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Ethiopian Orthodox Church says 60 killed in Oromia attacks; calls for protection
Two October assaults in Arsi Zone deepen alarm over years of violence against Orthodox communities
NAIROBI — The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's Holy Synod says armed attacks in Oromia's Arsi Zone killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians in late October. It puts the toll at 14 in Merti district on October 20 and 46 in Shirka district on October 24. The Synod says 20 homes were burned, and victims included children and elderly people. A church official said security forces reached Shirka but could not stop the attack. It is not clear who carried out the killings. The regional government has promised action, and the U.S. ambassador in Addis Ababa condemned the attacks and called for an investigation. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council reported in July that attacks in the area over four years had killed hundreds of civilians, with Orthodox Christians disproportionately affected. The Synod wants the state to protect civilians and prosecute those responsible.
Why it mattersThe attacks are among the deadliest on a religious community this year, and they add to doubts about Ethiopia's ability to protect minorities as it faces several armed insurgencies.
Federal judge orders Iowa to admit Satanic Temple's Krampus event at Capitol
State appeals to the 8th Circuit the day the preliminary injunction issues
DES MOINES, Iowa — Chief U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose on Monday ordered Iowa to approve a December 12 holiday event by the Satanic Temple in the Capitol rotunda. State officials had rejected the group's application three years running. The planned event includes caroling, coloring pages, ornament-making and a Krampus costume contest. Officials argued the costumes could frighten children and that the characters' sticks could be used as weapons. Rose found the Temple likely to succeed on its free-speech claim. She wrote that fear of a costume is not a permissible reason to exclude speech, and that the sticks could not justify banning the whole event. The state may apply only the conditions it sets for other indoor events. The attorney general's office has appealed to the 8th Circuit. The Temple's religious-discrimination and equal-protection claims, and its damages request, are still pending.
Why it mattersThe order tests whether officials can exclude an unpopular religious group from a public forum that hosts other faiths' seasonal displays.
Pope Leo receives Bob Dylan in private Vatican audience
The Nobel laureate and the pontiff, who quoted his song in a book, exchange a rosary and a memoir
VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV received Bob Dylan at the Apostolic Palace on Wednesday. Vatican News described the meeting as brief, made up of greetings and a few lighthearted exchanges. The pope gave the 85-year-old Nobel laureate a rosary, and Dylan gave him a copy of his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican culture official, arranged the audience and accompanied Dylan, along with Andrea Monda, editor of L'Osservatore Romano. Leo quoted Dylan's unreleased 1963 anti-nuclear song Go Away You Bomb in the preface to a July book on disarmament. Dylan played for John Paul II in Bologna in 1997. He played in Rome the following night, as part of his European tour.
Why it mattersThe meeting shows the Vatican's continuing outreach to artists and its use of cultural figures to carry the pope's message on nuclear disarmament and peace.
