Church ‘con­don­ing oppres­sion of women’

Arch­bishop accused of send­ing ‘deeply troub­ling mes­sage’ after present­ing award to Islamic scholar

Dame Sarah Mul­lally with Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, who praised Osama bin Laden


By Charles Hymas and Tony Diver
20 Sep 2026


THE Arch­bishop of Can­ter­bury has been accused of con­don­ing the repres­sion of Muslim women after she gave an award to an Islamic cleric who hon­oured Osama bin Laden.

Dame Sarah Mul­lally was pic­tured with Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, an Islamic scholar, and his wife, who was wear­ing a niqab so that only her eyes were vis­ible, when he received his award on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that Bin Laden orches­trated.

In a let­ter to the Arch­bishop, Rebecca Paul, the shadow cul­ture sec­ret­ary, and Nick Timothy, the shadow justice sec­ret­ary, asked her to explain how Lam­beth Palace decided to go ahead with such a con­tro­ver­sial award, which caused “ser­i­ous repu­ta­tional dam­age” to the Church of Eng­land.

They also asked what changes were going to be put in place to pre­vent a repeat and whether she recog­nised the “deeply troub­ling mes­sage the cere­mony and pho­to­graph con­veyed about the dig­nity and free­dom of women”.

They wrote: “The Church of Eng­land teaches the equal dig­nity and worth of men and women. Yet you presen­ted the award along­side Mr Ashrafi’s wife, whose face was con­cealed by a niqab so that only her eyes were vis­ible and Lam­beth Palace sub­sequently pub­lished that image.

“This could appear to con­done one of the most repress­ive mani­fest­a­tions of Islam, one that denies women basic freedoms over how they dress, whether they may show their faces and how they inter­act with oth­ers.

“At this very moment, women in Afgh­anistan face viol­ence for refus­ing to cover, while women in Iran have been imprisoned and bru­tally attacked for res­ist­ing com­puls­ory veil­ing. Nor is coer­cion con­fined to other coun­tries: many women and girls in Bri­tain also face coer­cion and cul­tural pres­sure to veil them­selves too. It is import­ant for you to reflect on what mes­sage this con­veys to women fight­ing for the freedoms that we take for gran­ted.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the WABC Freedom 250 Gala

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci's Jesuit Education Helped Prepare Him for This AMDG: A Jesuit Podvast

Listen ▶️ here

As the COVID-19 pandemic has descended upon the United States over the past three months, today's guest, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has become a household name thanks to his expertise and his clear and calm communication style.

Though many of us have just learned about his work recently, Dr. Fauci has been in public service for decades, directing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. If there’s been a widespread infectious disease you’ve heard about, Dr. Fauci worked on it, from HIV to Ebola to Zika. His impact on public health both here and around the world is incalculable.

Dr. Fauci is also a product of Jesuit education, and he credits his years at Regis High School in New York City and the College of the Holy Cross as helping to lay the groundwork for his career. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asks him what he found distinctive about his Jesuit education, what his typical day looks like mid-pandemic, and where we stand right now in our fight against this dreadful disease.

Conversation recorded June 16, 2020.

Pope Leo Receives Liberty Medal and Makes Address for America's 250th Anniversary

 

President Trump Receives Presentation of the Religious Liberty Commission

Trump awarded Israel Prize in absentia for ‘special contribution to the Jewish people’ at annual ceremony

Live Update From the Liveblog of Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Today, 6:47 pm


US President Donald Trump is awarded the Israel Prize, the country’s highest honor, in absentia, at the annual Independence Day ceremony in Jerusalem.

Trump was informed in December by Education Minister Yoav Kisch that he would be awarded the Israel Prize in the category of “special contribution to the Jewish people.”

Kisch signed an Israel Prize certificate in honor of the US president yesterday, declaring in a video sent to the press that he didn’t think there was “any other person who can mark such amazing achievements and a wonderful connection to the Jewish people except for Trump at this time.”

A highlight reel of Trump’s pro-Israel actions during both terms of his presidency is played at the ceremony, including footage from the announcement of the Abraham Accords in 2020, his speech in the Knesset in October last year, and his many meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past decade.

The president is expected to visit Israel in the coming months and will be formally presented with the award at an in-person ceremony then.

Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

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The Dangerous Hypocrisy: Pope Leo XIII's Medal vs. Church Doctrine on Heretics

Pope Leo to be honored with 2026 Liberty Medal

 

Former President Biden Delivers (Speech) at LGBTQ Forum

Trump says he will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ben Carson

President Donald Trump speaks during the American Cornerstone Institute’s Founder’s Dinner at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate in Mount Vernon, Va., Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

BY MEG KINNARD

Updated 10:13 PM EDT, September 20, 2025

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he will award Ben Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, the third such award he’s announced this month.

“Congratulations, Ben. He didn’t know this,” Trump said in a speech during an event at Mount Vernon for American Cornerstone Institute, founded by Carson. “He didn’t know it. I hope he’s happy.”

A former neurosurgeon who ran against Trump for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Carson, 74, went on to serve as Housing and Urban Development secretary during Trump’s first administration.

The one-time rivals developed a strong bond, and Carson — seen at one point as among the top contenders for Trump’s running mate in the 2024 campaign — served as Trump’s national faith chairman during last year’s race.

A staunch social conservative who has opposed abortion rights and same-sex marriage, Carson has become a popular conservative speaker and author.

The Medal of Freedom, established in 1963, is awarded to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or cultural or other significant public endeavors.

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Women’s college gives transgender Biden official a degree

by Elizabeth Russell

Post Date:

May 19, 2025

Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Rachel Levine speaks, Sept. 8, 2023, in Washington.Associated Press / Photo by Mark Schiefelbein

Smith College, a historically all-female institution, on Sunday gave an honorary degree to a man who identifies as a woman. The college presented Rachel Levine, a man originally named Richard, with the degree during its 147th commencement ceremony. Levine also spoke to the school’s graduating class. He was the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration. Smith College said it was honoring him for his work in public health and advancing LGBTQ advocacy.

Representatives of Women’s Declaration International, a feminist organization that advocates for sex-based protections for women, protested outside the school the day before the ceremony.

Who else was honored at the ceremony? The school also gave honorary degrees and speech slots to three women for their work in political theory, music performance, and mental health. Smith College began admitting male students who identify as women in 2015, according to Inside Higher Ed.

What is Levine known for? His 2021 appointment as assistant health secretary made him the highest-ranking openly transgender U.S. official. He also was celebrated as the first female four-star admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, according to the National Women’s History Museum. Levine notably pushed to remove age limits for genital surgery from guidelines published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.


Elizabeth Russell

Elizabeth is a staff writer at WORLD. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute and Patrick Henry College.

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The rise and fall of Catholic wins at the Oscars

February 21, 2025

Meg Tilly in “Agnes of God” (IMDB)

John Dougherty

At this year’s Academy Awards, Edward Berger’s twisty Vatican drama “Conclave” has eight nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Barry Fitzgerald, who played Father Fitzgibbon. (He was also nominated for Best Actor; the only time an actor has been nominated twice for playing the same character in the same film.)


That same year, Ingrid Bergman was nominated for playing Sister Mary Benedict in “The Bells of St. Mary’s” and Gregory Peck for playing a priest in “The Keys of the Kingdom” (1944). A few years later, Bergman would marry Italian director Roberto Rossellini (following a brief and scandalous affair), and they had three children—including Isabella Rossellini.

In these films and others of the time, priests were portrayed as “virile, athletic, compassionate, wise,” according to Charles R. Morris in American Catholic. The fact that they were celibate didn’t prevent them from being inspirational figures, played by some of the most famous (and desirable) men in Hollywood. The films portrayed religious life as one of immense sacrifice and meaning. “These are talented, attractive people who have made big sacrifices for the love of God,” Morris writes, “and they are better than the rest of us for it.”

This mid-century popularity of Catholic films in Hollywood occurred thanks to several factors, including the still-exotic nature of Catholicism to majority-non-Catholic audiences and the dynamically cinematic elements of Catholic religious practice. It is also meaningful that this period coincided with the heyday of the Production Code, a censorship document that determined what got made in Hollywood. In American Catholic, Morris (in line with other scholars) suggests that the deluge of positive Catholic films may have been an attempt by the studios to stay in the good graces of the Production Code Administration’s vigilant and pugnacious director: devout Catholic Joseph Ignatius Breen.

Biden awards Pope Francis with Presidential Medal of Freedom

Why Would a SDA Church Host a Controversial Woman Like Fani Willis?

Dr. Fauci and his wife get the 'Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam' award from the J...

Germany: Adventist Conductor Herbert Blomstedt Awarded the Federal Cross of Merit

Photo: Paul Yates

THE SWEDISH CONDUCTOR HERBERT BLOMSTEDT TURNED 95 THIS YEAR.

NOV 14, 2022APD, EUDNEWS.

EUD NEWS
ALL NEWS

GERMANY: ADVENTIST CONDUCTOR HERBERT BLOMSTEDT AWARDED THE FEDERAL CROSS OF MERIT

On November 10, the Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt was awarded the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his life's work at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.

The Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, presented the award and paid tribute to Blomstedt with the words: "Maestro Blomstedt, we are all full of admiration for your vitality and mental elasticity, for your strength without doggedness," reported Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in its TV programme MDR-Aktuell.

In a statement distributed in advance, Kretschmer described Blomstedt as a "bridge builder in the best sense of the word". He stands for the unifying function of culture in Europe and throughout the world. Blomstedt had already received the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2003. Now he also holds the award with a star.

"Music is his source of strength"

"I am, of course, delighted to be honoured with such an award by a country in which I have lived for a long time and [in which I] had been the leader of two of the best orchestras - namely the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Staatskappelle Dresden," Herbert Blomstedt told MDR. Despite a fall, the consequences of which forced him to conduct sitting down, he feels "as fit as ever". Music is his source of strength, "that can't be ignored", according to the MDR report.

Conductor of numerous orchestras

Blomstedt was born, to an Adventist pastor couple, on July 11, 1927, in the USA, but moved with his parents to their native Sweden at the age of two. He received his first musical education at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm and at Uppsala University. He later studied conducting at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, contemporary music in Darmstadt, and Renaissance and Baroque music at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, and worked under Igor Markevitch in Salzburg and Leonard Bernstein in Tanglewood/USA.

In February 1954, Blomstedt made his conducting debut with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Later, as principal conductor, he led important Scandinavian orchestras such as the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Danish and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestras, staying with the latter until 1983. From 1975 to 1985, he was principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. For the next ten years, he was music director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. From 1996 to 1998, he was principal conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg, and he conducted the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1998 to 2005. To this day, he regularly conducts concerts of various major orchestras in America, Japan and Europe. He currently conducts concerts in the Leipzig Gewandhaus and was a guest in the Dresden Frauenkirche in cooperation with the Sächsische Staatskapelle in the summer.

Numerous awards

Herbert Blomstedt is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and has received several honorary doctorates. He remains associated with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, of which he was the 18th Kapellmeister, as an honorary conductor. Six other orchestras also awarded him this distinction: the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan, the Danish and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestras as well as the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden, which had already honoured him with the Golden Honorary Pin in 2007.

In 2013, a biography about Herbert Blomstedt was published, entitled "Mein Leben - ein grosser Gesang (My life - a great song)". It is not commercially available and was written by freelance author Ursula Weigert for his friends.

His vitality was “a gift”

In an interview with the New York Times newspaper in February 2017, Blomstedt talked about the secret of how he manages this workload at his age.

"It is a gift," Blomstedt emphasised. Asked about his weekly day of rest, the conductor explained why he does not rehearse on the Sabbath (Saturday) but does perform with the orchestras: "I thought of my father [who was a pastor]: He prepared his sermon very thoroughly during the week. On Fridays, at sunset, he would close his books and spend time with the family; but on the Sabbath he would preach the sermon. I love to rehearse, to work with the orchestra. But on Sabbath we don't practise anymore - we just play what we have rehearsed together. And that is a blessing for all of us," says Blomstedt.

Blomstedt Prize for students at Friedensau University of Applied Sciences

Herbert Blomstedt has also endowed a prize himself. In memory of his wife Waltraud, who died in 2003, the Adventist Theological College Friedensau near Magdeburg has been awarding the "Waltraud and Herbert Blomstedt Prize" since 2008. The prize is awarded to Friedensau students for excellent bachelor’s or master's theses in the fields of theology and Christian social work or for a particularly worthy artistic achievement in the field of music.

To read the original article, please go here.

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‘ON THE FRONTLINES’

10/3/2018




Supreme Knight Carl Anderson and Matt Birk, a 15-year veteran of the National Football League, and Super Bowl XLVII champion, who was the conference’s keynote speaker, with Captain Julian Gluck of the United States Air Force. Capt. Gluck, past grand knight at the United States Air Force Academy Council 8200, received the inaugural Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson and Super Bowl champion Matt Birk addressed more than 250 college Knights at the 53rd College Councils Conference

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson challenged college Knights to be leaders on their campuses at a recent gathering in New Haven.

“You are evangelists and disciples now, not sometime in the future,” he said at the 53rd College Councils Awards Banquet. “Your colleagues on your campus need you.”

He said Knights are called to be witnesses of authentic faith and leadership.

“It's up to us to assume that kind of leadership.”

Two hundred and fifty-five Knights — the largest attendance in conference history — came from 97 campuses across North America. The attendees participated in leadership training, attended Mass at St. Mary’s Church, and took part in a special consecration to St. Joseph.

Attracting younger men to the K of C is a key priority for the Order. Attracting college Knights is a top priority. By being true Catholic gentlemen, Supreme Knight Anderson said, college councils will grow. He pointed to Matt Birk as a witness of true faith.

Birk, a 15-year veteran of the National Football League, and Super Bowl XLVII champion, was the conference’s keynote speaker.

“Right now today in our society and our culture and our world, there is a war going on with our faith,” Birk said.

Birk noted that college Knights — as students on campus — are on the frontlines. “I'm one of two million Knights. There's strength in numbers. If you're going to fight a war, you better have an army.”

Even as a professional football player, Birk practiced the same drills he practiced as a kid. It’s the same for practicing the faith, no matter one’s age, Birk said.

“The fundamentals are all right there for us. We have Mass. We have the Eucharist. We have Confession. We have the rosary. We have Adoration.”

At the dinner, Supreme Knight Anderson and other supreme officers conferred awards to college councils for exemplary service and achievement.

Captain Julian Gluck of the United States Air Force received the inaugural Distinguished Alumnus Award. A past grand knight at the United States Air Force Academy Council 8200, Captain Gluck is responsible for piloting a five-person heavy bomber and supporting the combatant command and global bomber task force operations. He is deployed in support of the Operations Inherent Resolve and Freedoms Centennial and participated in the liberation of Mosul and Iraq from ISIS.

For a full listing of award recipients, click here.

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Adjunct Professor Holly Hollman has been named the recipient of the 16th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner National Award

Georgetown Law

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General Counsel and Associate Executive Director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty; Adjunct Professor of Law

K. Hollyn Hollman


B.A., Wake Forest; J.D., University of Tennessee


Holly Hollman is general counsel and associate executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C., where she provides legal analysis of church-state issues that arise before Congress and the courts through publications, speaking engagements, and congressional testimony. Professor Hollman leads the organization’s amicus involvement in religious liberty cases, including more than 35 amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts since 2001. She regularly consults with the media and makes presentations at conferences, congressional staff briefings, educational institutions, and denominational gatherings. Established in 1936, the Baptist Joint Committee works through education and advocacy to protect the free exercise of religion and defend against its establishment by government.

Prior to joining the Baptist Joint Committee, Professor Hollman worked as a labor and employment attorney at McGuireWoods in Washington, D.C., and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in Nashville, Tennessee, where she represented employers in federal and state courts and provided day-to-day advice to management clients in all aspects of employment law.

Professor Hollman earned a B.A. in politics cum laude from Wake Forest University and a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she was a member of the Tennessee Law Review and the National Moot Court Team.

In The News

May 22, 2018  

Adjunct Professor Holly Hollman has been named the recipient of the 16th Annual Religious Liberty Dinner National Award.  The award will be presented on May 22, 2018.

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