POPE FRANCIS: CHURCH TOO FOCUSED ON GAYS AND ABORTION..

Pope Francis has said the Catholic Church is too focused on preaching about abortion, gay people and contraception and needs to become more merciful.

He warned that the Church's moral structure could "fall like a house of cards" unless it changed.

The Pope used the first major interview of his papacy to explain comments he made in July about homosexuality.

He told a Jesuit magazine the Church must show balance and "heal wounds".

The pontiff used the 12,000-word interview with La Civilta Cattolicato to set out his priorities as Pope, acknowledge his own shortcomings and open up about his cultural interests.

'Freshness and fragrance'

His vision for relegating the Catholic Church's reliance on rules marks a contrast to the priorities of his predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who saw doctrine as the paramount guide for clergy

"The church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently," Francis said.

"We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."

Instead, he said, the Catholic Church must work to heal the wounds of its faithful and seek out those who have been excluded or have fallen away.

"It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars," he said. "You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else."

He said the Church had become tied up in "small-minded rules" and risked losing its true purpose.

"The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the Church must be ministers of mercy above all.''

His remarks are could generate dismay among clergy in the United States who have already expressed disappointment that Francis has not pressed Church teaching on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.

Last week, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, wrote in his diocesan newspaper that he was "disappointed" Francis hadn't addressed abortion since his papacy began six months ago, according to AP.

Francis said it was not necessary to speak out on such issues.

'Home of all'

"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible,'' he said.

"The teaching of the Church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the Church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.''

Francis created headlines two months ago when he spoke about gay priests during an impromptu news conference on a return flight from Brazil. He said it was not up to him to judge about the sexual orientation of clergy as long as they were searching for God and had goodwill.

In his latest interview, Francis said his remarks were in line with Catholic teaching.

"This Church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal Church to a nest protecting our mediocrity,'' he said.

Francis also used the interview to detail his favourite composers, artists, authors and films, which include Mozart, Caravaggio, Dostoevsky and Fellini's La Strada.

REDEEMED CHURCH BATTLES CHRIST EMBASSY OVER LAND....

• RCCG seeks IG’s intervention over demolished structure

If you call it a holy war, you might not be far from the truth. Right now, all is not well between two popular Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. And the cause of the feud? A parcel of land.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), which has Pastor E.A. Adeboye as General Overseer, and Christ Embassy, headed by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, are involved in a big fight over a parcel of land situated along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The land, which the Redeemed Church claims it owns, is spread across Oloke, Asese, Maba and Gideon villages in Ogun State. RCCG says Christ Embassy has been using policemen and hoodlums to cause trouble on the land.

Authorities of the Redeemed Church are, therefore, appealing to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. M.D. Abubakar, to use his good offices to avert an impending crisis in the villages. According to the church, a structure put up there by RCCG was earlier in the year demolished by some alleged land grabbers working for Christ Embassy.

The church noted that the appeal to the IG had become necessary so that the nation’s top cop could help resolve the matter, even as it accused the other church of deliberately employing delay tactics to frustrate the rightful owners of the land.
The crisis, it was gathered, has been on for long before reaching a head in March this year.

According to the RCCG, hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons, (allegedly led by one Lukman Jimoh, aka Ogo Oluwa), and purportedly acting on the instructions of the Christ Embassy Church, had on March 19, this year, invaded the villages in a Volvo car and Toyota Hiace bus, destroying the headquarters of Ogun Province 8 of The Redeemed Christian Church of God under construction.

The Redeemed Church informed that the guard at the site, who reportedly escaped death by the whiskers, said the hoodlums told him to stay clear of the land, adding that the property belonged to the Christ Embassy which they were working for.
“The thugs threatened to kill me or anybody who stood in their way and boasted that nothing would happen because, according to them, they and the police have been “heavily settled,” the guard was quoted as saying.

In a petition addressed to the Inspector General of Police, the RCCG asked the IG to intervene in the case of trespass on the church land and the malicious damage to the church property.

RCCG said it had done everything within the ambit of the law to possess the land. The church said despite the fact that the land falls under the government acquisition area, the church had, in June 1999, paid ratification fees for the land to the late Alhaji Tajudeen Ogo Oluwa (Lukman’s father), who subsequently gave the church a Deed of Surrender signed by him and witnessed by one Waidi Ogunsesan (aka Damolapa).

The church said it was also given allocation of the land for 99 years by the Ogun State Government, in a letter with reference number LUD 9/LCI33/6, signed by the Director-General, Bureau of Lands and Survey, Surveyor Gbenga Ogunnoike.
Ogun State also issued a Certificate of Occupancy with the Number 025748, dated November 7, 2006 and signed by the governor, to the RCCG.

It was also gathered that, in 2004, the Redeemed Christian Church of God wrote to the Presiding Pastor of the Christ Embassy Church, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, following a programme held by the latter on the disputed land.

The letter, signed by the Assistant General Overseer, Admin/Personnel of the RCCG, Pastor A. O. Akindele, partly reads: “It has come to our notice that your organization is inadvertently trespassing on the piece of land measuring about forty acres (40 acres) along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, precisely at Oloke Area.
“We wish to inform you that this parcel of land belongs to the Redeemed Christian Church of God, and we have seized (sic) of the land for more than four years.

“We shall appreciate your prompt intervention and godly directive to one Alhaji Ogo Oluwa, who has held himself out as your agent, to desist forthwith in continuing with the trespass.”

The RCCG, it was learnt, also went ahead to solicit the help of officials of the Ogun State Government who invited the two parties with a view to settling the dispute. At the meeting, presided over by the then Director General, Bureau of Lands and Survey, Mr. Gbenga Ogunnoike and held at the Bureau’s office at Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta, the state government affirmed that the Redeemed Christian Church of God which has the duly issued Certificate of Occupancy of the land, is the rightful owner. The meeting also warned the Christ Embassy from further trespassing on the land.

But the Redeemed Church said it was shocked that in spite of the resolution, the Christ Embassy Church and its agents still went ahead to demolish the structure put up on the land, which prompted the church to write to the Inspector General.
The IG, it was learnt, directed the Eleweran Police headquarters in Ogun State to quickly resolve the matter. But RCCG said nothing tangible has been achieved since. According to the church, the hoodlums, who boasted that nothing would come out of the matter, were already being proved right.

“Meanwhile, the hoodlums are still occupying the land and they keep threatening the other owner families of other plots of land who are ready to act as witnesses for the church,” the RCCG noted.
Attempts by our correspondent to reach Christ Embassy officials were unfruitful.

Acid attacks: is anybody safe???

 It is just a matter of time before some acid attackers claim their next victim, if the current trend is anything to go by, what with the police forces’ apparent incapacity to put in check or arrest the villains.

This is the view of a cross-section of Tanzanians who have been nervously taking note of the trend as one innocent victim after another gets splashed with the corrosive liquid and culprits vanishing to safety.

A lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Mr Bashiru Ally, said yesterday that the police force is overwhelmed and can no longer prevent the attacks. Everyone must be on alert, Mr Ally cautioned yesterday.

“I think it has to do with the nature of attacks. And it could be practically impossible for the police to contain all the acid attacks,” Mr Ally said.

However, something is lacking with the capacity of the police to investigate such cases, Mr Ally observed, calling for a boost of that capacity and much engagement with the public for disclosure of information that could lead to arrests.

This year alone, at least six acid attacks on religious leaders, businessmen and foreigners have been reported, with the last victim being a Catholic priest, Fr Anselm Mwang’amba, who was badly injured on Friday in Zanzibar.

A week ago, a Dar es Salaam trader was attacked with acid by unknown people. And last month, two British nationals got badly burned with acid thrown at them in Zanzibar as they took a walk on the historical Stone Town streets.

Come July and prominent businessman tasted same cruelty when he was likewise assaulted in Dar es Salaam.

In the list of acid victims are also three Muslim clerics including Sheikh Fadhil Suleiman Soraga who was badly injured last year after a yet to be known attacker threw acid on his face in November last year.

The government seems to have run out of options on how to contain the cowardly attacks, commentators say, as the action taken in the wake of the assault on British girls, Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, both aged 18, seem to have failed to stop acid thuggery.

Immediately after the attack on the teenagers, the government took measures to control the importation and sale of acid, requiring that a list of people importing and buying acid at both retail and wholesale points be kept and sent to the police.

The government also banned selling acid to motorists, requiring that mechanics handle the filling of acid on car batteries.

For her part, executive director of the Tanzania Media Women Association (Tamwa), Ms Valerie Msoka, said the public is now under state of dilemma because police have remained silent on previous incidents, and in the meantime the attacks continue.

She said the police were supposed to give updates to the public on investigations on past incidents.

The chairman of the Committee on Ethics and Social Justice William Mwamalanga and the CCM youth wing called for reform of the Isles’ Police Force Rev Mwamalanga, a pastor with the Pentecostal Church, said such incidents must not be allowed to continue.

“The commissioner of Zanzibar Police should also take political responsibility and resign to pave the way for those who can do the job,” Pastor Mwamalanga said yesterday as he paid a visit to Fr Mwang’amba.

UVCCM deputy secretary general in Zanzibar Hamdu Shaka said in a statement yesterday that failure to arrive on time at scenes of crime gave an opportunity to attackers to destroy evidence and escape.

But Commissioner of Police Zanzibar Musa Ali Musa said he cannot react to calls by clerics and politicians that he resigns who are just expressing their opinion.

“I know what I’ve accomplished so far. Should we also say, for example, that both Muslim and Christian clerics have failed in their mission simply because we still have drunkards and prostitutes on the streets?” Mr Musa queried.