source: The Herald.

The Church of Scotland and the United Free Church are to sign a covenant establishing formal relations between the two bodies. The Rev Bill Brown, the convener of the ecumenical relations committee of the Kirk, emphasised the unique nature of the agreement. "People don't realise how divisive this separation has been over the centuries," he said. "This has real significance for us, given that there has never been document of its type signed by the Kirk before." The agreement will see the formal sharing of church properties from both denominations, as well as training facilities. The Rev Martin Keene of the United Free Church of Scotland, said: "Our concern is for the way we can serve our communities best."
Source: The Scotsman.

The most controversial senior female cleric in Britain, once nicknamed "Attila the Nun", is to quit as provost of St Paul's Scottish Episcopal Cathedral in Dundee six years after her bitter feud with the local bishop had to be ended by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Her appointment became mired in controversy when some members of the congregation quit and moved to neighbouring St Salvador's, complaining about her dictatorial style and alleged mistreatment of church members. Mrs Byrne, 58, a twice-married former Catholic nun, was suspended from her post by Neville Chamberlain, the then bishop of Brechin, head of the area's diocese, and was charged with 69 breaches of church discipline. The bitter rift was settled after Archbishop Tutu, the former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, brokered a peace deal. Mrs Byrne, who has announced that she intends to step down from her position as provost of the cathedral on 30 June, told The Scotsman yesterday: "I am just having a break."
Source: The Scotsman.

A report by the Kirk’s Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) Project on the scientific, theological and ethical issues concerning human stem cell research and embryology will go before this year’s General Assembly.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

A burglar who targeted the homes of priests in Glasgow has been jailed for 20 months. The sheriff [neither court nor sheriff is named in the story] described Paul Tait's crimes as "despicable".
Source: The Scotsman.

Obituary of Annie Nicolson: born January 23, 1922, died April 3, 2006. "An acknowledged political organiser, she was as highly regarded by opponents as she was by the Liberals whom she served so well for much of her life ... Although her MBE was for political services, Annie Nicolson deserved the honour as much for her many other activities. She was deeply involved in a number of local charities and in the community of Inches Church, Inverness."
Source: The Herald.

The Very Rev Miriam Byrne, the provost and rector of St Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Dundee, has announced her resignation, which will take effect on June 30. Ms Byrne was the first woman provost in the Scottish Episcopal Church when she took over in 1998 from the Rev Dr Michael Bunce, who was convicted for fraud and fined £60,000.
Source: Dundee Courier.

Two Edinburgh graveyards have been fitted with special bins for drug users - to help attract more tourists. St Cuthbert's and Canongate Church have become the first in Scotland to install needle bins. The city council feared visitors could be injured as they searched for their ancestors. Old crypts make good hiding places for drug addicts looking for somewhere private to inject themselves, and in recent months cemetery workers have found dozens of syringes, needles, and other drugs equipment at graveyards across the city. Although there have been no reports of injuries from a discarded needle, they can carry diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.
Source: Daily Record.

Dan Brown's next book, The Solomon Key, is said to speculate on the role and influence of Freemasonry. In much the same way that The Da Vinci Code has its climax in Rosslyn Chapel, it may well be that the best-selling author's latest work will also find its roots in Scotland. For if Brown's new novel is looking at alleged Masonic conspiracy in the US, then there is a strong and vocal body of Masonic historians who believe that the whole of American Freemasonry is essentially Scottish. Robert Cooper, museum and library curator of the Grand Lodge in Edinburgh, is convinced that there is a strong connection between the two countries.
Source: The Scotsman.

The Church of Scotland has had a year of change at its central offices at 121 George Street, Edinburgh, the General Assembly will be told in May.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

Gerhard Kapl, the Uefa disciplinary inspector who led the original investigation of Rangers FC for alleged sectarian chanting, confirmed last night that he would be pursuing his prosecution of the club, seeking the imposition of an £18,000 fine as well as the possibility of the closure of a part of Ibrox for a European game.
Source: The Herald.

Full text of the Right Rev David Lacy's Easter Sunday sermon at Inverness Ness Bank Church, where he was baptised and attended Sunday school.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

Profile of Pope Benedict XVI by Cardinal Thomas Winning's biographer, Stephen McGinty.
Source: The Scotsman.

Profile of former army chaplain Rev Neil Gardner, the new minister at Edinburgh's historic Canongate Kirk.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Next week, an Australian will jet into Heathrow for a lecture tour that will gladden the hearts of the small but dauntless band of British creationists, believers in the biblical account of the origins of the world. John Mackay, a former science teacher from Queensland, is one of Creation Science's speaking stars, confirming to believers that Genesis is true, that the Earth is not millions of years old but only a few thousand and that science proves it. There will be talks at places like the Living Waters Fellowship at Newport, Isle of Wight, the Christian Outreach Centre in Bournemouth and the Destiny Church in Edinburgh.
Source: The Guardian.

An order of Catholic priests is ending its 350-year association with Scotland because of a lack of recruits. The Order of St Vincent de Paul plans to sever its ties with Lanark in June. The Vincentians set up their Scottish base in the town's St Mary's Church in 1859 after coming to Scotland in 1650. By the early 20th century, the order had set up a school, hospital, and cemetery and also established an orphanage, which cared for more than 700 children. However, no replacements have been found for the two remaining St Mary's priests who will leave the church on June 11, so it will be absorbed into Motherwell diocese.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.

Inverness appears to be bucking the trend of falling church attendance as two new places of worship - the Pentecostal Church of God and Holm Evangelical Church - opened their doors yesterday.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

Easter Sunday was particularly busy for the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland as he visited the city in which he was born. The Rt Rev David Lacy joined more than 50 other early risers at 6.30am in the kirkyard of the Old High Church in Inverness, on the site where St Columba reputedly converted the Pictish warrior King Brude. Alater service was followed by the launch of a new Churches Along The River leaflet and website, designed to encourage people to explore the historic riverside churches of Inverness. They include details of St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral; St Mary's RC Church; Inverness Methodist Church, St Michael and All Angels Scottish Episcopal Church; Inverness Trinity Church of Scotland; Old High Church of Scotland; Free North Church; St Columba High Church of Scotland and Ness Bank Church of Scotland. Mr Lacy later preached at the 11am morning service in Ness Bank Church - where he was baptised in 1952.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

A series of events is being held in the Mearns this spring to mark the 200th anniversary of Marykirk Church. A church has been present in the south Aberdeenshire village since 1242 and the current building was opened in 1806.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

A deal between the Church of Scotland and West Lothian Council would see the end of a 160-year-old charter agreement protecting a historic school building. The local authority is set to approve the sale of a site in Livingston Village to allow the Church of Scotland to build a new church hall. As part of the deal, the Church would hand back rights to the land and building of the former school, on Kirk Lane in the village, which was granted to it in 1844.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

The leader of Scotland's 700,000 Roman Catholics has called on the government to ditch plans for a replacement of the Trident nuclear missile system. In his Easter address, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, called on Britain to scrap plans for a successor to the nuclear-armed submarines and instead use the estimated £20bn cost of a replacement to help end world poverty.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

A fascination with 'spin' and conspiracy theories - such as those aired in The Da Vinci Code - is making people increasingly cynical and questioning of the Bible's accuracy, the Archbishop of Canterbury warns today. Dr Rowan Williams used his Easter Sunday sermon to urge people to view the Gospel, rather than Dan Brown's book, which claims Jesus married Mary Magdalene and their descendants live today, or the recently-discovered Coptic text of a Gospel of Judas, as the most reliable account of the origins of the Christian faith.
Source: The Observer.

Feature in the lead-up to Internet Evangelism Day on May 7. Brenda Brasher, Ph.D., author of Give Me That Online Religion, who teaches sociology at the University of Aberdeen, finds a mixture of pros and cons when it comes to evangelism on the internet. "The internet offers an easy, relatively inexpensive, and safe way for people to explore religious options," she said. "The latter is especially important. People without a lot of religious experience are often (shy) about entering a religious setting - reasonably so. They don't know what's expected of them." Drawbacks, she said, include a lack of nuance and body language one gets from face-to-face conversations. "Whoever is in charge of a religious group's Web site exercises a great deal of rhetorical power. If you have ever been to any religious meeting, you will know that there are always varying opinions, nothing works perfectly, and the ebb and flow of normal human gatherings prevails. But online, digital religion is yes/no in form. If someone writes 'This is what we believe' on a web site, a site visitor is exposed to very strong absolutes rather than the diversity he or she would encounter at an in-real-life religious gathering."
Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

Focus on four people who celebrate Easter this year knowing they've followed their dream. They include Rev Craig Lancaster, minister of Hyndland Parish Church of Scotland in Glasgow.
Source: Sunday Mail.

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has entered into the sectarianism debate, criticising Uefa for failing to clamp down hard on Rangers and warning that its inaction could encourage bigotry to flourish in Scotland. Archbishop Mario Conti told the Sunday Herald that the decision by the European footballing body to clear the Ibrox club’s supporters of sectarianism, despite the fact that its own report cited instances of fans chanting a song with the line “up to our knees in Fenian blood” and shouting “F*** the Pope”, was “unhelpful” and might “inadvertently give encouragement to the bigots”.
Source: Sunday Herald.