News Alert

Reuters, April 9, 2003: The Roman Catholic Church has suspended confessions in Singapore due to the spread of the deadly SARS virus and priests will instead forgive all churchgoers for their sins, the Church said on Wednesday. “The Archbishop of Singapore has issued a directive to the priests that there will be no individual confessions and that they are to issue general forgiveness,” said a spokeswoman for the Catholic News, which represents Singapore’s Catholic Church.  

Outlookindia.com, 3/21/03: Aligarh, India—An all-religion meeting was organized here today to pray for peace and safety of the innocent citizens of Iraq under attack by U.S. forces. Local religious leaders belonging to Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities offered special prayers at the clock tower grounds for the people of the world in the wake of the attack and the looming threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Special prayers were also offered for the success of the Indian cricket team in the ongoing World Cup. Convenor of the special prayer meet[ing] Mohammad Farooque said the purpose...was to highlight the fact that genuine peace could prevail only if all the great religions of the world joined hands to save humanity. 

Worldnetdaily.com,1/21/03: A Palestinian soccer tournament has been named after the suicide bomber who killed 29 people and injured 140 last year during a Passover seder, according to the official Palestinian Authority daily Al Hayat Al Jadida. Hamas member Abed Al-Basset Odeh walked into the dining room of the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya on March 27 and detonated an explosive device amid 250 guests participating in the holiday meal. The soccer tournament’s seven teams also have been named after “shahids,” or “martyrs,” according to a translation of the newspaper story by Palestinian Media Watch. The paper reported today that the “Tulkarm Shahids Memorial soccer championship tournament of the Shahid Abed Al-Basset Odeh began with the participation of seven top teams, named after shahids who gave their lives to redeem the homeland.”