Baptismal record for same-sex couples causes controversy in Colombia

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catholicherald.co.uk -- The recent baptism of a child raised by a same-sex couple has caused a controversy in Colombia, after a parish pastor issued a baptismal certificate indicating that the child has two mothers. Manuela and Luisa Fernanda Gómez, who are civilly married under Colombian law, wanted to have their 17-month-old son Matías baptized in the city of Medellin. According to local media reports, the couple went to several parishes where they were told that their son could be baptized, but that a baptismal certificate would list only the same of his biological mother, and not that of her partner, since the Church does not recognize the marriage of persons of the same sex.

Manuela Gomez told reporters that eventually, they found a parish priest willing to perform the baptism and record them both as mothers on the baptismal registry, if the Archdiocese of Medellin would permit him. “He wrote to the (diocesan) curia, investigated, and he told us that he could (perform the baptism), in fact, because according to canon law, the sacrament must be documented with the same information that appears on the civil registry of the minor’s birth, which in this case had two lines: ‘Mother one’ and ‘Mother two,’” Manuela told the local media. The baptism was performed on July 13. In a statement issued on July 23, the Archdiocese of Medellin said that for several years “the sacrament of baptism has been administered to children of homosexual couples.” The statement said that through baptism, “the Church gives the grace of Christian life to the children.” Baptism in such cases is “not a recognition of the couples themselves,” the archdiocese added. The archdiocese also said that “for the registration of the baptism and the issuance of the certificate of the latter, the Church assumes the information that appears on the civil documents which must be presented before the administration of the sacrament, taking into account that on the certificate the names of those that are recorded on the civil registry as parents, in the same order in which they are written on that registry.”

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‘Wedding Song’ Leaves 3 Dead in Lebanon

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by aawsat.com --Three people were killed on Sunday after a brawl turned into an exchange of gunfire during a wedding near the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said. The singer who performed during the wedding in the town of Younin was among those killed in the deadly brawl after midnight that also injured four people, according to several local news stations. The stations said the clash between members of the Zoaiter and Amhaz clans erupted when a man opened fire at the singer and his brother, killing them on the spot, before being shot dead. The man was reportedly infuriated by a song's lyrics. Gunshots were heard in the area after news spread in the locality, with the army and security forces stepping up their presence to preempt any backlash, NNA said.

American tourist released from Syria after Lebanese intervention

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By Doha Madani, Abigail Williams and Reuters An American tourist who has been held in Syria for two months has been freed after Lebanese officials negotiated his release, according to his family Friday. Sam Goodwin, 30, was reunited with his parents, Thomas and Ann Goodwin, after being held in the war-torn country since May when he crossed the border during an effort to visit every country in the world. He used a travel blog, "Searching 4 Sam" to chronicle his trips to places such as Afghanistan and Haiti. "Sam is healthy and with his family," the Goodwins said in a statement Friday. "We are forever indebted to Lebanese General Abbas Ibrahim and to all others who helped secure the release of our son." Sam Goodwin was last seen May 25 on security footage at Assia hotel in the city of Qamishli, which is a regime-held territory in the otherwise Kurdish controlled area of northwest Syria. Several U.S. citizens have been held in Syria since the war began there in 2011, including people held by jihadist groups such as the Islamic State militant organization.

The United States has declined to say who it believes is holding Austin Tice, 37, of Texas, but has said it believes he is alive and has sought the help of the Syrian government's close ally Russia to free him. Last year, the family of another American, Majd Kamalmaz, told The New York Times that he had disappeared at a government checkpoint in Damascus in 2017. Last month, Ibrahim flew to Iran to complete the release and repatriation of Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with permanent residency in the United States, who was detained there in 2015

Lebanese police to probe rock band for 'insulting religion': lawyer

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese police will investigate a complaint against the rock band Mashrou’ Leila for insulting religion, a lawyer in the case said on Wednesday. The lawyer, Christine Nakhoul, said she had submitted the complaint against the band to the prosecutor’s office, which was directing it to the police. The Lebanese group has an openly gay vocalist and its songs have stirred controversy with lyrics tackling oppression, classism, sectarianism and homophobia. On Monday, church leaders called for a concert that Mashrou’ Leila is due to give at a music festival next month to be canceled.

The plaintiff in the case against the band, Philippe Seif, said his complaint alleged that the band had insulted religious icons on its social media pages. Mashrou’ Leila made no comment on Tuesday beyond a statement it had made on Monday over calls for its concert to be canceled. “We are not on some sort of mission to arbitrarily blaspheme and disrespect people’s religious symbols,” it said in Monday’s statement. The Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Jbeil (Byblos) said most of the band’s songs “violate religious values” and it was not becoming for the festival to host concerts “directly at odds with Christian faith”.

The Byblos International Festival has not yet commented on the matter. Rights group Amnesty International has called on Lebanese authorities to ensure that the concert goes ahead and to “take the necessary measures to ensure the band is protected from this spiteful campaign”. Reporting by Ayat Basma and Angus McDowall, Editing by William Maclean Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Lebanese police to probe rock band for 'insulting religion': lawyer

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese police will investigate a complaint against the rock band Mashrou’ Leila for insulting religion, a lawyer in the case said on Wednesday. The lawyer, Christine Nakhoul, said she had submitted the complaint against the band to the prosecutor’s office, which was directing it to the police. The Lebanese group has an openly gay vocalist and its songs have stirred controversy with lyrics tackling oppression, classism, sectarianism and homophobia. On Monday, church leaders called for a concert that Mashrou’ Leila is due to give at a music festival next month to be canceled.

The plaintiff in the case against the band, Philippe Seif, said his complaint alleged that the band had insulted religious icons on its social media pages. Mashrou’ Leila made no comment on Tuesday beyond a statement it had made on Monday over calls for its concert to be canceled. “We are not on some sort of mission to arbitrarily blaspheme and disrespect people’s religious symbols,” it said in Monday’s statement. The Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Jbeil (Byblos) said most of the band’s songs “violate religious values” and it was not becoming for the festival to host concerts “directly at odds with Christian faith”.

The Byblos International Festival has not yet commented on the matter. Rights group Amnesty International has called on Lebanese authorities to ensure that the concert goes ahead and to “take the necessary measures to ensure the band is protected from this spiteful campaign”. Reporting by Ayat Basma and Angus McDowall, Editing by William Maclean Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Boris Johnson: What the US makes of new British leader

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by bbc.com -- Anthony Zurcher -- What's an American to make of Boris Johnson?

Not the person-on-the-street American, who may look at a photograph of the new British conservative leader and think they're being asked to identify an aging 1970s glam rocker. I'm talking about the US media analysts and commentators who get paid to think about politics and, occasionally, cast their eyes across the oceans to see what the rest of the world is up to. At this point in US history, it's hard for Americans to view any major political event outside the context of the rise and rule of Donald Trump - the crashing cacophony that drowns out all other thought. Emmanuel Macron is elected president of France? A rebuke of Trumpism! The Liberal/National right-leaning coalition prevails in Australia? Trumpism triumphs! Such is the case with the Mr Johnson. The comparisons between the two Anglophone leaders have come fast and furious - some facile and others more nuanced. Even Mr Trump himself got in on the game, in a speech in Washington on Tuesday afternoon. "He's tough and he's smart," Mr Trump said of Mr Johnson. "They call him 'Britain Trump', and it's people saying that's a good thing. They like me over there. That's what they wanted. That's what they need."

There are plenty of other opinions, of course - that Mr Johnson is either the second coming of Donald Trump in a good way or in a bad way; a British original or a knock-off nationalist. "The front-runner to become Britain's next prime minister is a portly white man with unkempt blond hair, an adoring base of supporters, disdain for Europe, a dodgy private life and a loose relationship with truth and principle," the New York Times editorial board wrote last month. "There are also differences between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, but the similarities have been much noted in some European circles, with no small misgivings." The hair is where the comparisons always start - although the Associated Press's Gregory Katz and Natasha Livingstone note that while both pay careful attention to their trademark coifs, they do so in differing ways. "President Donald Trump's hair is very carefully styled before he appears in public, while Johnson's precisely the opposite," they write (in fact, Johnson is known to ruffle his hair before he goes on camera). "From the start of his political career Johnson has sported what could only be called the 'slept-on' look, declining to style his locks in any way so they have a natural, spontaneous, even unpredictable quality."

Beyond appearances, American observers note that both Mr Trump and Mr Johnson were born in New York City, and both have elite college pedigrees - the former at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania and the latter at Oxford. The more discerning will note that Mr Johnson qualified through an academic scholarship, while Mr Trump admission reportedly required some familial arm-twisting. Mr Johnson also occasionally betrays his ivory tower pedigree with allusions to classical history or the arts, while Mr Trump… does not. Both men also have taken unusual paths to power - the American through his real estate and reality television celebrity, and the Brit by being a sharp-tongued journalist. "Johnson's rise is akin to Trump's: People in the political class don't like, or even trust, him," writes Kyle Smith of the conservative National Review. "Yet he found a path around them."

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