Philippines Affirms Move Toward Dress Code

Church leaders in Manila, Philippines, have instructed the Archdiocese of Cagayan to proceed with a dress code for those attending Sunday Mass, the Manila daily newspaper Sun Star reported.

According to the proposed dress code, women will be prohibited from wearing dresses or clothes that show an inordinate amount of skin. The dress code will also prohibit churchgoers, male or female, from wearing shorts, slippers and other clothes usually worn at home.

More People Than Ever Coming to Medjugorje

More than 1 million people are expected to make a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in 2007, part of a global surge in travel for religious reasons, reported the Washington Post.

Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, said 7% of the world’s Christians — about 150 million people — are “on the move as pilgrims” each year.

“Perhaps the most important reason,” he said, “is that people are increasingly interested in experiencing their faith through more than just reading or singing.”

Church in Kenya to Cut Ties With Amnesty International

AllAfrica reported that the Catholic Bishops of Kenya have issued a statement saying the Church in the African nation would not support any lobby group that promotes abortion.

Archbishop John Njue, chairman of the Kenya bishops’ conference, said they supported the stand by the Vatican calling for a boycott of Amnesty International operations because of its embrace of abortion as a right.

“If a thief is stealing and you stand far watching, does that position absolve you from the sin of stealing?” asked the archbishop. “Abortion, whether legal or not, kills babies, damages women, harms families, degrades the medical profession, weakens nations and destroys churches. That is why the common sense of history has always condemned it.”