Sigurd Bergmann

Sigurd Bergmann (born 1956 in Hannover) is a German-Swedish theologian and scholar of religion. He is a professor at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and an alumni fellow of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
His studies concerned the relationship between the image of God and the view of nature in late antiquity, the methodology of contextual theology, visual arts in the indigenous Arctic and Australia, as well as visual arts, architecture and religion, and religion in climate change.
More recently, Bergmann is focused on the amalgamation of “space and religion” (explored in a broad range of sites and fields such as Asian geomancy, Mayan sacred geography, urban spirituality, theology in built environments, and the “aesth/ethics of space”); sacred architecture as critical place in urban environments, and interaction of religion with images and practices with regard to weather.
Education and professional history.
Sigurd Bergmann attended the University of Göttingen, where he studied theology, Greek, philosophy and art history, with interim examination in 1976, and the University of Uppsala, where he graduated theology in 1980. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Lund in 1995 as a student of Lars Thunberg, Per Erik Persson and Per Frostin. He received his docent title in 1996.
From 1980 to 1988 he worked as an ordained minister in the diocese of Lund of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. Prior to his professorship in Trondheim, he was a fellow of the Swedish Research Council at the Department of Art History of the University of Tromsø, and taught systematic theology at universities of Göteborg and Lund, where he also taught at the Department of Human Ecology. In December-February 2011/2012 he worked as a visiting research fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society founded by the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Deutsches Museum.
Apart from ministerial and teaching work, Bergmann also conducted field and site studies in the Sámi Arctic, Peruvian Andes, Aboriginal Australia, Mayan Yucatan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Tanzania, and has published more than 300 publications since 1985, including a number of Nordic anthologies on the themes of diaconia, power, autonomy, ordinary life culture and pluralism.
Academic profile.
The golden thread of Bergmann's research is to explore how images of nature and images of God and/or Sacred interact and emerge in specific contexts, and how these impact on ethics, worldviews and practices in these contexts. His first study (1995) investigated this theme in 4th century (Greek) theological sources in a subtle, methodologically unique correlation to contemporary discourses of environmental theology. The book, resulting from this research, was published in German by Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag (1995), in Russian (Arkhangelsk 1999), and in English in the series "Sacra Doctrina" by Eerdmans, USA (2005). Jürgen Moltmann characterized its content as “an extraordinarily expansive work whose wealth of material links quite disparate fields and whose surprising associations open up completely new vistas”, lauded its “ingenuousness” and the “exemplary structural clarity”, “alongside the enormous wealth of the material”, and praised the author who “rather than moving about in the uncontested theological mainstream, he delights in transgressing boundaries”. The book was extensively reviewed and its main ideas were discussed in separate book chapters; the American Academy of Religion arranged a seminar to launch it at its yearly congress in 2003.
This first study distinctively elaborated the significance of the context for the development of theological thinking, a theme that was mined deeper in the second study on the paradigmatic revision of theological method. It introduced new methodology into Scandinavian countries where it was widely used, and the English edition (2003) represented the fourth internationally influential book on theological method with a particular emphasis on cultural and human ecological analysis: recently a separate chapter in Angie Pears’ "Doing Contextual Theology" (2009) was dedicated to it. While the first study carefully linked the theological exploration to approaches in Life Sciences, the second study established a sustainable synthesis of Cultural Studies and Religious Studies and applied this to Theology, a process that further evolved the transdisciplinary character of Bergmann's work.
In 1996 Bergmann's research offered a surprising turnaround, by approaching the field of contemporary Sami visual arts, an area rather neglected by art history. A year long process of collecting material in the Nordic sub-Arctic was supported by the Swedish Research Council, later also by the Norwegian Research Council (which made it possible to explore comparative fields in Peru and Australia). The study was conducted with a highly complex, new methodology where tools from art history, art anthropology, human ecology, religious studies and theology were interwoven in order to explore the deep chord of understandings of nature, religion, art and ethnicity (published in an extensive volume "Så främmande det lika/So strange the similar" (2009).
As the theoretical reflection of this field appeared as fragmentarily one-eyed, this research led Bergmann also to a specific investigation, published in a dense monograph "In the Beginning is the Icon" (2003, 2009), which has generated extensive comments in several international reviews, and which distinguished philosopher of religion Nicholas Wolterstorff (Yale), declared “a breakthrough in theological aesthetics”. This book is now widely read and used in different fields such as art history, comparative religion, philosophy, and cinema theory.
Research.
Bergmann has conducted field and site studies in the Sámi Arctic, Peruvian Andes, Aboriginal Australia, Mayan Yucatan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Tanzania, and he has published more than 300 publications since 1985, including a number of Nordic anthologies on the themes of diaconia, power, autonomy, ordinary life culture and pluralism.
In the 1990s, he worked as a secretary for the Nordic Forum of Contextual Theology, and initiated and founded the Institute of Contextual Theology in Lund. Between 2002 and 2005 he participated in the Norwegian national research program on Religion in the Age of Globalization. He has also co-managed the interdisciplinary research group on Technical spaces of mobility (2003-07) and initiated and chaired the executive committee for the European Forum on the Study of Religion and Environment since 2005, when he convened the European Science Foundation's (ESF) workshop on Religion and the Environment in Europe.
Awards, honors and service.
In 1993 Bergmann was conferred the award for ”younger promising research in environmental sciences” by Lund University's Centre for Environmental Science and Minister of the Environment Anna Lindh.
He is a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (and leader of its section for philosophy, history of ideas & religion 2009-2011). He is the editor of the Series "Studies in Religion and the Environment/Studien zur Religion und Umwelt" at LIT Verlag (Berlin-Münster-Wien-Zürich-London), as well as member of several editorial boards, including series "Studies in Environmental Humanities" at Brill Rodopi (Leiden); "Norsk Teologisk Tidskrift" (Oslo); "Junge Kirche" (Uelzen); Blackwell Compass Religion/Christianity (Oxford); "Ecotheology: The Journal of Religion, Nature and the Environment" (London); "Orizonturi Teologice" (University of Oradea, Romania); "Philosophy Activism Nature" (Melbourne, Australia); "Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture and Ecology" (Los Angeles). Furthermore, Bergmann serves as member of the Board of Advisors for the “International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture”, University of Florida (2005- ), as member of the steering committee for the international network “Christian Faith and the Earth”, headed by E. Conradie, University of Western Cape, and as cooperating partner in the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies.
Reception.
Bergmann has been the invited contributor and keynote speaker at a large number of national, Nordic and international conferences and events (on all continents) in the fields of religion, theology, environment, arts, architecture and culture, and has served as a referee for a wide range of evaluations for the international foundations, national research councils in Europe, universities, academic journals and international publishers in Europe, Canada, the US and Australia.
His works have been widely acknowledged and reviewed in many journals such as "Church History" (Chicago); "Revista Latinoamericana de Teologia" (San Salvador); "Revista Eclesiastica Brasiliana"; "Modern Believing" (London); "Tijdschrift voor Theologie" (Nijmegen); "Junge Kirche" (Bremen); "Theologie und Philosophie" (Freiburg); "Religious Studies"; "Swedish Theological Quarterly" (Lund); "Kirke og Kultur" (Oslo); "Ecotheology" (Liverpool); "Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture" (Gainesville, Florida); "Norsk Teologisk Tidskrift" (Oslo); "Finsk Teologisk Tidskrift" (Helsinki); "Religion and the Arts" (Boston); "Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies"; International Society for Environmental Ethics; "Journal of Early Christian Studies"; "Cultural Encounters"; ASA (American Scientific Affiliation: A Fellowship of Christians in Science); "CHOICE Magazine"; "Environment & Planning B"; "Billedkunst" (Oslo); "Practical Theology" (London); "Norsk antropologisk tidsskrift" (Oslo); "Contemporary Aesthetics" (Castine, ME); "Transpositions" (University of St Andrews); "Journal of Media and Religion"; "Reviews in Religion & Theology"; "Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events"; "Journal of Transport Geography"; "Midwest Book Review"; "Time and Mind"; "International Journal of Practical Theology"; "Anthropos", and "Theologische Literaturzeitung".
Bergmann's leadership in the international field of the study of religion and the environment is well documented. He initiated (with support from the European Science Foundation) the European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment and served as its elected chair (2005-11). The powerful European body (today with more than 120 active scholars) belongs to the four most dynamic and influential international structures in the research area. His own contribution to this field has since 1999 elaborated avant-garde research about space/place & religion, nurtured by his concept of “aesth/ethics”. This has transformed the study of architecture and urban space in cooperation with scholars in other disciplines by mining deeper the religious dimension of human spatial design. A dense monograph on the philosophical depth of this theme was published in Germany ("Raum und Geist", 2010). An essay on the survey of this research field was widely received and used in different disciplines. An extensive monograph was published in 2014 ("Religion, Space and the Environment", 2nd ed. 2016).
Deepening further the exploration of belief, ethics and space and expanding it to technology and motion, Bergmann co-led the interdisciplinary research project (12 scholars in different disciplines) “Technical Spaces of Mobility” (2003-07) which has generated unique groundbreaking insights into the human dimension of mobility. One of its publications was described by Peter Scott as “fresh, pioneering (...) Introducing new questions and methodologies, this ‘must-read’ volume marks an important contribution to the bourgeoning scholarly discussion of mobility".
Bergmann's cooperation with climatologist Dieter Gerten, which was supported by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the NTNU and the Volkswagen Stiftung, led to three international workshops and two pioneering publications on the theme of religion in ongoing climatic change. His two publications on architecture, religion, and aesthetics (2005 and 2009) serve as standard works for the study field of sacred architecture.
Since 1997 Bergmann has supervised nine PhD students; six hold academic positions in Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Ghana. He has appointed and supervised three post-doc-scholars, who now hold assistant professorships in sustainable education, comparative religion, and ethics in global political studies, respectively.
Selected publications.
-"Geist, der Natur befreit: Die trinitarische Kosmologie Gregors von Nazianz im Horizont einer ökologischen Theologie der Befreiung" (Mainz: Grünewald 1995); Russian edition Arkhangelsk: University Press 1999; revised English edition "Creation Set Free: The Spirit as Liberator of Nature" (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2005, with a preface by Jürgen Moltmann)
-"Geist, der lebendig macht: Lavierungen zur ökologischen Befreiungstheologie", (Frankfurt/M.: Verlag für interkulturelle Kommunikation 1997)
-"God in Context: A Survey on Contextual Theology", (Aldershot: Ashgate 2003, with a preface by Mary C. Grey)
-"Architecture, Aesth/Ethics and Religion" (ed.) (Frankfurt/M. and London: Verlag für interkulturelle Kommunikation 2005)
-"Spaces of Mobility: The Planning, Ethics, Engineering and Religion of Human Motion", (ed. with T. Hoff and T. Sager, London: Equinox 2008)
-"The Ethics of Mobilities: Rethinking Place, Exclusion, Freedom and Environment", (ed. with T. Sager, Farnham and Burlington VT: Ashgate 2008)
-"In the Beginning Is the Icon: A Liberative Theology of Images, Visual Arts and Culture", (London: Equinox 2009, with a preface by Nicholas Wolterstorff)
-"Så främmande det lika:Samisk konst i ljuset av religion och globalisering" ("So Strange so Similar: Sami Arts, Religion & Globalization", Trondheim: Tapir 2009)
-"Theology in Built Environments – Exploring Religion, Architecture, and Design", (ed., New Brunswick and London: Transaction 2009)
-"Religion, Ecology & Gender:East-West Perspectives", (ed. with Kim, Y.-B., Berlin-Münster-Wien-Zürich-London: LIT 2009)
-"Nature, Space and the Sacred: Transdisciplinary Perspectives", (ed. with P. Scott et al., Farnham and VT: Ashgate 2009)
-"Raum und Geist: Zur Erdung und Beheimatung der Religion – Eine theologische Ästh/Ethik des Raums", (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2010)
-"Religion and Dangerous Environmental Change: Transdisciplinary Perspectives on the Ethics of Climate and Sustainability", (ed. with D. Gerten, Berlin-Münster-Wien-Zürich-London: LIT 2010)
-"Religion som rörelse: Exkursioner i rum, tro och mobilitet", ("Religion as Movement", Trondheim: Tapir 2010)
-"Ecological Awareness: Exploring Religion, Ethics and Aesthetics", (ed. with H. Eaton, Berlin-Münster-Wien-Zürich-London: LIT 2010)
-"Religion in Global Environmental and Climate Change: Sufferings, Values, Lifestyles", (ed. with D. Gerten, New York and London: Continuum 2011)
-"Religion, Space & the Environment", (New Brunswick NJ: Transaction Publishers 2014/2016)
-"Christian Faith and the Earth: Current Paths and Emerging Horizons in Ecotheology", (ed. with E. Conradie, C. Deane-Drummond and D. Edwards, New York and London: Bloomsbury 2014)
-"Spaces in-between: Cultural and Political Perspectives on Environmental Discourse", (ed. with M. Luccarelli, (Studies in Environmental Humanities, Vol. 2),
Leiden: Brill Rodopi 2015)
-"Technofutures, Nature and the Sacred: Transdisciplinary Perspectives", (ed. with C. Deane-Drummond and B. Szerszynski, Farnham: Ashgate 2015)
-"Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, Ecology", Special Issue “Spatial Turns”, (Guest editor), "Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, Ecology", Volume 20, Number 3, 2016
-"Religion in the Anthropocene", (ed. with C. Deane-Drummond and M. Vogt, Eugene OR: Wipf & Stock Cascade 2017)
-"Exploring Nature’s Texture: Engaging Environments Through Visual Arts and Religion", (ed. with F. Clingerman, (Studies in Environmental Humanities), Leiden: Brill Rodopi, forthcoming).


Zulhadi Omar

Zulhadi Omar, also known as Eddie Teyo, is a Malaysian handyman. Erroneously labelled as a Malay while in fact he is Chinese, he is known for his many lawsuits against Malaysia in a bid to officially change faith from Islam to Buddhism.


Hippolyte Simon

Hippolyte Simon (25 February 1944 – 25 August 2020) was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. He served as Bishop of Clermont from 1996 to 2002 before becoming Archbishop, serving until 2016. He was Vice-President of the Bishops' Conference of France from 2007 to 2013.
Biography.
After entering the Seminary of Coutances, Simon pursued a degree from the Seminary of Bayeux. He subsequently earned a master's degree in philosophy from the Institut Catholique de Paris and another master's in political philosophy from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. Here, he defended his thesis, titled "Le dépérissement de l’État selon Karl Marx".
Simon was ordained on 27 June 1970 in the Diocese of Coutances. His first vocation was a lycée chaplain in Mortain, then staying in Caen from 1978 to 1990. He was a diaconate in the Diocese of Coutances from 1990 to 1996, and was one of the auditors at the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale from 1993 to 1994. He was appointed as Bishop of Clermont on 22 February 1996 and took office on 4 May, succeeding Jacques Fihey and residing at the Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral. His position was elevated to archbishop status on 16 December 2002 following a redistribution of ecclesiastical provinces in France by Pope John Paul II. Therefore, he became Archbishop of Clermont.
Simon represented France in the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community until November 2007, when he was succeeded by Christian Katz of Strasbourg. Monsignor Simon submitted his resignation letter on 22 February 2016 to Pope Francis, and the resignation took effect on 17 March.
Hippolyte Simon died on 25 August 2020 in Caen at the age of 76.


Islam in Turkmenistan

According to a 2009 Pew Research Center report, 93.1% of Turkmenistan's population is Muslim. Traditionally, the Turkmen of Turkmenistan, like their kin in Uzbekistan are Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims, the other main branch of Islam, are not numerous in Turkmenistan, and the Shia religious practices of the Azerbaijani and Kurdish minorities are not politicized. The great majority of Turkmen readily identify themselves as Muslims and acknowledge Islam as an integral part of their cultural heritage, but some support a revival of the religion's status primarily as an element of national revival.
History and structure.
Islam was introduced to Turkmenistan during the period of Islamic conquest by the second and third Rashidun Caliphs, Umar and Uthman.
Integrated within the Turkmen tribal structure is the "holy" tribe called övlat. Ethnographers consider the övlat, of which six are active, as a revitalized form of the ancestor cult injected with Sufism. According to their genealogies, each tribe descends from the Prophet Muhammad through one of the Four Caliphs. Because of their belief in the sacred origin and spiritual powers of the övlat representatives, Turkmen accord these tribes a special, holy status. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the övlat tribes became dispersed in small, compact groups in Turkmenistan. They attended and conferred blessings on all important communal and life-cycle events, and also acted as mediators between clans and tribes. The institution of the övlat retains some authority today. Many of the Turkmen who are revered for their spiritual powers trace their lineage to an övlat, and it is not uncommon, especially in rural areas, for such individuals to be present at life-cycle and other communal celebrations.
Islam in the Soviet Era.
In the Soviet era, all religious beliefs were attacked by the communist authorities as superstition and "vestiges of the past." Most religious schooling and religious observance were banned, and the vast majority of mosques were closed. An official Muslim Board of Central Asia with headquarters in Tashkent was established during World War II to supervise Islam in Central Asia. For the most part, the Muslim Board functioned as an instrument of propaganda whose activities did little to enhance the Muslim cause. Atheist indoctrination stifled religious development and contributed to the isolation of the Turkmen from the international Muslim community. Some religious customs, such as Muslim burial and male circumcision, continued to be practiced throughout the Soviet period, but most religious belief, knowledge, and customs were preserved only in rural areas in "folk form" as a kind of unofficial Islam not sanctioned by the state-run Spiritual Directorate.
Religion after independence.
The current government oversees official Islam through a structure inherited from the Soviet period. Turkmenistan's Muslim Religious Board, together with that of Uzbekistan, constitutes the Muslim Religious Board of Mavarannahr. The Mavarannahr board is based in Tashkent and exerts considerable influence in appointments of religious leaders in Turkmenistan. The governing body of Islamic judges (Kaziat) is registered with Turkmenistan's Ministry of Justice, and a council of religious affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers monitors the activities of clergy. Individuals who wish to become members of the official clergy must attend official religious institutions; a few, however, may prove their qualifications simply by taking an examination.
A part of Turkmen do not regularly attend mosque services or demonstrate their adherence publicly, except through participation in officially sanctioned national traditions associated with Islam on a popular level, including life-cycle events such as weddings, burials, and pilgrimages. However, since 1990, efforts have been made to regain some of the cultural heritage lost under Soviet rule. President Saparmurat Niyazov has ordered that basic Islamic principles be taught in public schools. More religious institutions, including religious schools and mosques, have appeared, many with the support of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Turkey. Religious classes are held in both schools and mosques, with instruction in Arabic language, the Qur'an and the hadith, and history of Islam.
Turkmenistan's government stresses its secular nature and its support of freedom of religious belief, as embodied in the 1991 Law on Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Organizations in the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic and institutionalized in the 1992 constitution. That document guarantees the separation of church and state; it also removes any legal basis for Islam to play a role in political life by prohibiting proselytizing, the dissemination of "unofficial" religious literature, discrimination based on religion, and the formation of religious political parties. In addition, the government reserves the right to appoint and dismiss anyone who teaches religious matters or who is a member of the clergy. Since independence, the Islamic leadership in Turkmenistan has been more assertive, but in large part it still responds to government control. The official governing body of religious judges gave its official support to President Niyazov in the June 1992 elections.
On the other hand, some Muslim leaders are opposed to the secular concept of government and especially to a government controlled by former communists (see Centers of Political Power, this ch.). Some official leaders and teachers working outside the official structure have vowed to increase the population's knowledge of Islam, increase Islam's role in society, and broaden adherence to its tenets. Alarmed that such activism may alienate Orthodox Slavs, the government has drawn up plans to elevate the council of religious affairs to ministry status in an effort to regulate religious activities more tightly.


Christianity in Botswana

More than 70% of the population of Botswana is Christian, with most being members of the Anglican, United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and African independent churches. Anglicans in Botswana are part of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. Membership in the Roman Catholic Church includes about 5% of the nation's population.
Recently the number of Pentecostal churches has been rising. A strong revival has been going on. Among activities in churches is all night prayers,evangelism and holding crusades. midweek services are also conducted in some churches for bible study.In these meetings prayers are usually made for the church,members,community and leaders in the nation. Some of the churches in Botswana include Pentecostal Protestant Church, Assemblies of God, Apostolic Faith Mission, Eloyi Christian Church, Pentecostal Holiness Church, Dutch Reformed Church in Botswana, Good News Ministries, Christ Embassy, Bible Life Ministries, Victory International Centre (VIC), First Love Church, Winners Chapel International to name but a few. There's also the presence of Eastern Orthodox Church.
One of the first missionaries to bring the gospel to the land of Botswana was David Livingstone.
The churches normally meet occasionally to worship together under the name Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana.This body is like an organization of churches and it is the voice of the church.
Major denominational families.
Botswana citizens identify themselves as Christians. Anglicans, Methodists, and the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa make up the majority of Christians.
A survey of the Botswana identified the percentages of these groups as 66% (Protestant), 7% (Roman Catholics) and 1%(Others).
Youth programs.
While children and youth in the colonial era were treated as small adults, awareness of their special status and needs grew in the nineteenth century, as one after another the denominations large and small began special programs for their young people. Protestant denominations set up Sunday school programs. They provide a major source of new members. The Catholics have set up an entire network of parochial schools, and by the late nineteenth century probably more than half of their young members are attending elementary schools run by local parishes.
Demographics.
Conversion.
A study from 2015 estimated that about 100 Botswana Muslims convert to Christianity, most of whom belong to an evangelical or Pentecostal community. It's been also reported that conversion into Christianity is significantly increasing among East Asians in Botswana.
Education.
The majority of Botswana Christians attend mixed gender public schools, mostly government schools.There are Christian Schools in Botswana.These schools were built by churches. Among such schools we have Moeding college for the United congregational church of Southern Africa.We also have St Josephs College which is under the Roman Catholic Church.
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Although the schools are termed christian schools,the government has a part to play on them more especially in developments and infrastructure. Even teachers of such schools are hired or employed by the government.
Media.
Television.
Every weekday public channel BTV broadcasts short religious programmes at 05h30.


Evangelical Presbyterian Church of East Timor

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church of East Timor (Igreja Evangelica Presbyteriana iha Timor Leste in Tetun) is a Reformed Presbyterian denomination in East Timor with 14 churches and 3 chapels. It has 3,500 members and 9 pastors - 6 full-time 3 part- time pastors and 6 evangelists. The church is supported by the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and sister church relationship was also formed between these denominations. It held the foundational Synod in 2011. Contacts with the Christian Presbyterian Church in Portugal was also established and mission trip was made in East Timor on August 2012.
History.
In 2000 the Presbyterian Church of Australia, the Australian Presbyterian World Mission (APWM) begun to form relationship with the Protestant Church in East Timor. It was started in the 1960s and grew rapidly. Indonesians gave them a confession, structure and credence to the young church. In 1999 the East Timorese voted to integrate into Indonesia or become a free state. East Timor become a young independent country. As a result, the Protestant church grew smaller, because the members was Indonesians.
APWM found cooperation with the Protestant Church in East Timor difficult and discontinued all relations.
The East Timor church had difficult times. They decided that the old church should minister in the "Eastern Kingdom", and the new church would minister in the "Southern and Western Kingdoms". This new church is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Timor Leste (East Timor) in 2008. The first moderator was Rev. Arlino Marcal, who ask the Australian Presbyterian Church for help. 17 congregation become part of the EPC. The new church building of Igreja Evangélica Presbiteriana Ebenezer de Dili, the headquarters of the Church in Timor Leste, was inaugurated in the district of Caicolí in the southern part of Dili on 28 March 2015.


Union of Islamic Communities of Spain

The Union of Islamic Communities of Spain (UCIDE; ) is a religious organization with seat centered in Madrid. It is supported by Spanish Islamic religious communities. UCIDE is registered in the Registry of Religious Entities at the Spanish Ministry of Presidency and has a cooperation agreement in force with the Community of Madrid.
Its purpose is the development of Islamic religious activities.
Under an agreement signed with the University of Valencia was established the Chair for the Three Religions for the research, teaching and information about Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
It is a co-founder of the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), representative at the Spanish State, and of the Muslim Council for Cooperation in Europe (CMCE), representative organ at the European Union. After death of Riaj Tatary, the elected president is Dr Aiman Adlbi, who is part of the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom.
History.
In the 1960s groups of Muslim university students created student associations and cultural centers, evolving into the "Muslim Students Union of Spain". In 1967, Spain enacted the first law allowing Muslims to organize for religious purposes, becoming in 1968 the nationwide "Muslim Association of Spain" with its central seat in Madrid. It was registered in 1971. They actively contributed to the preparation of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the Statutory Law on Religious Freedom of 1980. In the same year the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain emerged, with registration in 1991.
In 1989 the "declaration of notorious rooting" of Islam in Spain, was developed, prior to the negotiation and signing the "Cooperation Agreement" between the Spanish State and the "Islamic Commission of Spain", which was established for this purpose with another federation in 1992.
The Economic Convention about teachers of Islamic religious education in schools and the curriculum of the courses to study was approved and published by early 1996 to edit later the religion textbooks Discover Islam for Primary. That same year it created in Strasbourg the "Muslim Council for Cooperation in Europe" (CMCE), with UCIDE as a founding member.
In 2006, the inclusion at the Social Security system for imams and the regulation of prison religious assistants was achieved. The Union of Islamic Communities of Spain has collaboration agreements with Al-Azhar University in Cairo and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which participates in joint projects with the Spanish State's Foundation for Pluralism and Coexistence.
Representatives.
After the 2020 elections UCIDE representatives include:
The Union is headquartered at the offices of the Muslim Association of Spain as well as the Islamic Community of Madrid, Abu-Bakr Mosque (Madrid).
UCIDE also adopts the regional organization of the State, coordinated from its regional offices with their elected representatives.


Jean Hamon (doctor)

Jean Hamon (2 January 1618 – 22 February 1687) was a French doctor and writer of many works on medical and religious subjects. He was born in Cherbourg. A Jansenist, he taught at the Petites écoles de Port-Royal. He died in Paris.


Ellison Pogo

Sir Ellison Leslie Pogo KBE (also Pogolamana; 1947 – 13 May 2013) was a Solomon Islands Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Melanesia and Bishop of Central Melanesia from 1994 until December 9, 2008. He was the third Archbishop of Melanesia, following Amos Waiaru. He was married to Roslyn and had three adult children.
Pogo was educated at St John's College, Auckland and ordained in 1979. After an early post at Anderson's Bay, Dunedin he was Bishop of Ysabel in the Solomon Islands until his translation to Melanesia. He was installed as Archbishop of Melanesia on 17 April 1994.
Pogo was the senior primate of the Anglican Communion until his retirement and chairman of the design group of the 2008 Lambeth Conference, and Chairman of Pacific Theological College. He was also one of the few Anglican Primates to have been knighted by Elizabeth II, Queen of Solomon Islands. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury awarded him the Cross of St Augustine in October 2008.


Christianity in Mauritius

Christianity is the religion adhered to by 32.7 per cent of the population of Mauritius. Of these, 80.3 per cent are Roman Catholics. The Mauritian Creole and Franco-Mauritian ethnic groups are mostly Christian and significant parts of the Sino-Mauritian ethnic group are also mainly Christian. Mauritius got independence in 1968 and there was no state religion in Mauritius defined in the constitution. The religious organizations present at the time of independence, namely, Roman Catholic Church, Church of England, Presbyterian Church, Seventh-day Adventist, Hindus and Muslims are recognized by parliamentary decree.
Roman Catholics were the majority Christians with a total of 26 per cent of the total Mauritian population, while all others, totaling six per cent, were Seventh-day Adventists, Anglicans, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Assemblies of God. The major and the oldest church in Mauritius is the St. Louis Cathedral, Port-Louis, while St. James Cathedral is another historic Cathedral.
History.
Christianity first came to Mauritius with the first inhabitants, the Dutch. However, the Dutch abandoned the island in 1710. The French brought Christianity again when they arrived in 1715. From 1723, there was a law whereby all slaves coming to the island must be baptised Catholic. This law does not seem to have been strictly adhered to. In December 1810, 11,500 soldiers from Britain in 70 vessels started to north of Ille de France from Rodrigues to neutralize the island from the French to prevent them from using it as a base to attack India. Decaen, the French Governor, was expecting the forces in Port Louis and was surprised to see them in the Ille de France. He readily surrendered with a token resistance in the capital. The British forces allowed the French soldiers to leave and allowed the settlers to stay back. To prevent inhibition in the mind of settlers, the British pledged to preserver the laws of the land, religion, custom, language and property. After they had taken Mauritius from the French during the Napoleonic Wars, the British tried to turn Mauritius Protestant during the 1840s and 1850s.
Another account states that Christianity was the first religion in the island country and is the religion for both the Creole and the White population, with more than 80 per cent being Sino-Mauritans.
But Franco-Mauritians, usually having the same religion and denomination as the Creoles, have sometimes emphasised their differences from the Creoles by practising more traditionally, for instance celebrating Mass in Latin.
Christian faiths.
Roman Catholics were the majority Christians with a total of 26 per cent of the total Mauritian population, while all others accounted for six per cent of the total population. They were Seventh-day Adventists, Anglicans, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Assemblies of God. Among the spread of Christianity in the nation, Port Louis and the island of Rodrigues had a majority of Roman Catholics.
Reformed tradition in Mauritius dates back to 1598 during the period of Dutch. The Presbyterian Church in Mauritius is considered an inheritor of the tradition, but in spite of having Parish Ministry in just three places, it has strong links with Parishes in Scotland, France and Switzerland. Roman Catholicism is believed to have been introduced by the French during 1721. It is part of Bishop's Conference of Indian Ocean, it had 47 parishes and 97 priests as of 2001. The Anglican Church in Mauritius was introduced during the British from 1810 and in modern times, is a part of Province of Indian Ocean with 16 parishes and 12 priests as of 2001. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was formed in 1914, Brethren Church in 1942, New Jerusalem Church in 1907, Christian Science in 1950, Jehovah's Witnesses in 1951 and Assemblies of God in 2000.
Government policies.
Mauritius gained independence in 1968 and there was no state religion in Mauritius defined in the constitution. The nation had no indigenous population nor any indigenous tribes or religion. The religious organizations present at the time of independence, namely, Roman Catholic Church, Church of England, Presbyterian Church, Seventh-day Adventist, Hindus and Muslims are recognized by parliamentary decree. The constitution and other laws protect freedom of religion. The groups recognized by the government before independence receive an annual sum for paying their adherents. The government allows overseas missionary groups to operate on a case-by-case basis, although there are no rules that prohibit proselytizing activities. The missionaries should obtain both residence permit and work permit to operate, which is provided for a maximum of three years, without any extension. There are lot of government holidays, most of which are religious indicating the heterogeneity of religions. As per the International Religious Freedom report of 2012 published by the United States Department of States, there were no incidence of religious abuses. The report also indicates other religions claim that Hindus have a majority in the government, while Hindus have sought a policy for anti-conversion.
Churches.
The major and the oldest church in Mauritius is the St. Louis Cathedral, Port-Louis. Originally built by French during the 18th century, the church was destroyed in a cyclone during the early 19th century. It was rebuilt in 1925 and expanded with a twin tower in 1932. A fountain built in 1786 by Governor Vicomte de Souillac and an oil painting depicting a biblical scene, painted by A. Richard in 1855, are the major artefacts in the church. St. James Cathedral, located on the Poudriere Street is locally called cyclone shelter with its two metre thick wall of the old structure. St. Andrews, built in 1851 and St. Johns' in 1856 in Port Louis are prominent churches built by Patrick Beaton, the first minister of Church of Scotland in Mauritius.


Asad Muhammad Saeed as-Sagharji

Asad Muhammad Saeed as-Sagharji (أسعد محمد سعيد الصاغرجي) was a Syrian Islamic scholar specializing in the field of Hanafi Fiqh, who lived in Damascus, Syria. He was the head Imam of Jamia al-Umawi in Damascus, and was the leading Faqih (jurist) in Syria. As-Sagharji belonged to the Shadhili Sufi order. He is the author of several books. One of the Shaykh’s most prominent teachers was the distinguished Syrian scholar, Al-Shaykh al-Sayyid Ibrahīm al-Ya’qūbī.
Works.
The Shaykh was a prolific author and produced a number of notable works,
His "al-Fiqh al-Hanafiyyah wa Adillatahu" is a comprehensive manual in three volumes on the key evidence from the Qur'an and Sunnah proving the Hanafi Fiqh. Along with the Shaykh’s other works such as "Shu’ab al-īmān", "Sayyidunā Muhammad Rasūlallāh", "Zawjatun-Nabī" and "Hajj wal-‘Umra",the book is studied in many Arab universities, including the renowned Al-Azhar University in Cairo.
Death.
He died on 21 August 2015 and was buried in Madina Jannatul Baqi cemetery.


List of Muftis of Eritrea

This is a list of Muftis of Eritrea:


North Texas Hindu Mandir

North Texas Hindu Mandir or NTHM, is a Hindu Mandir in Dallas, Texas and is one of the many Hindu Temples located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Its located on 10309 Baronne Cir, Dallas, TX 75218.
History.
In 1992, Indo-Caribbean Hindu Immigrants in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area established CHANT, Caribbean Hindu Association of North Texas. In 2002, CHANT purchased an old synagogue in the Old Lake Highlands Neighborhood of Dallas. They repainted the interior and installed several Hindu Murtis and in 2002, it opened as a non sectarian Hindu Temple for Hindus from all over the world. On April 15, 2015, several members of Mara Salvatrucha vandalized the temple by drawing '666' on the Temple doors and various symbols of Devil Worship were sprayed on the walls of the Temple. In response, the Hindu Temple installed several cameras around the premises and a fence around the temple to prevent further attacks from happening in the future.
Design.
Due to the influence of various Hindu Groups from around the world, the Hindu Temple's interior has Hindu Deities in a line along the wall, barely raised above the floor. There are no pedestals so devotees can touch the Murtis.
Charity.
NTHM's Youth Group facilitates various drives for charities in the area such as the North Texas Food Bank.


Lighthouse Cooperative

Lighthouse Cooperative is an associational cooperative established in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Philippines on July 7, 1998 by founder Rosauro "Pastor Ross" G. Resuello, together with Arturo B. Tabbu, Christian D. Sales, Andy L. Catulin, Serafin Umoquit, and 10 more cooperators. The members of the cooperative are also church members of the Victory Christian Fellowship of Tuguegarao.
History.
In 1998, the cooperative started as a food catering service provider during meetings and occasions for fellow members. Few years later, the cooperative expanded its services to computer sales as the demand for personal computers have risen in Tuguegarao. As years go by, Furniture and School and Office Supplies were also catered by this cooperative.
In 2004, Carne Ybanag was its new business venture producing local Tuguegarao sausages, other processed meat products, and buffalo crackers. In 2011, Carne Ybanag became Ybanag Food Products because of its production of milk candies, peanut brittles, cassava and rice crackers, and many other new processed foods.
Currently, the Cooperative maintains four departments selling furniture, school and office supplies, computer sales and repair, and the Ybanag Food Products.
Notable Registered Brands and Food Products.
The Chicha-rabao is one of the brands developed by the cooperative. It is deep-fried and popped buffalo/carabao skin added with flavors. It is a variant of the chicharon, which is a popular delicacy among Filipinos and Spanish-influenced nations. Chicha-rabao is currently one of the popular pasalubongs from Tuguegarao City.
Miss Kara is also a brand developed by the cooperative to help market the carabao milk candy industry of the city. Miss Kara candies are creamy truffles made from processed carabao milk, commonly known as "pastillas" to Filipinos.
Chicha-rica is a seasonal product of the cooperative which are crackers made from rice and cassava.
Officers.
The following are the current officers of the cooperative:
Membership.
The cooperative has two types of memberships. Regular members are members who are entitled to vote and are holders of commons shares. At the other hand, associate members hold preferred shares but are not entitled to vote. There are 144 regular members of this cooperative and 621 associate members. The membership of the cooperative continually grows at an average of 5 new members per month. According to the Cooperative's By-Laws, Regular Members are also members of the Victory Christian Fellowship of Tuguegarao and have met the requirements of regular membership; on the other hand, all others who have applied and have been accepted shall only be considered for Associate Membership if requirements are not met.


Christianity in Jordan

Jordan contains some of the oldest Christian communities in the world, their presence dating back to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ early in the 1st century AD. Christians today make up about 4% of the population, down from 20% in 1930, but their absolute numbers have increased. This is due to high immigration rate of Muslims into Jordan, higher emigration rates of Christians and higher birth rates for Muslims. Jordanian Christians number around 250,000, most of whom are ethnically Arab, according to a 2014 estimate by the Orthodox Church. The study excluded minority Christian groups and the thousands of western, Iraqi and Syrian Christians residing in Jordan.
The majority of Jordanian Christians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, estimated between 125,000–300,000, while Catholics number 114,000 and Protestants 30,000. There has been an influx of Christian refugees escaping the Islamic State mainly from Mosul, Iraq numbering about 7,000 and 20,000 from Syria. Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is technically not allowed. However, there are cases in which a Muslim will adopt the Christian faith, secretly declaring his/her faith. In effect, they are practising Christians, but legally Muslims; thus, the statistics of Jordanian Christians does not include Muslim converts to Christianity. A 2015 study estimates some 6,500 believers in Christ from a Muslim background in Jordan.
Jordan's Arab Christians are exceptionally well integrated in the Jordanian society and enjoy a high level of freedom. Christians are allotted a minimum of 7% of the seats in the Jordanian parliament (9 out of 130 seats), significantly greater than their percentage of the total Jordanian population. Jordanian Christians also hold important ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank. The highest position reached by a Jordanian Christian is Deputy Prime Minister, most recently held by Rajai Muasher. All Christian religious ceremonies are publicly celebrated in Jordan.
History.
Jordanian Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the world, and the majority have always been Orthodox adherents to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which is the 16 Church of St. James, and was founded during Jesus’s lifetime. The Jordanian Orthodox Christians are believed to be around 300,000. Many of them are descended from the Ancient Arab Ghassanid and Lakhmid Tribes, and they have throughout history shared the fate and the struggles of their Muslim fellow tribesmen.
In the year 630, during the Islamic prophet Muhammad's lifetime, many Jordanian Christians joined Muhammad's army led by his adopted son Zeid ibn Haritha and his cousin Jafar bin Abi Taleb, and fought against the Byzantine army of their fellow Orthodox Christians at the Battle of Mutah in Karak (it is because of this battle that they earned their tribal name "'Uzaizat" which means "the reinforcements"—and Archbishop Fouad Twal himself comes from these tribes). In 1099, during the First Crusade, some were killed by Crusaders at the Fall of Jerusalem alongside the Muslims. Later from 1916–1918 during the Great Arab Revolt they fought with the Muslim Arabs against the Ottoman forces; they thereafter languished for a few decades along with their Muslim fellows under a Protestant Colonial Mandate, and in the Israeli Arab Wars of 1948, 1967 and 1968 they fought with Muslim Arabs against Israel. Christian Jordanians have not only defended Jordan, but have also helped to build Jordan, playing leading roles in the fields of politics, education, health, commerce, tourism, agriculture, science, culture and numerous other fields.
Role in Jordanian society.
Christians are exceptionally well integrated in the Jordanian society and have a high level of freedom, though they are not free to evangelize Muslims. They form a significant part of the kingdom's political and economic elite. Christians enjoy high economic and social opportunities in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan compared to the position of some, but not all, of their co-religionists in the rest of the Middle East. Christians are allotted 9 out of a total of 130 seats in the Jordanian parliament, and also hold important ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank.
Jordanian Christians are allowed by the public and private sectors to leave their work to attend mass on Sundays. All Christian religious ceremonies are publicly celebrated in Jordan, Christians have established good relations with the royal family and the various Jordanian government officials, and they have their own ecclesiastical courts for matters of personal status. The government has contributed to restoring pilgrimages to the baptismal site of Jesus Christ. Jordanian Christians of the evangelical church created the Jordan Evangelical Council in 2006. The most recent elections in September 2019 elected Reverend Habes Nimat as president and Reverend David Rihani as vice president.
Christians involved in Jordanian politics include; Rajai Muasher, currently Deputy Prime Minister. Also Dina Kawar, current Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S., was the first Arab woman to lead the Security Council through Jordan's seat who also happens to be a Jordanian Christian.
King Abdullah II is an ardent supporter of Arab Christians:
Sites.
Biblical sites.
Jordan is part of the Holy Land and has several biblical attractions that attract pilgrimage and tourist activities.
Biblical sites include; Al-Maghtas where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Mount Nebo where Moses looked on to the Promised Land, Umm ar-Rasas a fortified Roman garrison that contains 16 Byzantine churches, Madaba that holds the Madaba Map which is the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land, Machaerus which is a fortified hilltop overlooking the Dead Sea where John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed and Umm Qais (Gadara) where Jesus is thought to have expelled demons out of a man near the shores of the Sea of Galilee. In northern Jordan, there is a small creek where an angel met and wrestled with the patriarch Jacob.
The rock struck by Moses to bring forth water and the patriarch Aaron's tomb are both in southern Jordan. The ruins of the fortress of the Ammonites are on a mountain overlooking downtown Amman. This is the site where King David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah the Hittite killed.
Other sites.
There are many Arab and Frankish castles from the period of the Crusades in Jordan. The most famous of which is Ajlun castle located in the Ajloun district in northern Jordan. Other castles include Montreal (Crusader castle) and Kerak.
Fuheis and Al Husn are two predominantly Christian towns of Jordan.
The world's oldest built church exists in the city of Aqaba, southern Jordan.
Christian institutions.
Schools.
There are many Christian schools in Jordan that educate students from both Christian and Muslim families. Some members of the royal family have attended a Christian school for a portion of their education.
The Rosary Sister's School is run by the Catholic Church.
The Franciscan Sisters School is run by the Franciscans.
The National Orthodox School is run by the Orthodox Church and has received The Cambridge Queen Rania Award multiple times.
The Ahliyyah School for Girls, the Bishop's School for Boys, and the Schneller School are run by the Anglican Church in Amman. There are also a school for the blind, a school for the deaf, and a school for physically handicapped students run by the Anglican church.
The Baptist School of Amman is administered by the Baptist church in Jordan and enrolls students of both genders. The Baptist School band has played at many official government occasions.
La Salle Amman is one of the most prestigious schools in Amman founded in 1950. An institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools founded by Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. Along with Our Lady of Nazareth college and Terra Santa college.
Hospitals.
The first hospital built in Jordan was the 'Evangelical Hospital' built in As-Salt by the Church Missionary Society.
The Italian Hospital in Amman and in Kerak were started by a Catholic surgeon and is entrusted to the Comboni Missionary Sisters. The Catholic Church also runs a maternity hospital and a general hospital in Irbid in northern Jordan.
The Government Hospital in Ajloun was originally run by Baptists.
The Annoor Sanatorium which treats tuberculosis and other lung diseases was founded by a Christian doctor. The Annoor Sanatorium is located outside of Mafraq in northern Jordan.
Several Mission Clinics were also founded across Jordan.
Denominations.
Among the recognized denominations the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic (Latin), Melkite Greek Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Maronite Catholic, Anglican, and Syriac Orthodox Church make up the majority of Jordan's Christian population. Also the Lutheran, Coptic Orthodox, Seventh-day Adventist, United Pentecostal, Latter-day Saints, and Presbyterian churches are recognized denominations while they make up a much smaller proportion of the Christian population.
In addition to the recognized denominations there are religious societies that are allowed to meet freely, but are not recognized as churches by the government. The recognized religious societies are the Evangelical Free Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Assembly of God, the Baptist Church, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Christian denominations in Jordan belong to four major denominational groups:


Hinduism in Odisha


Norman Porteous

Norman Walker Porteous (9 September 1898 in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland – 3 September 2003 in Edinburgh, Scotland) was a noted theologian and writer on Old Testament issues, and the last surviving military officer of the First World War.
Education.
Porteous entered the University of Edinburgh as first bursar in 1916, but his studies were interrupted by World War I service in France, where he served as a subaltern in the 13th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Scots.
He graduated from the University with first class honours in Classics in 1922. After time spent studying and teaching in Oxford, St Andrews and Germany, he rejoined the University in 1935 when he was appointed to the Chair of Old Testament Language, Literature and Theology. In 1954, Porteous was president of the Society for Old Testament Study.
Early career.
In 1937 Porteous was appointed to the Chair of Hebrew and Semitic Languages at the University of Edinburgh. He was Principal of New College and also Dean of the Faculty from 1964 until his retirement in 1968. He had been commissioned into the Edinburgh University Officers' Training Corps in 1941, but resigned his commission as a Lieutenant in 1945.
Contributions.
Norman Porteous was one of the panel of translators of the "New English Bible" and latterly Dean of the University of Edinburgh, where he was also Senior "Professor Emeritus"; he may also have been its oldest graduate.
In 1965, Porteous postulated that an anonymous writer wrote the Book of Daniel during the persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes. According to this theory the anonymous author attributed events that were witnessed by this writer in the 2nd century BCE to Daniel as prophecies. Paul Roche agreed with Porteous. since the writer's incomplete and erroneous view of historical details in the second half of the sixth century support the theory of a late date of writing. Porteous and Roche agree that the book is composed of folktales used to fortify the Jewish faith during a time of persecution and oppression by the Hellenized Seleucids four centuries after the Babylonian captivity.
Death.
Porteous died at the age of 104.


Islam in Estonia

Estonia has one of the smallest Muslim communities in Europe. According to the census of 2011, the number of people who profess Islam was 1,508 in Estonia, or 0.14% of the total population. The number of practicing Muslims is small and, in the absence of a mosque, the Turath Islamic Cultural Center serves as a center of worship.
History.
The first Muslims in Estonia were mostly Sunni Tatars and Shia Azeri who had been released from the military service in the Russian Army after Estonia and Livonia had been conquered by the Russian Empire in 1721. The overwhelming majority of Muslims immigrated to Estonia during the Soviet occupation of Estonia between 1940 and 1991.
Since 1860, the Tatar community started showing activity, the centre being in the city of Narva. A Muslim congregation (Narva Muhamedi Kogudus) was registered there under the independent Republic of Estonia in 1928 and a second one (Tallinna Muhamedi Usuühing) in Tallinn in 1939. A house built for funds received as donations was converted into a mosque in Narva. In 1940, the Soviet authorities banned both congregations, and the buildings of the congregations were destroyed during World War II (in 1944).
There are no mosques in Estonia; in Tallinn an apartment is adapted for prayer purposes. The Muslim community in Estonia is politically moderate and, unusually in the global context, the Sunnis and Shias worship jointly.


Rudolf Vimer

Rudolf Vimer (Bjelovar, March 21, 1863 - Zagreb, 28 October 1933) was a Croatian prebendary, rector of the University of Zagreb, dean of the Catholic Faculty of Theology, corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, writer, polyglot and benefactor.
Biography.
Rudolf Vimer was born in Bjelovar on March 21, 1863, as the ninth child in a family of Austrian origin. His uncle was a priest who helped him with his education. After finishing elementary school in Bjelovar, Vimer enrolled in Classical Gymnasium in Zagreb with help of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. He graduated with top grades. After finishing high school, Vimer went to study theology in Zagreb. He finished his studies in Vienna on the University Pázmáneum, and was ordained a priest in 1885 with only 22 years. He served his first Mass in Bjelovar in 1885 in the Parish Church of St. Teresa of Avila (now: Bjelovar Cathedral). At the same time Vimer served as a chaplain in Karlovac (later in Zagreb in the Parish of St. Petar), prefect of the Zagreb Archdiocese Seminary and teacher of religious studies in elementary schools. From 1890, Vimer served as a catechist at the Zagreb Upper Town Gymnasium and longtime Prefect of the Noble Convict.
After Vimer received a doctorate in theology in Vienna in 1892, he was appointed assistant professor at the Catholic Faculty of Theology at the Department of Oriental Languages (Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldean). In 1895 he received a scholarship from the Provincial Government of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia so he went on a scientific journey through the Middle East. He traveled throughout Palestine, Syria, and Egypt and took part in an expedition to Mount Sinai.
After Vimer came back from his journey, he became a full-time professor of "Introductory Science to the New Testament and the Interpretation of Scripture". Because of his reputation as a scholar, he was elected as a dean of the Faculty, the Rector of the University of Zagreb (1900/1901) and a corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was fluent in most of the European languages, including Latin, Greek, and many oriental languages. Vimer visited many major European libraries and libraries of the Middle East. He was a prolific writer of biblical themes. He wrote the best Croatian "Biography of Jesus Christ in three books", and "The Life of the St. Paul." He is also known as a great humanist. He was helping to poor and was organizing work of many charitable and cultural institutions. He donated his rich library to the Catholic Faculty of Theology.
In his late years, he left 100,000 Austrian krones for building a Franciscan monastery in his hometown of Bjelovar, which was later achieved. He died in Zagreb on October 28, 1933, and was buried in common priests grave at Mirogoj Cemetery.


Simon Bloet

Simon Bloet was a priest in the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Norman noble family that held Ivry in Normandy.
Bloet was brought up in royal fashion. He soon advanced in King Henry I's friendship and in court offices. On his father's death he was fostered by William Rufus. He was described by Henry of Huntingdon as being "quick-witted, a good speaker, physically handsome, radiant with charm, young in years but old in prudence, but tainted with the sin of pride". Whilst attaining such prestige he, for an unknown reason, fell into disfavor and was imprisoned by King Henry I. He escaped by way of a sewer to live in poverty and exile sometime before 1134.
Career.
He was appointed by his father, Robert Bloet Bishop of Lincoln, as Dean of Lincoln and was a Prebendary of Aylesbury sometime after 1093 whilst still a young child. He may have been a Dean and Prebendary in London sometime after 1114 and before 1129.
Family.
Bloet appears to have had one son, Roger Blewett.


Po-Srimitra

Po-Śrīmitra (Chinese 帛尸梨蜜多羅) was a Kuchean prince and Buddhist monk who travelled to south China from 307–312, translating three Buddhist texts.


Islam in Malta

Islam in Malta has had a historically profound impact upon the country—especially its language and agriculture—as a consequence of several centuries of control and presence on the islands. Today, the main Muslim organizations represented in Malta are the Libyan World Islamic Call Society and the minority Ahmadiyya.
History.
Prior to Muslim rule, Eastern Christianity had been prominent in Malta during the time of Greek-Byzantine rule. The thesis of a Christian continuity in Malta during Arab rule, despite being popular, is historically unfounded.
Aghlabid period: 870–1091.
Islam is believed to have been introduced to Malta when the North African Aghlabids, first led by Halaf al-Hadim and later by Sawada ibn Muhammad, conquered the islands from the Byzantines, after arriving from Sicily in 870 (as part of the wider Arab–Byzantine wars). However, it has also been argued that the islands were occupied by Muslims earlier in the 9th, and possibly 8th, century. The Aghlabids established their capital in Mdina. The old Roman fortification, later to become Fort St Angelo, was also extended.
According to the Arab chronicler and geographer al-Ḥimyarī (author of Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar), following the Muslim attack and conquest, Malta was practically uninhabited until it was colonised by Muslims from Sicily in 1048–1049, or possibly several decades earlier. As recognised by the acclaimed Maltese historian Godfrey Wettinger, the Arab conquest broke any continuity with previous population of the island. This is also consistent with Joseph Brincat’s linguistic finding of no further sub-stratas beyond Arabic in the Maltese language, a very rare occurrence which may only be explained by a drastic lapse between one period and the following.
The strongest legacy of Islam in Malta is the Maltese language, and most place names (other than the names Malta and Gozo) are Arabic, as are most surnames, e.g. Borg, Cassar, Chetcuti, Farrugia, Fenech, Micallef, Mifsud and Zammit. It has been argued that this survival of the Maltese language, as opposed to the extinction of Siculo-Arabic in Sicily, is probably due to the eventual large-scale conversions to Christianity of the proportionally large Maltese Muslim population.
The Muslims also introduced innovative and skillful irrigation techniques such as the water-wheel known as the Noria or Sienja, all of which made Malta more fertile. They also introduced sweet pastries and spices and new crops, including citrus, figs, almond, as well as the cultivation of the cotton plant, which would become the mainstay of the Maltese economy for several centuries, until the latter stages of the rule of the Knights of St. John. The distinctive landscape of terraced fields is also the result of introduced ancient Arab methods. Maltese Catholicism remained influenced by the Muslim presence and background, including for the words for God ("Alla") and Lent ("Randan").
Elements of Islamic architecture also remain in the vernacular Maltese style, including the muxrabija, wooden oriel windows similar to the mashrabiya.
Norman period: 1091–1224.
Malta returned to Christian rule with the Norman conquest in 1127. It was, with Noto on the southern tip of Sicily, the last Arab stronghold in the region to be retaken by the resurgent Christians.
The Arab administration was initially kept in place and Muslims were allowed to practise their religion freely until the 13th century. The Normans allowed an emir to remain in power with the understanding that he would pay an annual tribute to them in mules, horses, and munitions. As a result of this favourable environment, Muslims continued to demographically and economically dominate Malta for at least another 150 years after the Christian conquest.
In 1122 Malta experienced a Muslim uprising and in 1127 Roger II of Sicily reconquered the islands.
Even in 1175, Burchard, bishop of Strasbourg, an envoy of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, had the impression, based upon his brief visit to Malta, that it was exclusively or mainly inhabited by Muslims.
In 1224, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, sent an expedition against Malta to establish royal control and prevent its Muslim population from helping a Muslim rebellion in the Kingdom of Sicily.
The conquest of the Normans lead to the gradual Latinization and subsequent firm establishment of Roman Catholicism in Malta, after previous respective Eastern Orthodox and Islamic domination.
Anjou and Aragonese period: 1225–1529.
According to a report in 1240 or 1241 by Gililberto Abbate, who was the royal governor of Frederick II of Sicily during the Genoese Period of the County of Malta, in that year the islands of Malta and Gozo had 836 Muslim families, 250 Christian families and 33 Jewish families.
In 1266, Malta was turned over in fiefdom to Charles of Anjou, brother of France’s King Louis IX, who retained it in ownership until 1283. Eventually, during Charles's rule religious coexistence became precarious in Malta, since he had a genuine intolerance of religions other than Roman Catholicism. However, Malta's links with Africa would still remain strong until the beginning of Spanish rule in 1283.
According to author Stefan Goodwin, by the end of the 15th century all Maltese Muslims would be forced to convert to Christianity and had to find ways to disguise their previous identities. Professor Godfrey Wettinger, who specialized in Malta's medieval history, writes that the medieval Arab historian Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) puts the expulsion of Islam from Malta to the year 1249. Wettinger goes on to say that "there is no doubt that by the beginning of Angevin times [i.e. shortly after 1249] no professed Muslim Maltese remained either as free persons or even as serfs on the island."
Knights of St. John: 1530–1798.
During the period of rule under the Knights Hospitaller, thousands of Muslim slaves, captured as a result of maritime raids, were taken to Malta. In the mid-18th century, there were around 9,000 Muslim slaves in Hospitaller-ruled Malta. They were given a substantial amount of freedom, being allowed to gather for prayers. Although there were laws preventing them from interacting with the Maltese people, these were not regularly enforced. Some slaves also worked as merchants, and at times were allowed to sell their wares in the streets and squares of Valletta. A mosque was built in 1702 during the Order of St John for Turkish slaves within the Slaves' Prison of which neither ruins nor description of its architecture now remain.
After the failure of the Conspiracy of the Slaves (1749), laws restricting the movement of slaves were made stricter. They could not go outside the city limits, and were not to approach any fortifications. They were not allowed to gather anywhere except from their mosque, and were to sleep only in the slave prisons. Moreover, they could not carry any weapons or keys of government buildings.
There was also a deliberate and ultimately successful campaign, using disinformation and often led by the Roman Catholic clergy, to de-emphasize Malta's historic links with Africa and Islam. This distorted history "determined the course of Maltese historiography till the second half of the twentieth century", and it created the rampant Islamophobia which has been a traditional feature of Malta, like other southern European states.
 A cemetery in "il-Menqa" contained the graves of Ottoman soldiers killed in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 as well as Muslim slaves who died in Malta. This cemetery was replaced in 1675 by another one near Spencer Hill ("Via della Croce"), following the construction of the Floriana Lines. Human remains believed to originate from one of these cemeteries were discovered during road works in 2012. The remains of a cemetery, together with the foundations of a mosque, and an even more earlier Roman period remains are located at Triq Dicembru 13, Marsa.
British period: 1800-1964.
The 17th-century cemetery at Spencer Hill had to be relocated in 1865 to make way for planned road works, with one tombstone dating to 1817 being conserved at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.
A new cemetery was commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz, and it was constructed between 1873 and 1874 at "Ta' Sammat" in Marsa, as decided in 1871.
Construction took over six months to complete.
It was designed by the Maltese architect Emanuele Luigi Galizia in Moorish Revival architecture. The design for the project was unique in Maltese architecture at that point. Galizia was awarded the Order of the Medjidie by the Ottoman sultan for designing the Turkish cemetery, and thus was made a Knight of that order.
At the end of the 19th century the cemetery became a landmark by its own due to its picturesque architecture.
Due to the absence of a mosque at the time, the cemetery was generally used for Friday prayers until the construction of a mosque in Paola. The small mosque at the cemetery was intended to be used for prayers during an occasional burial ceremony, but the building and the courtyard of the cemetery became frequently used as the only public prayer site for Muslims until the early 1970s.
A properly sized mosque was designed by Architect Galizia but the project was abandoned. The plans are available in Turkish archives in Istanbul which hold the words “Progetto di una moschea – Cimitero Musulmano“ (Project for a mosque – Muslim Cemetery). A possible reason for shelving the project was the economic situation and political decline of the Ottoman Empire. The place became too small eventually for the growing Muslim community.
Independent Malta.
In modern times, Malta's unique culture has enabled it to serve as Europe's "bridge" to the Arab cultures and economies of North Africa.
After independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, Libya became an important ally of socialist Maltese leader Dom Mintoff. History books were published that began to spread the idea of a disconnection between the Italian and Catholic populations, and instead tried to promote the theory of closer cultural and ethnic ties with North Africa. This new development was noted by Boissevain in 1991:
...the Labour government broke off relations with NATO and sought links with the Arab world. After 900 years of being linked to Europe, Malta began to look southward. Muslims, still remembered in folklore for savage pirate attacks, were redefined as blood brothers.
Malta and Libya also entered into a "Friendship and Cooperation Treaty", in response to repeated overtures by Gaddafi for a closer, more formal union between the two countries; and, for a brief period, Arabic had become a compulsory subject in Maltese secondary schools.
The Islamic Centre of Paola, was founded in 1978 by the World Islamic Call Society, together with a Muslim school called the Maryam al-Batool school.
In 1984 the Mariam Al-Batool Mosque was officially opened by Muammar Gaddafi in Malta, two years after its completion.
Mario Farrugia Borg, later part of the personal office of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, was the first Maltese public officer to take an oath on the Koran when co-opted into the Qormi local council in 1998.
In 2003, of the estimated 3,000 Muslims in Malta, approximately 2,250 were foreigners, approximately 600 were naturalised citizens, and approximately 150 were native-born Maltese.
By 2010, there were approximately 6,000 Muslims in Malta—most of whom are Sunni and foreigners.


Italian Hindu Union

The Italian Hindu Union (, UII) is an association representing Hinduism in Italy.
The UII was founded in 1996, under the leadership of Swami Yogananda Giri and the cooperation of the Indian Embassy in Rome.
In 2007 the association, which represents a large chunk of Italy's 115,000 Hindus, signed an agreement with the Italian government, in accordance with article 8 of the Italian Constitution (which regulates the relations with religious minorities), and the agreement became law in 2012.


Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi () is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Nairobi in Kenya, and the Primatial see for Kenya.
Special churches.
The seat of the archbishop is a minor basilica, the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Nairobi.


Christian Howard (theologian)

Dame Rosemary Christian Howard (5 September 1916 – 22 April 1999) was the daughter of Geoffrey and Ethel Christian (née Methuen) Howard. She was awarded the honorary degree of Lambeth Master of Arts by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Born at her family's Castle Howard, she worked for the ordination of women, as well as being active in the ecumenical movement. She was remembered as "a great character, a great Christian woman and a formidable person" by the Archdeacon of York, George Austin, who was one her staunchest opponents on the ordination of women. Her grandmother, Rosalind Howard, Countess of Carlisle, had been a tireless worker for the women's suffrage organization - as a suffragist, wedded to legal means, rather than a suffragette - and Howard followed her example in her work to achieve the ordination of women to the priesthood.
A founding member of the Movement for the Ordination of Women, she concentrated her major effort on the synodical process to secure the necessary legislation. In 1972 she wrote a report for General Synod entitled The Ordination of Women to Priesthood. She earned the Lambeth Diploma in Theology, was appointed a lay canon provincial of York Minster, served on General Synod 1970-85, was a delegate to the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1961 and 1968, was appointed to the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC and served as the first woman vice-moderator.


Nathan Brown (writer)

Nathan G. Brown (born 1974) is a Christian author and editor. Brown is the "book editor" for Signs Publishing Company, based near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
From 2003, he was editor of the magazines "Signs of the Times", an Australian Christian magazine with a similar format to "Reader's Digest"; "Record", the newsmagazine for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific; and the "Edge". He has written articles for a broad variety of magazines internationally, and has written or been the editing author of six or more books. He has won several awards for his writing. Former "Adventist Review" editor Bill Johnsson has described him as the best writer in the Adventist church.
He has degrees in law, English, and literature.
Biography.
Brown has degrees in law, English and literature. In around 1999, he won a writing contest.
He worked for Signs Publishing Company as a reporter for the "Record". He received an internship with the "Adventist Review" where he worked for six months. He received an honorable mention from the United States Associated Church Press for his article "Unfinished Work" in the "Adventist Review" world edition.
Brown was appointed chief editor of the Signs Publishing Company in 2003, believed to be its youngest editor ever; and moved from Townsville in northern Queensland to Victoria and the office of Signs Publishing Company.
He wrote a regular column for the "Adventist Review" for four years from 2003 till 2006, and has also had columns in "Edge", and "Signs of the Times". He has also had columns with other Christian magazines, and published other pieces.
Brown/"Record" received the "Best editorial/opinion piece" award from the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) on 4 October 2008. The award was for Brown's editorial "The 'family' myth" which critiqued the "family values" rhetoric of politicians, and appeared in "Record" just prior to the 2007 federal election. The judges commented,
He is studying towards a doctorate in English from James Cook University about the possibilities of God in postmodern literature. His hobbies include reading and writing, playing basketball, making radio, and growing flowers. He is married to Angela, with whom he supports sponsor children in several countries.
Publications.
Brown has published many articles and several books, including:
Compiler and editor of:
Chapters in the "Australian Stories" series of books:


Ribat of Arrifana

The Ribat of Arrifana is situated in Aljezur in the Faro District of the Algarve in Portugal. It was a Muslim coastal fortress built around 1130 and is the only such Muslim fortress to have been identified in Portugal, having been excavated by Portuguese archaeologists since 2001.
History.
The ribat is located on the Ponta da Atalaia, about 1 km north of Arrifana Beach. It was constructed around 1130, probably by the Sufi and Mahdi master of Christian origin, Abu-l-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn Qasi, one of the leading political and religious figures in al-Andalus, the Muslim territory that covered most of Iberia during the Islamic Golden Age. Between 1130 and 1140 Ibn Qasi wrote his main work, "The Removal of the Sandals", which was inspired by both the Old Testament and the Quran. In 1151 he was assassinated in Silves after being accused of betraying Islam by the followers of Abd al-Mu'min and Ibn Almúndir. After this the Ribat of Arrifana was abandoned, with the English crusader and chronicler, Roger of Hoveden, reporting forty years later that it was “recognizable but in ruins”. It is believed that the minaret was used as a watchtower in the fourteenth century. Despite appearing in written records dating back to 1786 and being clearly identifiable as a former inhabited area as late as 1841, the location of the ribat was only identified by archaeologists at the beginning of this millennium. Its architectural features are inspired by the ribats identified in North Africa.
Excavations.
In addition to protection against invaders the ribat was dedicated to prayer, containing eight mosques with qibla and mihrab oratories where warrior monks prayed, as well as a minaret, a madrasa and accommodation. These structures were built in mud on stone foundations, with floors mostly of beaten earth, with wood coverings and straw roof tiles. A building located in the north-eastern part of the necropolis provided a bench, storage for water, and a basin dug in the soil. The floor and walls were well-coated with lime. Excavations by the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the New University of Lisbon have identified decorated amulets, remains of tableware and kitchenware, as well as pottery for storage. Brass items used for weaving, such as a spindle, have also been found, together with iron weapons, including a dagger, a sword, a spear, and arrowheads. Items related to fishing and mollusc harvesting have also been identified. A long fragment of bone is believed to have been part of a musical instrument.
Also found partially within the confines of the ribat was a necropolis. Sixty-one graves have been discovered orientated northeast-southwest, indicating the burial of the corpses with the face turned towards Mecca. Some graves assumed to be Christian were also identified. Text found on some of the gravestones or stele predated the construction of the ribat and it is unclear whether the epitaphs were ‘’’in situ’’’ at the site when the Ribat of Arrifana was built, whether they were transferred from a small village nearby, or whether the stones were simply reused. The corpses were buried in pits with their arms gathered tightly to their abdomen and legs slightly bent. Of the corpses examined, no signs of violence were detected as a cause of death, nor severe bone trauma or infections. Dental caries constituted the most common pathology. There was also considerable evidence of anemia.
Logistical and financial support for the excavation work was provided by Aljezur municipality, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Max van Berchem Foundation.


Archdeacon of Clogher

The Archdeacon of Clogher is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Anglican Diocese of Clogher. The Archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy. within the diocese. The archdeaconry can trace its history back to Reginald MacGilla Finin who held the office in 1268. The current incumbent is Brian John Harper.


Guanabacoa

Guanabacoa is a colonial township in eastern Havana, Cuba, and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) of the city. It is famous for its historical Santería and is home to the first African Cabildo in Havana. Guanabacoa was briefly the capital of Cuba in 1555 after Havana was attacked by French pirate Jacques de Sores. This gave rise to the Cuban saying “Like putting Havana in Guanabacoa,” which is used to describe trying fit something too large into a space too small. Guanabacoa was the site of the Battle of Guanabacoa, a skirmish between British and Spanish troops during the Battle of Havana during the Seven Years' War.
Overview.
The town of Guanabacoa is found situated in the province of La Havana, some five kilometers (3.2 miles) to the southeast of La Havana (city) and south of the city of Regla. It rests on a small hill bordered by rivers.
Guanabacoa was also the home of a small community of Florida Indians, mostly Apalachees and Yamasees, who, along with Spanish forces, were evacuated from Florida in 1764, following the conclusion of the Seven Years' War.
The Jewish Community.
It is unknown when the Jewish Community developed in the town of Guanabacoa. In the late 1920s Samuel Epstein, owner of Aetna Knitted Fabrics from New York’s Lower East Side, established Sedanita in rented facilities in Guanabacoa. The company imported $75,000 worth of equipment for the production of underwear, shawls, and scarves; it employed 200 workers. But, Jewish-owned businesses do not constitute a Jewish community. Sedanita moved to San José de las Lajas after it was sold to the Brandon family evidently in the late 1930s.
It is clear that earlier there were other Jewish-owned light manufacturing plants in Guanabacoa as well. In the 1930s these included the factory of Charles Shapiro. From available evidence Shapiro’s business went well. After Sedanita moved out, Shapiro bought the building that the Epstein’s rented, and used it to expand his own knitting and dying company.
By the 1940s there was a Jewish Community in Guanabacoa headquartered in the Centro Israelita at Calle Martí 252. There was also a WIZO branch. Records of the founding of the community are missing.
The Guanabacoa community apparently was business-oriented, and basing a community upon businesses is problematic. Even during the 1950s the Jewish community in Guanabacoa was in decline. It was one of the early casualties of emigration after the Castro Revolution.
Notable people.
Four personalities of Cuban music were born in this town: Ernesto Lecuona, Rita Montaner, Ignacio Villa (Bola de Nieve), and the composer, writer and actress Dinorah Rivas, some of her compositions were played by famous musicians and singers such as Tito Puente and Milly Puente.
Four Major League Baseball players were also born here: Emilio Palmero (1895), Tony Ordeñana (1918), Rene Valdez (1929), and Evelio Hernández (1931), as well as the television news reporter Rick Sanchez.
The township was also the childhood home of Cuban singer, Lucrecia Saez Perez, hailed by many as a successor to the great Celia Cruz, and “The Myth,” bodybuilder Sergio Oliva.
The famous journalist, historian and writer María Argelia Vizcaíno was also born in Guanabacoa. She is the author of "Guanabacoa la Bella, Tomo I" (2006) among others. For more information about the author go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Argelia_Vizca%C3%ADno
Climate.
This area typically has a pronounced dry season. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Guanabacoa has a tropical savanna climate, abbreviated "Aw" on climate maps.


Christianity in Kuwait

Christianity in Kuwait is a minority religion, accounting for 18%-20% of the country's population, or 650,000 - 750,000 people. Kuwait's Christians can be divided into 2 groups. The first group are Christians who are native Kuwaitis numbering approximately between 200 and 400 people. The second group, who make up the majority of Christians in Kuwait, are expatriates from various countries around the world.
There are also a number of believers in Christ from a Muslim background in the country, though many are not citizens. A 2015 study estimates some 350 such Christians in the country that are ex-Muslim.
Kuwaiti Christians.
Kuwait's native Christian population is diverse. There are between 259 and 400 Christian Kuwaiti citizens. In 2014, there were 259 Christian Kuwaitis residing in Kuwait. Latest estimates in December 2019 put the community at 290 with the slight increase most likely a result of a return of a few Kuwaiti Christian emigrants.
Christian Kuwaitis can be divided into two groups. The first group includes the earliest, who were Iraqi Christian (Assyrian/Chaldean) and Turkish Christian (Antiochian Greek) immigrants and their local-born descendants. They have assimilated into Kuwaiti society, like their Muslim counterparts, and tend to speak Arabic with a Kuwaiti dialect; their food and culture are also predominantly Kuwaiti. The make up less than a quarter of Kuwait's Christian population. The rest (roughly three-quarters) of Christian Kuwaitis make up the second group. They are more recent arrivals in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly Kuwaitis of Palestinian ancestry who were forced out of Palestine after 1948. There are also smaller numbers who originally hail from Syria and Lebanon. This second group is not as assimilated as the first group, as their food, culture, and Arabic dialect still retain a Levant feel. However, they are just as patriotic as the former group, and tend to be proud of their adopted homeland, with many serving in the army, police, civil, and foreign service. Most of Kuwait's citizen Christians belong to 12 large families, with the Shammas (from Turkey) and the Shuhaibar (from Palestine) families being some of the more prominent ones.
Although there is a small community of Christian citizens, a law passed in 1981 prevents the naturalization of non-Muslims. However, male citizens who were Christians before 1980 (and male children born to families of such citizens since that date), can transmit their citizenship to their children; however, they cannot transmit their citizenship to their spouses.
Kuwait is the only GCC country besides Bahrain to have a local Christian population who hold citizenship.
Traditionally, Eastern Orthodox Christians in Kuwait belong to the jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. Eastern Orthodox parish in Kuwait was reorganized in 1969 by late metropolitan Constantine Papastephanou of Baghdad and Kuwait (1969-2014), who visited Kuwait on many occasions. His successor is Metropolitan Ghattas Hazim of Baghdad and Kuwait (since 2014). His official seat remains in Baghdad, but administrative headquarters of the Archdiocese are located in Kuwait. Today, Eastern Orthodox parishes in Kuwait are administered by priests Ephrem Toumi and Filimon Saifi.
Expatriate Christians.
The denominations of both citizen and foreign Christians in Kuwait include, but are not limited to, the following:
Churches.
In 2012 the country had 7 official churches and 18 non-official churches, with Kuwait's largest cathedral being situated in the eastern part of Kuwait city.


Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo () is an exempt diocese located in the city of Oslo in Norway.
Parishes.
The territory is divided into 25 parishes, located in the following sites: Oslo (3), Moss, Askim, Fredrikstad, Halden, Lillestrøm, Hamar, Kongsvinger, Lillehammer, Jessheim, Hønefoss, Stabekk, Drammen, Fagernes, Tønsberg, Larvik, Sandefjord, Porsgrunn, Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen.
History.
By 1070, the see was established as the Diocese of Oslo, and the bishop was seated at St. Hallvard's Cathedral. In 1537 - in the course of the Lutheran Reformation in Denmark-Norway and Holstein - Christian III of Denmark suppressed the Catholic episcopates at the Norwegian sees. Thereafter Lutheranism prevailed in Scandinavia.
In 1582 the stray Catholics in Norway and elsewhere in Northern Europe were placed under the jurisdiction of a papal nuncio in Cologne. The Congregation de propaganda fide, on its establishment in 1622, took charge of the vast missionary field, which - at its third session - it divided among the nuncio of Brussels (for the Catholics in Denmark and Norway), the nuncio at Cologne (much of Northern Germany) and the nuncio to Poland (Finland, Mecklenburg, and Sweden).
In 1688 Norway became part of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Nordic Missions. The Paderborn bishops functioned as administrators of the apostolic vicariate. In 1834 the Catholic missions in Norway became part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Sweden, seated in the Swedish capital Stockholm. Whereas Norway north of the polar circle became the Apostolic Prefecture of the North Pole in 1855, the rest of Norway stayed with the Swedish vicariate. When a new Catholic missionary jurisdiction was established, it was not at any of the ancient episcopal sees but a mission “sui iuris” on 7 August 1868, created out of parts of North Pole prefecture and the Norwegian part of the Swedish vicariate. On 17 August 1869 the mission became the apostolic prefecture of Norway. On 11 March 1892 the Apostolic Prefecture of Norway was promoted to Apostolic Vicariate of Norway, with an altered name as the "Apostolic Vicariate of Norway and Spitsbergen" between 1 June 1913 and 15 December 1925.
On 10 April 1931 the apostolic vicariate was divided into the Apostolic Vicariate of Oslo (extant 1931–1953; comprising southern Norway), a Catholic jurisdiction for central Norway (called "Missionary District of Central Norway", 1931–1935; "Apostolic Prefecture of Central Norway", 1935–1953; "Apostolic Vicariate of Central Norway", 1953–1979; Prelature of Trondheim since), and a jurisdiction for Norway north of the polar circle (called "Missionary District of Northern Norway", 1931–1944; "Apostolic Prefecture of Northern Norway", 1944–1955; "Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Norway", 1955–1979; Prelature of Tromsø since). On 29 June 1953 the Apostolic Vicariate of Oslo became a separate Roman Catholic diocese, when the same status was given in Sweden to the Stockholm diocese.
On 26 February 2015, Norwegian authorities levelled charges of fraud against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo and Bishop Bernt Ivar Eidsvig. According to the charges, the diocese is under suspicion of registering people as members of the Roman Catholic Church in Norway without their knowing or consent and over the course of several years fraudulently claiming membership grants from the Norwegian government to the amount of . In connection with the case, Norwegian police raided the offices of the diocese.
Leadership.
Unusually for a Scandinavian diocese, a majority of Oslo's bishops have actually been of the local ethnicity (in this case, Norwegian).


Jure Bogdan

Jure Bogdan (born in Donji Dolac near Omiš, 9 November 1955) is a Croatian bishop who serves as 2nd Military ordinary of Croatia since February 27, 2016, had previously served as a rector of Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome.
Early life and education.
Jure Bogdan was born in a small village of Donji Dolac near Omiš on November 9, 1955, to Ivan and Perka Bogdan. He attended elementary school in Donji Dolac from 1961 to 1969, after which he attended minor seminary in Split during which he finished Classical gymnasium in the year 1973. After graduation, he enrolled in the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Split from which he graduated theology and philosophy on May 16, 1980. During his studies, Bogdan served as a senior prefect of Split archdiocesan seminary from January 1977 to autumn 1979. Bogdan was ordained as a deacon for Archdiocese of Split-Makarska by Archbishop Frane Franić in Split cathedral on June 24, 1979. Archbishop Franić ordained him for priest on June 22, 1980.
Career.
Bogdan celebrated his first Mass in Donji Dolac on July 6, 1980. After that, he served as a parish vicar in the parish of St. Nicholas in Metković from August 15, 1980, to August 15, 1984. From August 1984 to September 1992, he was a spiritual leader at the Split archdiocesan seminary. Bogdan was also Vice President of Council for Youth, and the presiding judge for vocations in his Archdiocese. He also served as a secretary of Council for seminaries of the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia.
In autumn of 1992, Bogdan was sent by Archbishop Ante Jurić to attend study of pastoral theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He gained his Master's degree in October 1994 with the mentorship of Bishop Marcello Semeraro, after which he gained his Ph.D. on June 22, 1999. with thesis "Vita Universale: Cristianesimo delle origini o nuova rivelazione? Riflessioni teologico-pastorali" (Universal Life: Originally Christianity or new revelation? Theological-pastoral reflection). His mentor was prof. Michael Fuss.
At the proposal of the Croatian bishops, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Cardinal Pio Laghi appointed Bogdan on December 2, 1996, to the position of rector of the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome. The appointment was announced on December 19, 1996, while Bogdan took office on January 25, 1997. In addition, Cardinal Camillo Ruini appointed Bogdan as a rector of Saint Jerome of the Croats church. Besides this, Bogdan served two terms, both, as a secretary, and president of the "Association of the Rectors of the Roman Pontifical Institutes" (Associazione dei Rettori dei College ecclesiastic di Roma). He spent 19 years as a rector under three Popes, John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Francis. Bogdan is the postulator of Blessed Miroslav Bulešić.
Pope Francis has named Bogdan new bishop and Military Ordinary of Croatia on November 30, 2015. He was consecrated on February 27, 2016 by archbishop Marin Barišić, with co-consecrators being cardinal Josip Bozanić, and bishop Juraj Jezerinac, his predecessor.
Bibliography.
Bogdan is the author of several scientific articles. He also edited several books including the collection of works about Institute of St. Jerome that was published on the occasion of the celebration of the centennial of the modern Institute of St. Jerome (1901-2001).