Methodist drive to aid migrants
To remember the plight of migrants, the United Methodist Church has set Global Migration Sunday for Dec. 3, the first Sunday of Advent. On this date, all United Methodist churches are asked to gather an offering dedicated to responding to human suffering caused by migration.
"The facts are staggering," said Thomas Kemper, head of the General Board of Global Ministries. "There are more than 65.6 million displaced people in the world today, more than at any time since World War II."
The millions of migrants include children and their families fleeing to escape war and persecution, violence and extortion activities associated with criminal and gang organizations, economic hardship and poverty, forced displacement, and a distrust of local government. In most instances, people traverse continents and the world. Thousands have died while crossing oceans and seas in ill-equipped boats; disease and starvation kill others. Those who make it to a new place are not guaranteed that they can stay and many are turned back.
The church's 2016 Book of Resolutions statement "Global Migration and the Quest for Justice" declares, "Global migration as a factor in the quest for justice is a major priority of the United Methodist Church as a denomination that is global in its vision, mission and ministries. This concern is rooted in a biblical mandate for justice and a commitment to the future of the church."
Financial gifts will be used to support migrants around the world, including helping provide safe passage for those with no viable alternative but to leave, and assisting welcoming communities to help with the needs of new arrivals.
"Migration involves challenges, injustices, and hazards but can also be a blessing," Kemper says. "The church has a responsibility to respond to the physical and emotional needs of the displaced, and it can recognize and utilize the value of mobility."
-- The Associated Press
Archaeologists find St. Nicholas' tomb
Archaeologists in southern Turkey say they have discovered the tomb of the original Santa Claus, also known as St. Nicholas, beneath his namesake church near the Mediterranean Sea.
Saint Nicholas of Myra (now Demre) was known for his anonymous gift-giving and generosity. People believed he'd put coins in the shoes of anyone who left them out for him on his feast day, Dec. 6.
It wasn't until the 16th century that St. Nicholas began to take on his modern, candy-cane hued form in images and imaginations. In Europe, he became known as Father Christmas. The legend migrated to the Americas with the Dutch, who called him "Sinterklaas" and gathered every year on the anniversary of his death.
Meanwhile, the remains of the real-life St. Nicholas were apparently the subject of a centuries-old case of mistaken identity and grave robbery.
According to the Telegraph of London, St. Nicholas died in A.D. 343 and was interred at St. Nicholas church in Demre, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. In 1087, merchants dug up his bones and smuggled them to the Italian city of Bari, the Telegraph reported. It's still a holy site, visited by Christians paying homage to St. Nicholas.
But archaeologists say pilgrims to the Basilica di San Nicola are praying to the wrong guy. The bones belong to another local priest, not one of the most famous saints, the Telegraph reported.
Archaeologists conducting recent surveys at the church in Demre found gaps beneath it. The shrine, they say, is underneath the church and untouched.
"We believe this shrine has not been damaged at all, but it is quite difficult to get to it as there are mosaics on the floor," Cemil Karabayram, the head of Antalya's Monument Authority, told the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News.
Karabayram told the newspaper that he's confident that archaeologists can reach the tomb.
-- The Washington Post
Religion on 10/21/2017