Hungary's reformed church has welcomed a decision by Russia to return a valuable Calvinist book collection, six decades after it was seized as war booty by the Soviet Red Army.

Congregations gave generously to Presbyterians Sharing in 2005, with a total of $8,672,720 received. Presbyterians Sharing is the fund that supports the ministries and mission of the church. As is tradition, a large percentage of the givings for the year is received during the first two weeks of January. This year was no exception, with 21 per cent or about $1.8 million collected by this time.

(ENI) – "Love is a single reality with different dimensions", Pope Benedict XVI stated in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love), issued in January. "Yet when the two dimensions are totally cut off from one another, the result is a caricature or at least an impoverished form of love."

(ENI)- The leaders of two worldwide Reformed church groupings have proposed the creation of a new global body called the World Reformed Communion to unite the more than 80 million Protestants in their two organizations.

(ENI) – Pope Benedict has given his support to a gathering of Europe's main Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 2007 saying he hoped it would help promote awareness of Europe's spiritual roots.

A Catholic church in Toronto is slated to become the first Canadian church certified for its eco-friendly design by the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design rating system. LEED was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a volunteer organization that promotes high-performance sustainable buildings.

This year's recipient of the Dr. E.H. Johnson Award will be Karuna Roy, coordinator of the HIV/AIDS Program of the Church of North India. The award honours those "on the cutting edge of mission," and will be presented to Roy at a special luncheon during the 2006 General Assembly in St. Catharines, Ont.

My cousin is a doctor at a Christian Hospital in an ancient city an hour north of Islamabad, Pakistan. On Friday, August 9th, 2002, her mother, my aunt, wasn't feeling well and the two decided not to go to chapel – about a hundred metres from their home. It was a good choice, for them. Three men, dressed ordinarily, talked their way past a guard at the hospital entrance, and then held another guard at gunpoint. They waited until the worshippers were leaving the chapel and tossed live grenades at them. Three nurses were killed; 25 others were injured. One of the attackers killed himself fumbling with a grenade.

Rev. M. Jean Morris, moderator of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, along with 15 other Canadian faith leaders, recently commended the Government of Canada for the significant contributions made to support humanitarian and relief efforts in Darfur, Sudan, and to assist the African Union Mission in Sudan in its efforts to provide security.

A document from the World Council of Churches entitled AGAPE – A Call To Love And Action, asks churches "to act together for transformation of economic injustice." The document summarizes the results of the work done by the WCC and its ecumenical partners on economic globalization since its eighth assembly in Harare in 1998.

The All Africa Conference of Churches has expressed dire concern over the escalating violence in the Darfur region, west of Sudan, where renewed fighting is forcing aid workers to flee.

I've worked as a doctor for more than 20 years, including time in Canada and Africa. I recently spent two months in Niger, and I've never felt so surrounded by suffering and death. The worst part about seeing hundreds of critically ill patients every day for weeks is that most of them are less than three years old. They are all victims of severe malnutrition.

(ENI) – With titles like Spirituality For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jesus, user-friendly books on sacred texts, major religions, meditation and figures such as Jesus, the Buddha and Pope John Paul II are proving popular in the United States.

(ENI) – Leaders of the major Christian churches in the Holy Land have given their support to the results of the Palestinian elections in which Hamas won legislature seats by a landslide.

The ecumenical justice organization, KAIROS, of which the Presbyterian Church is a member, is urging congregations to get involved in World Water Day activities on March 22. KAIROS developed a how-to kit to help congregations and individuals plan a Walk for Water in the community. It is hoped the walk will draw attention to the need to keep water in public hands, ensuring access to all.

"We should do something, it's in our backyard," elder Doug White insisted. And so it began: the sign says it all, two congregations, some land donated by members to grow hay, with the profits sent to Canadian Foodgrains Bank. From left, Don Raymer, CFGB's Atlantic Canada coordinator, White of St. David's, Heather Platt, CFGB's national director of resources and Earl Johnson of St. George's.

(ENI) – A Roman Catholic writer close to both the current and the previous popes argues that the rehabilitation of Judas Iscariot would "resolve the problem of an apparent lack of mercy by Jesus towards one of his closest collaborators."

Africa's greatest challenge is not the widespread poverty keeping the continent from moving forward, the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is decimating its population, or the civil wars that funnel resources away from real solutions. It is, says Bishop Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All Africa Council of Churches, inspiring Africa's churches and their Western partners to work together to eradicate these problems.

A thief stole, altered and cashed a cheque for nearly $200,000 from Evangel Hall that should have gone to the Presbyterian Church, according to a story in the Globe and Mail.

(ENI) — Prominent religious leaders in Indonesia are urging Muslims not to join extremist forces believed responsible for a series of well-publicized suicide bombings in the country.