Jewish Mysticism and the Politics of Emancipation By Sam Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 30 October 2026 (IDN) — What if the world we hope for is not somewhere in the distant future? What if, in some strange sense, it already exists? This is one possibility opened by the Zohar, the great masterpiece of Jewish mysticism. […]
40 years in the spirit of Assisi
By Benoit Lannoo* ASSISI. Italy | 27 October 2026 (IDN) — Today, it has been exactly forty years since John Paul II brought together different religions in Assisi for the first time for an interreligious prayer for peace. In his recently published book (in Italian, French and German) entitled Assisi – The Origins of a […]
Two Percent of the Christians in Gaza Killed by the IDF
By Benoit Lannoo* ANTWERP, Belgium | 7 October 2026 (IDN) — On the Instagram account of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa reported early Saturday morning that an airstrike on an apartment building in the Al-Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City had killed, in addition to three other Palestinians, Maysa Abu Dawood and her […]
Israel’s Apartheid policy is jeopardising Christian schools in Jerusalem
Christian schools in Jerusalem remained closed on 1 September because more than 70 teachers from the West Bank had been denied entry. But what surprised Benoit Lannoo, an Antwerp based expert on Eastern Christians, most of all was that there was no reaction whatsoever from European, Western institutions or from any EU Member State, neither […]
The Heartbeat of Resistance, Resilience and Kindness, in Today’s World – The Arbaeen Pilgrimage
By Azza Karam* KARBALA, Iraq | 10 August 2026 (IDN) —There are pilgrimages, and then there is Arbaeen. Each year, millions of people converge on the Iraqi city of Karbala in one of the largest annual religious gatherings anywhere in the world. This year, according to the Governor of Karbala, more than 22 million pilgrims […]
Catholicos Garegin II in court
By Benoit Lannoo* YEREVAN, Armenia | 8 August 2026 (IDN) — Do you remember the Investiture Controversy, when medieval emperors tried to take over the pope’s episcopal appointments? Or the difficult issue of the appointment of bishops in the People’s Republic of China? Well, although Armenia is considered a democratic state in Western chancelleries, respectful […]
Genocides Are No Bargaining Chips
By Benoit Lannoo* ANTWERP, Belgium | 25 July 2026 (IDN) — The relations of the State of Israel with Türkiye and Azerbaijan have been under great tension since the Israeli government submitted a bill recognising the Armenian Genocide to the parliament, the Knesset, at the end of June. The government of Benjamin Netanyahu did not […]
Armenian Church Ready for New Clashes with PM Pashinyan
By Benoit Lannoo* ANTWERP, Belgium | 23 July 2026 (IDN) — It was a remarkable meeting at the Vardavar celebration – the 14th Sunday after Easter – in Etchmiadzin. Armenian Apostolic Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan was blessed by Catholicos Garegin II in the mother-cathedral of this autocephalous (independent) Eastern Church. ‘Blessing with lots of water’ plays a […]
The Jews Ignore Their History in the Post-Christian Era
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 10 June 2026 (IDN) — There are questions that even today, historians don’t seem moved to investigate. Two important ones come to mind. Why was it that Pharaonic Egypt rarely went to war, with gaps of over a hundred years, until Ramesses 11 became pharaoh in 1303 BC? Isn’t […]
Is Islam Violent? A Question Framed by Fear
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 1 April 2026 (IDN) — Is Islam violent? ISIS in Syria. Iraq and West Africa. In Pakistan, there is Lashkar-e-Taiba and the attempted murderer of the schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai. Immigrant Moroccan men roughly pushing women and fondling them in the crowd in Cologne. Murderous bombs in Paris and Manchester. […]