Mob Pillages Church in Sri Lanka

MISSIONARY NEWS AGENCY, Jan. 28 — Some 20 men armed with metal bars and spears ransacked a Catholic church in Mattegoda, Sri Lanka, Jan. 25, the Missionary News Agency reported.

The mob destroyed several religious statues and some furnishings, then burned a large number of Bibles.

This is only the most recent in a series of almost 100 incidents that pitted local Buddhists against the small Christian minority, which makes up only 7.5% of the population. Buddhists have complained that evangelical Protestant churches are conducting “unethical conversions.”

The leader of this campaign, Buddhist monk Gandodavila Soma, died recently of a sudden heart attack; his followers have insisted he was murdered by Christians.

“The Catholic Church,” said Vincent Marius Joseph Peiris, vicar bishop of Colombo, “is suffering the consequences of the invasive behavior of fundamentalist evangelical sects.”

Mugabe Is ‘Breaking God's Rules’

CATHOLIC INFORMATION SERVICE AFRICA, Jan. 28 — Post-colonial African dictator Robert Mugabe, who is Catholic, is “breaking God's rules” by his seizure of farms from local whites, warned Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, according to Catholic Information Service Africa.

The news service reported that Archbishop Ncube lamented Mugabe's decline in stature, saying he had once been “such an honest leader — admirable and dynamic.”

But now, the archbishop said, “Mugabe's evil doings are there for everyone to see, as he is trying to destroy the Church. … The Bible says that you shall not steal, but Mugabe's cabinet has stolen properties belonging to the white farmers who were forcibly removed from their land. That is breaking God's rules and commandments.”

Aussie PM Backs Men-Only Move on Teachers

THE COURIER-MAIL (Australia), Feb. 2 — Australian Prime Minister John Howard has declared war on political correctness in that country's schools, The Courier-Mail reported.

Howard's next target is that country's Sex Discrimination Act, which has resulted in a heavy imbalance of female teachers in Catholic schools. Howard hopes to change the law so as to allow those schools to prefer male candidates for new teaching posts, the paper reported.

The low proportion of male teachers is often blamed for poor literacy skills among boys. But last year Catholic schools in New South Wales were prevented by the Australian government from offering male-only scholarships for teacher training.

Anglicans to Cancel Sunday Services?

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN, Jan. 31 — Australia's Anglican Church is considering an innovative strategy for boosting attendance at its rites: canceling Sunday services and scheduling them during the week.

This idea came out in connection with the Anglican General Synod in London, which this month will consider finding more convenient times for parishioners than Sundays.

“We have to put ourselves out there,” David Murray, administrator of the Diocese of Perth, told the Australian paper. “We have to sell ourselves more. Things will be completely different in 25 years and I can imagine a future where there is no such thing as a traditional Sunday church service.”

Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth responded that Sunday remains the Day of the Lord — something that can never change.