An April 15, 2016 Religion News Service article remembers the visit of President Reagan to the restored Danilov Monastery in Moscow near the end of the Cold War (1988). The monastery dates from the 13th century and was destroyed during the Soviet era but later restored through contributions by the Russian people. Writers Tony Perkins and Frank Wolf use the historic event in commentary to ask questions about whether President Obama will similarly decry the current persecution of Christians.

http://religionnews.com/2016/04/15/congress-obama-stand-with-persecuted-Christians/

A leading Philippines presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte apologises for his comments about the rape and murder of a female Australian missionary.

CHR Comment: Jacqueline Hamill was assaulted during a prison riot in the Philippines in 1989. Video of Rodrigo Duterte’s comments about the case surfaced during a recent campaign. Her story highlights a risk of serving Christ in a foreign culture where women may not be properly respected.

Source: Philippine presidential candidate Duterte apologises for rape remark – BBC News

Pope Francis has called a Christian woman a “martyr” after she was brutally killed by Islamist radicals for refusing to deny her faith in Jesus Christ.

CHR Comment: The story describes the murder of a Syrian Christian woman who was married to a moderate Muslim man. Islamic terrorists tried to force her to deny Christ but she refused. Her husband, who is now a refugee, met Pope Francis during his visit to the Greek island of Lesbos.

Source: Christian Woman’s Throat Slit by Radicals for Refusing to Deny Christ, Widower Tells Pope Francis

The legislation was proposed in wake of the June 17 Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shootings in Charleston, S.C.

CHR Comment: Andrew Gipson, the legislator who proposed the measure, is a Baptist pastor. The Mississippi Police Chiefs Association expressed concern that the measure would lower the standards for carrying firearms.

Source: Miss. law allows churches to train members to pack heat

CHR Comment: State legislators cited support for the message by a 62% majority of Tennessee citizens. The governor, Bill Haslam , is a dedicated Presbyterian but vetoed the measure, believing it would violate religious freedoms in the U. S. Constitution and the Tennessee constitution. The proposed version of the Bible to be approved would have been the Christian Bible, including the Old Testament used by Jews and Christians as well as the New Testament. The article does not comment on whether the version of the Bible would include the Apocrypha which is used by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and various Protestants.

Source: Thou shalt not: Tennessee governor vetoes bill to make Bible state book | Religion News Service

(RNS) Pastafarianism is satire, not sacred, ruled the U.S. District Court of Nebraska.

CHR Comment: When the Kansas State Board of Education decided to include intelligent design theory in its science curriculum, some opponents developed their own church/religion of Pastafarianism, which worshipped the Flying Spaghetti Monster as its god. The Pastafarians argued that since the existence of their god could not be disproved, their church/religion was just as logical and legitimate as traditional religions in which religious philosophers made similar arguments for the existence of a supreme being or intelligent designer. The U.S. District Court of Kansas ruled that the church/religion was not a genuine religion.

If one cannot agree with the logic of the Pastafarians, one can at least admire their sense of humor.

Source: Court to spaghetti: You are not a god | Religion News Service

A French art expert said he believed that the bloody biblical scene was Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, painted in the early 17th century and lost a century later.

CHR Comment: The artistic theme of Judith Beheading Holofernes was extremely popular. Many Renaissance and later artists depicted the story found in the biblical Apocrypha used by Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, as well as Lutheran and Reformed Christians. The story of Judith has also been of interest to modern feminist theologians due to its depiction of a strong and crafty female character.

Source: Expert: Lost Caravaggio masterpiece found in French attic

A group of Danish atheists has gone beyond questioning the existence of God by launching a campaign to encourage the faithful to leave the Church of Denmark–a move that has worried leaders of the church.

CHR Comment: The Danish Atheists Society has a bus advertisement campaign leading inactive and uninvolved members of the state Church of Denmark to their website. The site instructs members of the church on how to remove themselves from membership and receive savings on their church related membership dues/taxes. The liberal, traditionally Lutheran, Church of Denmark was already in decline and has a very inactive membership.

Source: Atheists’ campaign for Christians to give up their faith worries Church of Denmark | Christian News on Christian Today

Leading Christian leaders and pastors gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and in Los Angeles City on Saturday to lead Christians in praying for unity to heal their divided nation and for America to return to God.

CHR Comment: Evangelical/Revivalist churches supported the ecumenical United Cry DC 2016 event to pray about issues that concern them most in the changing American culture, including longer term issues such as abortion. Prayers emphasized national and racial unity by returning to God through repentance and faith.

Source: Christians gather in D.C., L.A. in ‘solemn assembly’ of unity to pray for America to return to God | Christian News on Christian Today

Scores of Christians were killed by ISIS during the group’s occupation of al-Qaryatain, it has emerged.

CHR Comment: The report comes from the Syrian Orthodoxy patriarch who describes the Assad troops and ISIS fighters taking over Al-Qaryatain (see map). The ISIS imposed dhimmi status on Christians and a strict interpretation of Sharia law, which led to accusations that Christians were violating the law and ultimately to executions. The vast majority of Christians have fled the area. The second link is to a story mentioning human rights abuses and assaults on churches.

Source: 21 Christians ‘slaughtered by ISIS in Syria’ | Christian News on Christian Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/13/united-states-human-rights-report-syria/83000788/