Lady Gaga and an order of the Benedictine nuns now have something in common—they have major record contracts with the same music label, Decca Records.

Decca Records, which is part of Universal Music and also has among its talents Eminem, Amy Winehouse and U2, will release “Voice: Chant From Avignon,” the debut effort of nuns from the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation in November.

The effort is the result of the nuns’ winning a Decca Records contract by besting 70 convents in a global search for the best Gregorian Chant singers in the world.

The nuns are part of an ancient sixth century order in Avignon, a remote region in southern France. They  sing their chants eight times a day and their daily life is self-sufficient. They have their own engineer, electrician, plumber, dental assistant and silk weaver.

Once a sister takes her vows, she must remain in the monastery, hidden from all, until her death.

Because the nuns are secluded (they talk to outsiders through a grille), all tracks and the album cover shoot will be done in the convent, CBSNews said.

Even Decca’s managing director Dick Stainer spoke to the nuns through the grille when he went to congratulate them for winning the talent search. Stainer said, “I passed the contract through the grille, they signed it and passed it back,” the Telegraph said.

The Reverend Mother Abbess said, “At first we were worried it would affect our cloistered life, so we asked St. Joseph in prayer. Our prayers were answered, and we thought that this album would be a good thing if it touches people’s lives and helps them find peace,” Time Magazine said.

However with the album’s release, the whole world will now hear their singing which was once only part of their secluded world.

Tom Lewis of Decca said, ”When you hear the sound of nuns chanting, it’s like an immediate escape from the challenges, stresses, noise and pace of modern living. You’re given a glimpse of a secret world of peace and calm,” the Telegraph said.

Decca is hopeful that the nuns’ new album will be as successful as their 2008 album release of the Austrian Cistercian Monks entitled “Chant: Music For Paradise,” which sold over a million copies, CBSNews said.

Two Christian evangelists were brutally attacked recently on a jungle road en route to an India village, and then were left in the dark because their six assailants thought they were already dead.

The victims, Mahindra Kharoley, 20, and Munshi Prasaad, 30, were attacked in Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh. They were bicycling home to their village after a prayer meeting in Dunda Sivni 15 miles away. The attackers followed them on two motorbikes, then with their faces covered accosted the two, accused them of “forced conversion,” and beat them, Compass Direct News said.

The six men hit and kicked the two evangelists repeatedly. Bahey said, “They banged my head on the cement road and hit me hard with their boots on top of my head, splitting my forehead.” His clothes were soaked in blood and he had a deep gash above his eye on his forehead, and internal injuries, CDN said.

Kharoley said, “We lay motionless and pretended to be dead after they had beaten us about 20 minutes, to escape their fury.” He had internal body, chest and head injuries. His right thumb was nearly fractured, CDN said.

When the two played dead Bahey heard one attacker call another by the name “Mahesh,” saying, “They are already dead – let’s get out of here.” There was no moon and they were in pitch darkness 800 meters from their home village, CDN said.

The two managed to get back to their village where they were immediately rushed to a government health center, then a hospital. Although they had filed a complaint about the July 20 incident, the Kirnapur police have yet to investigate, CDN said.

Sub-Inspector Sandhir Chaudhary said he is busy with more important cases, and plans to look into the attack after Aug. 5.

Claiming on their website that they are “a new testament church, based on the bible,” the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., tends to attract media attention by engaging in activities that rank high in shock effect.

On Monday, the group plans on holding a protest against Gainesville’s first gay mayor. In the past, they had held up signs saying, “No homo mayor,” The Huffington Post said.

On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, the church plans on celebrating the tragedy by burning the Quran.

Last year on its front lawn they put up signs that said “Islam is of the devil,” which left residents aghast, causing some to say the message is hateful, The Christian Post said.

A number of Christians question the methods of this church believing it conveys more hate than love, but Dove’s senior pastor Terry Jones is nonplussed.

He says Christian critics should “stop criticizing and find another way to raise awareness about Islam or to share the Gospel,” The Christian Post said.

Jones authored a book called “Islam is of the Devil” and admits that protests are one of the key missions for his church. He says the goal is to warn, and help Muslims to convert, the Religious News Service said.

Jones said people have been giving him Qurans to burn. The idea for burning Qurans, he added, partly came from a Facebook page which called for an “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,” RNS said.

On Sept. 11, Muslims will celebrate their Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan. Ramzy Kilic, communications director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the organization does not wish to be reactive in how they will commemorate the holiday. They hope to share Islamic traditions and Qurans with churchgoers and the community.

A LifeWay Research survey that was released in April discovered that six out of 10 pastors believe that Christianity and Islam should attempt to live together peacefully in the United States, The Christian Post said.

A Ukrainian Orthodox church was damaged by a bomb blast recently that killed a nun and wounded eight others.

The blast occurred at the Intercession Church in the city of Zaporоzhyе, southern Ukraine. The bombing occurred on the country’s celebration of its conversion to Christianity in 988 A.D., BBC News said.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill came to the country for an eight-day visit to mark the event. This caused a stir among some nationalists. Kirill also heads the biggest branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox church. Some Ukraine clergy, however, have chosen to be independent of Moscow, the BBC said.

The blast occurred on the second to last day of Kirill’s visit. However, no official word has been issued regarding motive, the Associated Press said.

An 80-year-old nun, Sister Lyudmila from the Holy Protection of the Virgin church was fatally injured and died later in the hospital, the Global Times said. The nun’s church falls under the Ukranian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, BBC said.

Five of those injured were hospitalized, Interfax said. Some of the church’s windows and floor were also damaged by the blast. The police and security continue to explore the area of the blast, the Global Times said.

The church that was bombed is located beside a marketplace. According to the Global Times, a small bag was seen near the entrance, but no one paid heed, a church priest said. An investigation of the damaged site revealed a homemade explosive with the equivalent off 500 g of TNT, the BBC said.

Israel denies it, Jordan ignores it, and a green group claims that the water of the Jordan River where Jesus is believed to have been baptized is unsafe.

The ecology group Friends of the Earth Middle East claims that the Jordan River is polluted on the sides of both Israel and Jordan. Both countries claim their side of the river is where Jesus was baptized.

Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East said water baptisms should be banned from the popular tourism sites, “For reasons of public health as well as religious integrity,” RNS said.

The river is polluted because of large amounts of sewage and fecal bacteria that is pumped into it from the West Bank, Jordan and Israel, the AP said.

Mira Edelstein of Friends of the Earth Middle East said, “The state of the river at the moment is really dire,” Voice of America said.

However the Israeli government disagrees. They said that tests conducted on Tuesday in the Qasr al-Yahud (Israel side of the Jordan River) showed the pollution levels are less than a tenth of their Health Ministry’s accepted standard, the AP said.

A Civil Administration and Nature and Parks Authority spokesman said the waters are safe for bathing and claimed they hold routine tests every three months of what is viewed as Christianity’s third most sacred site, Ynet said.

Some 100,000 Christians visit Qasr al-Yahud annually and oftentimes they hold water baptisms there, the AP said. However many tourists have begun to go to the Jordanian side instead, because of the pollution reports, Ynet said.

Bromberg has asked that all ceremonies on both sides of the river stop until pollutants are removed. Qasr al-Yahud falls within an Israeli-controlled military zone. Israel closed the baptismal site for one day, but reopened it immediately after. Jordan never closed its side of the river, nor did the Jordanian government respond to the environmental group’s report, RNS said.

Bromberg said, “Our call is to halt baptisms on both sides of the river. It is exactly the same polluted water,” RNS said. Israel is constructing sewage treatment plants that should terminate waste flow into their side of the river by 2011, the AP said.

However environmentalists feel that will not suffice. Noting the growing population, climate and constant water shortage, they feel only increasing water flow into the river will help. Edelstein says 98 percent of the water that should enter the river is diverted for agriculture, drinking and domestic use, and only two percent is left, VOANews said.

Edelstein said this was discovered when the green group recently did a study that was conducted in a regional fashion, with the help of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian experts, VOANews said. This is why the waters of the Jordan River have shrunk dramatically, the AP said.

The fresh water flow is diverted to Syria, Jordan and Israel, Bromberg says adding, “If the same thing were happening to a Jewish or Muslim holy site there would be a public outcry,” RNS said.

A woman professor from Oxford University filed charges recently against the school, claiming she was discriminated against when she converted from Judaism to Christianity.

Dr. Tali Argov of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies told the Reading Employment Tribunal hearing that she was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against after she became an Anglican in 2008.

Argov said she was bypassed for promotion, lost her privileges and was treated coldly by her peers at social gatherings.

She said the staff wanted to check her lectures to ensure she does not criticize Israel. Eventually she was dismissed although she had offered to undertake new roles, the Telegraph said.

Argov said, “It is my belief that, following firstly the conversion of my husband and then the conversion of myself, the treatment which I received as an employee of the Respondents was very different and a number of incidents occurred which led me to believe that I was being discriminated against,” the Telegraph said.

Argov said she and her husband, Eran, were raised as Jews and formerly lived in Israel. In 2000 they moved to England when Argov was offered a lector of modern Hebrew post at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies, the Telegraph said.

At first she was well accepted by her peers, but when her husband converted to the Church of England in 2005, “all those kind, heart-warming gestures disappeared overnight,” the Telegraph said.

She was treated even worse when she also became an Anglican in 2008, and became active with St. Mary Magdalene church, which is situated at the center of Oxford, the Telegraph said.

Argov said, “It is very rare for an Israeli Jew to convert to Christianity and I was aware that not only would this be frowned upon but many Jews would believe I was a traitor who had betrayed the faith,” the Telegraph said.

She said she noted strange looks from some colleagues and hushed silence whenever she approached. When she applied for a lectureship post a colleague told her, “Don’t bother – you will be kicked on your teeth.” She claims a less qualified candidate got the post.

She also said she felt humiliated as the only full-time staff who was not included in a photo shoot for a brochure. In due time her office was taken from her, as was her pigeonhole, the Telegraph said.

A lesser title was placed on her University ID card, which meant loss of her email account and admission to the library. These privileges were later reinstated, the Telegraph said.

She was not invited to a London fundraising event, but she and her husband were permitted admission. However the Center’s president at the time, Peter Oppenheimer, seemed to sneer at the couple and gave her a “limp handshake” when they arrived, she said. Other colleagues ignored them and made them feel very uncomfortable, the Telegraph said.

Argov also said that in 2008, the year when she became an Anglican, she was told that her lectures would need to be cleared in advance. She regarded this as an insult to her professionalism and an incursion on her academic freedom, the Telegraph said.

In October of that year she was also told that she would henceforth be paid hourly because the Center was confronted with financial difficulties. However, she noted that new staff were still being accepted. She was later dismissed, the Telegraph said.

Dr. David Ariel, president of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, declined in a statement to comment on the case because it is still ongoing. However, he said the Center adheres to a policy of respect for the religious beliefs of all its employees, the Telegraph said.

The double life of three Catholic homosexual priests was revealed recently in a magazine article in Italy.

The article featured in Panorama magazine, a conservative magazine owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, describes the activities of the priests, which included going to nightclubs and having casual sex.

Using a hidden camera during the interview with the priests, the Panorama reporter also got footage of the priests—a Frenchman and two Italians, having sex with strangers, once, inside a church. The Frenchman celebrated mass the morning after an encounter, then drove his two hired escorts to the airport, Telegraph India said.

Editor Giorgio Mule said the purpose of the article was to expose priests living double lives, not to create a scandal. He added that the piece was the product of a two-week investigation, the New York Daily News said.

The Catholic Church in Italy responded by asking homosexual priests to come out in the open and to leave the priesthood. They are still dealing with the effects of the pedophile priest scandal, Telegraph India said.

Panorama cover. Via New York Daily News

The Rome diocese issued a statement saying that the grand majority of their 1,300 priests are “models of morality for all.” The Vatican did not comment, but a senior source said, “There is no proof that the people involved are from the clergy,” Telegraph India said.

Panorama released a preview of the article and said they have video footage which will also be available. They said they did checks to ensure that the priests were all bona fide, the Daily Mail said.

The story begins by saying, “By day they are regular priests, complete with dog collar, but at night, it’s off with the cassock as they take their place as perfectly integrated members of the Italian capital’s gay scene,” Telegraph India said.

Catholic priests are obliged to take a vow of celibacy, and the church views homosexuality as sinful. The 2008 Vatican guidelines said that trainees for the priesthood with homosexual tendencies should not join, Telegraph India said.

A group of youths attacked recently a Christian house church in a Vietnam village while a worship service was ongoing.

They gang broke into the house of evangelist Mang Vuong, smashed the walls, stole over $3,000, and destroyed furniture, books and utensils while jeering at Vuong for building his Xi Thoai village home which doubles as a house church, Compass Direct News said.

The same youth gang had long been harassing Vuong and sending death threats. Vuong works for the Evangelical Church of Vietnam, the country’s largest government registered denomination, CDN said.

They formerly were part of a Christian church at Soi Nga village nearby. However as the church grew the leaders decided to build a roomy home to double as a church in Xi Thoai village, CDN said.
A month before its completion the house was attacked by the youth for the first time. In a June 12 petition sent by Vuong to officials of the commune, district and province, he states that the youth had been assembled by village officials three days before where they were given liquor, then attacked the house at midnight, CDN said.

Many among the attackers were sons of commune officials. The petition mentioned village chief La Mo Duc and his deputy Le Minh Dien (both Communist Party leaders) among others, for inciting the gang to mount the attack, CDN said.

At that time some $3,091 was stolen—newly borrowed money to pay the contractors. Christian books were burned, and everything else was either stolen or destroyed including unused building materials and tools, CDN said.

Several provincial and local police came to allegedly investigate, but no action against the perpetrators was taken. It is believed the police actually came to better identify the Christians. Neither did local officials intervene in the recent daylight raid, CDN said.

A leading ECVN leader said, “It is religious persecution, pure and simple, incited and allowed by local government officials. The inaction of higher officials casts into doubt our country’s claim to uphold religious freedom,” CDN said.

Provincial ECVN leader Vo Thanh Phe also asked officials to take action with no success. A top national ECVN leader came to the village personally to say he would petition the prime minister. He visited personally in anticipation that the phones of local Christians are tapped, CDN said.

It is not expected that another petition would bring results. These are usually referred back to local officials who bear down harder on the Christians for complaining, CDN said.

Phu Yen province, where the events occurred, has been the site of other abuses against Christians. In January Y Co and Y Du of the Vietnam Good News Mission Church were arrested and both are in Phu Lam Prison despite the fact that no charges have been filed and there has been no trial, CDN said.

The wives of the two evangelists were told their husbands would be freed if they renounce their faith, CDN said.

According to an observer, Vietnam has worsened its treatment of religious activists and further neglected human and democratic rights. Its law allowing religious freedom is largely viewed window dressing. After it already achieved its goal of obtaining U.S. trade privileges in 2006 and acceding to the WTO in 2007, enforcement of such freedoms has been lax, CDN said.

Recent studies reveal that house or organic churches are gaining popularity in the U.S.

A Barna Group study suggests some six million to 12 million Americans now go to house churches. Barna is a firm that specializes in collecting data about religion and society.

The findings parallel that of a Pew Forum survey last year which showed that nine percent of U.S. Protestants go to home churches, the AP said.

A house church usually consists of 12 to 15 people who meet every week to share what is happening in their lives, and who refer to the bible for guidance. Gatherings are conducted in a largely spontaneous way with reliance on the Holy Spirit for guidance, the AP said.

Some house churches access websites for teaching materials such as House2House which caters to organic churches and supplies articles, downloads, locations of house churches, blogs, discussion boards, books, DVDs and social networking among others, according to their website.

House2House says that buildings and a professional clergy with set programs are not the fundamentals of a church. Rather, they say the divine truth of loving Jesus, nurturing relationships among members, and an apostolic mission is more important, their website says.

They compare house churches to churches in the New Testament which revolved around the needs of the members and a desire to spread God’s word more than on constructing a church building and following a church structure, their website says.

Ed Stetzer, president of Lifeway Research of the Southern Baptist Convention says, “I think part of the appeal for some in the house church movement is the desire to return to a simpler expression of church. For many, church has become too much (like a) business while they just want to live like the Bible,” the AP says.

In a house church there is no formal religious leadership. Each member plays a part in teaching, praying or singing. There is more opportunity for closeness and fellowship than what one could expect from a large church, the AP says.

House churches have normally been linked to countries where Christianity is a minority religion. In the U.S., however, they are beginning to become an option of choice. House churches evolve their own individualistic character and each one is different, the AP said.

There may be praise and worship singing, a time for the Eucharist and a potluck meal. There could be a spiritual lesson. There may be a regular offering, or maybe not. One house church for example only has a collection when a church member may be in financial need, the AP said.

House churches are usually found either by the internet or by word of mouth. Sometimes the members take turns hosting the service in their homes. When they are too large, they may separate into two smaller groups until membership builds up in each group again. On some occasions a house church may diminish and die out, the AP said.

Many who embrace house churches have gone through a period of feeling disillusioned with traditional churches and take to the passion and intimacy of house churches. Others like the closeness and camaraderie, the AP said.

House2House sees this development as a movement of the Holy Spirit for today’s generation. They take God’s guidance seriously, and annually hold a National House Church Conference to ascertain what house churches are doing, dwell upon God’s agenda, and to discern how they can cooperate with God’s plan, their website says.

Bhutan’s government has proposed a new “anti-conversion” bill that is being used by vigilantes in other nations as a means to falsely accuse and imprison Christians.

The bill cites Bhutan’s Penal Code under section 463 which says, “A defendant shall be guilty of the offense of proselytization if the defendant uses coercion or other forms of inducement to cause the conversion of a person from one religion or faith to another,” Compass Direct News said.

The bill, which is expected to be passed in Parliament’s next session, has incited fear among Christian clergymen. One pastor said Bhutan always had a “virtual” anti-conversion law, but this new bill would set it on paper and it may be used to control the growth of Christianity, CDN said.

Under the bill misdemeanors will be punishable by one to three years in prison. A pastor who requested anonymity said the bill will permit the arrest of Christians even at frivolous complaints of local residents, CDN said.

Bhutan has a population of 683,407 people with 75 percent Buddhist and 22 percent Hindu. There are some 6,000 Christians, but no church building nor registered Christian body. The Bible has been translated into both Dzongkha (Bhutan’s national language) and Nepali (the ethnicity of most Bhutan Christians), CDN said.

Before Bhutan became a democracy in 2008 it was ruled by absolute monarchy which had prevailed for hundreds of years. Although the constitution allows freedom of religion, Christianity is not officially recognized, and it is not mentioned in Bhutan’s official website which mentions Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism, Bon, animism and shamanism, CDN says.

Lyonpo Minjur Dorji, Home and Culture minister, said Bhutan had no argument with Christianity. “But Bhutan is a small country, with a little more than 600,000 people, and a majority of them are Buddhist. We have Hindus, also, mainly in southern parts. So why do we need more religions?” CDN said.

The country, which has largely lived in extreme isolation amid the Himalayas and between India and Tibet, has embedded Buddhism in its political and social life. Buddhism has largely kept the populace united and daily life orbits around its monastery, CDN said.

The country views culture, rather than its military, as a means to protect its sovereignty, and Dorji is equally charged with preservation of culture and internal security. Bhutan is also concerned that Tibet has become a part of China and Sikkim is now a part of India, CDN said.

Sikkim had been an independent Buddhist kingdom until Hindus from Nepal migrated gradually until they came to outnumber the Buddhists. Under a 1975 referendum 75 percent of Sikkim who were largely Nepalese voted to become a state of India, CDN said.

Bhutan authorities responded by harshly cracking down on ethnic Nepalese through ethnic cleansing in the 1980s which led to some 100,000 Nepalese, many Christians among them, to lose their homes, CDN said.

To further strengthen their cultural integrity they implement laws that require the people to speak their national language and wear their national dress. The architecture must also be uniform. Violators are fined and imprisoned, CDN said.