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Timeline: milestones in the EU’s fight for women’s rights (video) | News | European Parliament

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Timeline: milestones in the EU's fight for women's rights (video)  | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20210225STO98706/

Amazon issues rare apology in India over ‘Tandav’ portrayal of religion

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Amazon issues rare apology in India over 'Tandav' portrayal of religion



Amazon.com Inc’s Prime Video streaming service on Tuesday issued a rare apology to its Indian viewers for some scenes in its original political drama series “Tandav”, which allegedly offended Hindu religious beliefs.


“Tandav”, a Hindi word meaning “fury”, stars top Bollywood actors. In several states it has faced police complaints and court cases alleging the show had depicted Hindu gods and goddesses in a derogatory manner, and offended religious beliefs. Lawmakers from India’s ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have also criticised it.



In a statement titled “Amazon Prime Video Apologizes”, the company on Tuesday said it deeply regrets viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable.


Amazon apologizes “unconditionally to anyone who felt hurt,” it said, adding that it will continue to develop content while respecting the diversity of audiences’ culture and beliefs.


The “Tandav” controversy escalated last week when police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh questioned one of Amazon’s top executives for hours in one case filed against the show.


Asked about the company apology, a senior state police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said authorities would continue investigating the matter.


Shows on streaming platforms such as Netflix Inc and Amazon Prime have often faced complaints in India for obscenity or offending beliefs, but the latest controversy involving the Amazon show “Tandav” is among the highest-profile cases.


An Indian media and entertainment industry executive said Amazon’s apology was unprecedented and showed that big U.S. conglomerates can capitulate to political or cultural demands. The executive spoke on condition of anonymity.


In January 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos attended a Prime Video event in Mumbai with Bollywood stars and announced it would double down on its investments. He said Prime Video was doing well globally “but nowhere it’s doing better than India”.


India is a critical growth market for Amazon, where it has committed investments of $6.5 billion, with interests in e-commerce, video streaming, cloud computing and other areas.


Amazon is currently also facing calls for a ban after Reuters last month reported the U.S. firm had for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India website and used them to circumvent the country’s strict foreign investment regulations.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Amazon issues rare apology in India over 'Tandav' portrayal of religion Dear Reader,

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EBRD becomes shareholder in online food retailer Velka Pecka

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EBRD becomes shareholder in online food retailer Velka Pecka

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is becoming a shareholder in the Czech online retailer Velka Pecka s.r.o. to support a business that has gained critical importance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company was established in 2014 and rapidly became the leading online grocery retailer in the Czech Republic, operating under the brand name Rohlik and offering a unique service. The pandemic has turned what was until recently seen as a convenience into what is now very often a necessity: during public health restrictions and lockdowns, online food retail has become a lifeline for many customers.

Building on the successful establishment of its business, Velka Pecka is now seeking to expand its operations in Hungary, and to enter the Romanian market and other countries where the EBRD invests.

This will not only offer customers more choice, but also benefit local suppliers as the company combines a unique product assortment with an emphasis on local, artisanal, healthy and organic food and a high level of service. In addition, the firm is championing a more sustainable food chain and supporting local food producers and artisans.

The expansion of Velka Pecka will also boost labour market opportunities. The company will introduce training for more than 600 young women and men in Hungary and Romania. Velka Pecka will also promote female talent in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and management, by targeting gender parity in these roles as well as in training.

Natalya Zhukova, EBRD Director, Agribusiness, said: “We are very proud of this investment, which addresses several pressing issues we are facing today. With the provision of equity the EBRD is making a long-term commitment to a young and dynamic company at a time when access to finance is often challenging. The expansion of online retail is a direct response to the huge disruption that the coronavirus pandemic is causing. And creating training opportunities for young people is essential at a time when labour markets are increasingly coming under strain.”

“We expect that our activities will kick-start the market and force all players in the retail industry to accelerate. We are not focused on delivering a small basket very quickly like other firms in the market, but on fulfilling the real needs of families in Europe,” added Tomáš Čupr, founder and CEO of Rohlik Group, on the expected impact of the Group’s expansion activities in the retail market.

Supporting agribusiness is a key part of the EBRD’s activities and the Bank is strengthening the sustainable and inclusive development of the sector through a combination of investment and policy engagement.

Books about strong women to read for Women’s History Month

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March is Women’s History Month, and we have some titles to inspire you. Our collection includes an alchemy of fiction and nonfiction, featuring women with various backgrounds, unique viewpoints, and riveting stories. So celebrate the strong, smart, defiant women in your life—including yourself!—and pick up one of these fantastic reads.

More see: https://www.readitforward.com/essay/article/womens-history-month/

Chief European Union diplomat in Venezuela leaves country

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Chief European Union diplomat in Venezuela leaves country

CARACAS, Venezuela — The chief European Union diplomat in Venezuela left the country on Tuesday, a week after the government of Nicolás Maduro ordered her expulsion following the EU’s decision to impose sanctions on several Venezuelan officials accused of undermining democracy or violating human rights.

Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa tweeted a photograph of Caracas showing the mountain range that flanks the Venezuelan capital to the north and the message “infinite thanks to all Venezuelans for their affection.”

“I carry you all in so many beautiful memories. My heart stays here,” she wrote without giving details.

The Venezuelan government’s action against Brilhante Pedrosa came after the European Union’s foreign ministers sanctioned 19 Venezuelan officials, freezing their assets and banning them from travelling to the bloc, citing the deteriorating situation Venezuela faces after December 2020 elections. The main opposition parties boycotted those elections.

The move marked the second time in almost eight months that Brilhante Pedrosa was declared persona non grata and ordered to leave Venezuela. Both cases were related to the European Union sanctions against officials and allies of Maduro.

Last June, Brilhante Pedrosa was able to remain in Venezuela after the European Union high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza agreed on the need to maintain diplomatic relations.

Arreaza last week lamented that the sanctions were imposed again, saying Maduro had been “generous” to allow European diplomats to remain after many nations formally recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s rightful leader.

Guaidó, former president of the National Assembly, declared himself interim president in 2019 and was recognized by 60 countries as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, arguing that Maduro’s reelection in 2018 was fraudulent. However, Maduro has held power with the support of the military and Guaidó’s movement has lost momentum.

The Associated Press

Religion and gay rights: Is compromise possible?

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Religion and gay rights: Is compromise possible?

A group of congressional representatives introduced legislation on Friday that seeks to promote LGBT rights while preserving religious liberty.

The Fairness for All Act, unlike the Equality Act that passed the House on Thursday, strengthens accommodations for religious organizations even as it expands civil rights protections for LGBT people. U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah introduced an identical bill in 2019 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while providing that religious employers, foster care and adoption agencies, and religious schools may operate in accordance with Biblical beliefs on sexuality and marriage. His 2021 version has garnered 20 other Republican co-sponsors.

Under the Equality Act, LGBT rights would trump the protection provided by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 law that requires the federal government to show a compelling interest and use the least restrictive means when encroaching on religious liberty. Fairness for All would preserve RFRA.

The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, which represents more than 150 schools in the United States and Canada, released a statement in support of the legislation’s reintroduction on Friday: “The bill is both principled and pragmatic—it is principled in providing a clear and demonstrable way for people of faith to ‘love our neighbor’ in the civic context, and pragmatic in that the bill makes explicit many religious protections that are important to a rich and vibrant civil society.” The National Association of Evangelicals and the Latter-day Saints also supported the Fairness for All Act in 2019.

But other Christian leaders—including Focus on the Family President Jim Daly and Southern Baptist Convention leaders Russell Moore and Albert Mohler—opposed the legislation when it was introduced in 2019. Mohler is a WORLD board member.

Ryan T. Anderson, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told the Deseret News earlier this month that Fairness for All fails to address concerns about privacy, athletic competition, and medicine. Anderson, author of a book on transgenderism that Amazon recently delisted, was likely alluding to the push to include men who identify as female in women’s sports and the lack of protections for medical professionals who object to prescribing or performing treatments that alter physical sex characteristics.

The Human Rights Campaign spearheaded a coalition of LGBT advocacy organizations that rejected the proposed compromise in 2019 and called it “deeply dangerous.”

“LGBTQ people deserve full federal equality—nothing more and nothing less,” the coalition said. It referred to religious liberty protections in the Fairness for All bill as “massive loopholes and carve-outs”—demonstrating that a nuanced approach to the conflict may not be possible.

Stewart still hopes the legislation may offer a basis for unity. “I don’t think [the Equality Act] will pass in the Senate and that opens up the opportunity for Fairness for All,” Stewart told CBN News. “There’s some of our Democratic colleagues who are going to join us on that, and once they see that they’re not going to force this on the Senate, that opens the door to look at an alternative.”

Untreated hearing loss threatens nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide – WHO 

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Untreated hearing loss threatens nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide – WHO 

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) report, launched ahead of World Hearing Day 2021 on Wednesday, says that in less than 30 years, nearly 2.5 billion people globally face the threat of hearing loss – at least 700 million of whom will require ear and hearing care as well as other rehabilitation services, unless action is taken. 

That figure would mark a significant increase from the current 430 million people worldwide who are experiencing “disabling hearing loss”.  

“Our ability to hear is precious. Untreated hearing loss can have a devastating impact on people’s ability to communicate, to study and to earn a living”, said WHO Director-General chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “It can also impact on people’s mental health and their ability to sustain relationships”. 

Hearing investments 

The new report underlines the need to promptly step-up efforts to prevent and address hearing loss by investing and expanding access to ear and hearing care services. 

WHO has calculated that governments can expect a cost-effective return of nearly $16 for every dollar invested. 

The vast majority of those with disabling hearing loss, live in low and middle income countries where policies, trained professionals, infrastructure and basic awareness to address the issue, are commonly lacking. 

“Integrating ear and hearing care interventions within national health plans and delivering these through strengthened health systems, as part of universal health coverage, is essential to meet the needs of those at risk of or living with hearing loss”, said Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the WHO Department of Noncommunicable Diseases.  

Hearing loss 

In children, almost 60 per cent of hearing loss can be prevented through measures such as rubella and meningitis immunizations, improved maternal and neonatal care, and screening for and early management of otitis media – inflammatory diseases of the middle ear.  

In adults, noise control, safe listening and surveillance of medicines that cause a toxic effect on the ear or its nerve supply, together with thorough ear hygiene can help maintain good hearing and reduce the potential for hearing loss. 

Correcting the loss 

Identification is the first step in addressing hearing loss and related ear diseases. 

According to WHO, clinical screening at strategic points in life ensure that any loss of hearing and ear diseases can be identified as early as possible. 

Moreover, recent technological advances, including accurate and easy-to-use tools, can identify ear disease and hearing loss at any age, and screenings can be done during the COVID-19 pandemic and in underserved areas of the world. 

Untreated hearing loss can have a devastating impact on people’s ability to communicate, to study and to earn a living — WHO chief

Once diagnosed, early intervention is key. Medical treatment can cure most ear diseases and where hearing loss is irreversible, rehabilitation can prevent adverse consequences of hearing loss.  

A range of options are available, including technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, which, when accompanied by appropriate support services and rehabilitative therapy, are effective and can benefit children and adults alike. 

“To ensure that the benefit of these technological advances and solutions is equitably accessible to all, countries must adopt an integrated people-centered approach”, Dr. Bente Mikkelsen advised. 

The report also highlights that sign language and other sensory substitution, such as speech reading, are important options for many deaf people, as are hearing assistive technology and services, including captioning and sign language interpretation.

Buddhist Times News – A national-treasure pagoda at Yakushiji, a Buddhist temple listed as a World Heritage site opened in Nara

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Buddhist Times News – A national-treasure pagoda at Yakushiji, a Buddhist temple listed as a World Heritage site opened in Nara

By   –   Shyamal Sinha

Yakushi-ji  is one of the most famous imperial and ancient Buddhist temples in Japan, that was once one of the Seven Great Temples of Nanto, located in Nara. The temple is the headquarters of the Hossō school of Japanese Buddhism. Yakushi-ji is one of the sites that are collectively inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name of “Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.”

The main object of veneration, Yakushi Nyorai, also named “The Medicine Buddha”, was one of the first Buddhist Deities to arrive in Japan from China in 680, and gives the temple its name.

A national-treasure pagoda at Yakushiji, a Buddhist temple listed as a World Heritage site in Japan’s ancient capital of Nara, was partially opened to the public Monday following its first renovation in more than 100 years.

The East Pagoda, believed to be the sole remaining wooden structure from when the temple was first constructed over 1,300 years ago, is available to view until Jan. 16 next year.

People line up to observe the inside of the renovated East Pagoda at Yakushiji temple in Nara Prefecture on March 1, 2021. (Kyodo)

Priests of the temple in the western Japan city chanted as the first floor door of the three-story pagoda was opened at around 8:30 a.m. Visitors, restricted from going inside the structure itself, were allowed onto a platform surrounding the door and leaned forward to observe the central pillar and an artwork displayed on the ceiling.

“I was able to see the ceiling using a mirror implemented on the floor,” said Hirokazu Sakaguchi, 50, from Osaka Prefecture. “It’s a rare opportunity.”

Vice chief priest Kitatsu Ikoma said, “(The pagoda) will be available to see for a long period, so we ask people to take their time to visit.”

Yakushiji temple was established at the end of the seventh century in the ancient capital of Fujiwarakyo in today’s Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, and later moved to Heijokyo, in what are now the cities of Nara and Yamatokoriyama in the prefecture.

The East Pagoda stands at 33.6 meters high and is believed to be the only wooden structure from when the temple was first built. The three-story structure appears to have six roofs of alternating sizes, which have been described as “frozen music,” according to the temple.

The ceremony to celebrate its renovation has been postponed with the date yet to be decided, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Yakushi-ji was commissioned by Emperor Tenmu in 680 to pray for recovery from illness for his consort, who succeeded him as Empress Jitō. This act of building temples in devotion to Buddhist figures was a common practice among Japanese nobility when Buddhism was first imported from China and Korea. Emperor Tenmu had died by the time Empress Jitō completed the complex around 698; and it was disassembled and moved to Nara eight years after the Imperial Court settled in what was then the new capital.The Nara Period (710–794) began with the transfer of the capital to Nara in 710 from the Fujiwara Capital. This was due to a similar reason for the movement of the capital to Fujiwara, which was the desire to build a strong, centralized government in the capital of Nara. Emperor Shōmu instigated the construction of the “Seven Great Temples“: Tōdai-jiKōfuku-ji, Gangō-jiDaian-ji, Yakushi-ji, Saidai-ji, and Hōryū-ji.

It has been long believed that the temple was moved to its present location in 718, following the move of the capital to Heijō-kyō known today as Nara.

source  —  Kyodo news

We can’t let China rule artificial intelligence, US congresswoman tells European Parliament

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We can’t let China rule artificial intelligence, US congresswoman tells European Parliament

US Representative Robin Kelly has called on Brussels to work closely with the new Biden administration to outflank China on artificial intelligence (AI), amid fears that the Asian superpower has gained a lead in the rapidly-developing technology.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament’s special AI committee on Monday, the Illinois Democrat warned that China could dominate the technology, telling MEPs, “We cannot let this happen. It is vital democratic nations are the ones who shape this technology.”

Policymakers and the public are concerned about applications including autonomous weapons and government social scoring systems such as those under development in China. The Chinese government has controversially used AI tools to identify pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and for racial profiling and control of Uighur Muslims. Face scans in China are used to pick out and fine jaywalkers, and citizens in Shanghai will soon have to verify their identity in pharmacies by scanning their faces.

The US and China account for almost all private AI investment in the world, according to Stanford University’s AI index report, but in Kelly’s view, not even the US can compete with China, “based on the raw number of computer science graduates and the amount of data they collect on their citizens.”

Last December, Kelly’s resolution to boost AI in the US, with actions including more technology education funding and a national computing and data resource, passed a vote in the House of Representatives.

Kelly’s plea for the EU to work more closely with the US on AI rules predictably went down well with MEPs who had written off the Trump administration as uncooperative and even hostile to the EU. It also served as a pointed reminder to the EU to consult with President Biden’s team before presenting new AI rules this spring.

Last year, the European Commission published its thinking on AI in a white paper, which states that new technologies in critical sectors should be subject to legislation. It likened the current situation to “the Wild West” and said it would focus on “high-risk” cases.

EU policymakers want to work with Biden on these issues, said Kristin de Peyron, deputy managing director for human rights, global and multilateral issues at the European External Action Service, the EU’s foreign affairs wing.

“We share common cause against authoritarian regimes,” said Luxembourgish MEP Isabel Wiseler-Lima. Setting clear limits for AI is in step with Brussels’ more hands-on approach of recent years to the digital world. The Commission is also setting red lines on privacy, antitrust and harmful internet content, which has inspired tougher rules elsewhere in the world.

Kelly’s warnings on China, meanwhile, are typical of the developing bipartisan view in America that Beijing poses a strong economic – and perhaps even a distant military – threat. Biden wasted little time in reversing many Trump-era decisions, but he didn’t undo his predecessor’s decision to join the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), an international panel for setting ethical guidelines on the technology.

The Trump administration was initially hesitant to join the group, but later decided it was a way of mitigating Chinese influence in AI. Trump’s chief technology officer, Michael Kratsios, spoke of unease at attempts by Chinese technology companies to shape international standards for facial recognition and surveillance at the UN’s International Telecommunication Union.

With Trump gone, figures on both sides of the Atlantic see a window of opportunity for the EU and US to work together after four years of strained relations. “I think we have to promote academic exchanges between the US and Europe on AI,” Bruno Sportisse, CEO of the GPAI Centre of Expertise in Paris, told the committee.

EU warning

Despite a pledge of greater cooperation, Kelly also sounded a note of caution on EU legislation, warning the bloc not to take its own path on the technology without consulting its allies. “Increases in data localisation or digital sovereignty will not benefit the US or the EU. We must be able to share data while respecting civil liberties, privacy, and human rights,” she said.

“There’s a real danger of over-prescriptive policies,” Kelly added, echoing the fear of the big American tech companies like Google and Microsoft, which have made large investments in new AI applications, and are wary of the EU’s plans to regulate. Kelly called on MEPs to seek American input during the drafting of AI regulations.

An area that is especially sensitive for the US is defence, said Kelly. NATO should to be involved in discussions to ensure evolving autonomous weapon systems developed in Europe and the US could “talk to each other without friction.”

Kelly insisted that there are genuine concerns around AI. “Tech companies cannot hide behind the shield of stifling innovation to avoid all regulation,” she said. “Companies must be reminded that if things are illegal in the real world, then they are also illegal in an algorithm. “

Some incidents with AI have highlighted the potential for racial bias. If a system is trained primarily on white male faces, and fewer women and people of colour, it will be less accurate for the latter groups, said Kelly, who is African-American.

“From an AI bias perspective, people who look like me have the most to lose,” she said.

Pandemic means religion for religion’s sake is gone. That’s not a bad thing

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Pandemic means religion for religion’s sake is gone. That’s not a bad thing

On March 10th, 2020, we closed the doors of the cathedral here in Waterford, asked that the Friends of the Cathedral stay at home, cancelled choir practice and a planned youth group weekend away, little knowing what lay ahead.

                                                    <p class="no_name">On March 15th, 2020, we broadcast our first Sunday service from the cathedral and have done so since.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">The first lockdown was horrendous, as much-loved parishioners died in quick succession, firstly with 100 present at their funerals, then 10 at the funeral of a young mother of four. <a href="/news">Ireland</a> “does death well” and the gathering of the community is a hugely important element in the grieving process. However, not only are the bereft denied the community recognition due to their loved one, the community has no means of grieving its cherished members. And yet we have all now adapted to online funerals on rip.ie.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">Usually Baptisms happened during the Sunday service but now they occur privately. Confirmations have been cancelled because preparation would not be safe or feasible, as this is done at parish, not school, level.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">There have been three weddings. The first, tragically, in Waterford University Hospital when a terminally ill man married his partner of many years just days before his death. The second had 25 present and the third was during this latest lockdown, allowing only six people to be present.</p>
                                                    <figure class="inline__content inline__content--image right"> 
Rev Maria Jansson is Church of Ireland Dean of Waterford

A real casualty of the pandemic has been communal life; simply meeting each other, in church, bell-ringing, in Sunday school, in choir, on vestry, at parish events, dropping in on each other . . . the list goes on.

                                                    <p class="no_name">In future, older parishioners will be wary of coming back to church. Given that you can now turn off the preacher if he/she is waffling online and “church hop” on the internet from bed, the habit of faith community may have been broken for good, not just for the “occasionals” but also the “regulars”.</p>

                                                                                                        <aside class="related-articles--instream has-3">

                </aside>
                                                                                                                    <blockquote class="inline__content inline__content--pullquote">

Even though telephone calls are not an ideal means of communication, they have enabled real conversations with many who otherwise would have been at work or too busy

Over the year, connections with the diocese and larger church have been contrived and artificial, having the usual synods and meetings by Zoom; the superstructure of bishops and administration, at best distant in most parishioners’ lives, is now utterly redundant. Clergy must be local, visible, in contact and engaged . . . or become irrelevant.

                                                    <p class="no_name">To date, thankfully, parishioners’ donations in the Waterford parishes have held up but the income we make in the cathedral from the shop and concerts has simply ended and this pays the huge costs of running, insuring, staffing, heating and maintaining a cathedral. Luckily, we went into the pandemic debt free with the belfry and roof renovated recently but there are huge financial challenges ahead.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">Despite all this, there have been some really important changes for the good. Even though telephone calls are not an ideal means of communication, they have enabled real conversations with many who otherwise would have been at work or too busy. I have got to know some members of the community better because of lockdowns.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">People were rather reticent about talking about their faith but I have been blown away with their engagement in a venture that started on October 22nd last, Prayer at Breakfast, which lasts six to eight minutes each day. Now we have just passed the 100th day of this and between 130-160 tune in daily. If I went to the cathedral and did morning prayer there every day, I would be lucky to have three people with me.</p>
                                                    <blockquote class="inline__content inline__content--pullquote">

In the past, non-talk prevailed: women and minorities sat and listened, children and young people were irrelevant, finance and church fabric took precedence 

For some, smaller funerals have been strange but more intimate. The tremendous crowds of the past offered valued respect for the dead and the bereft, but were equally challenging for the grieving when at their most vulnerable.

                                                    <p class="no_name">If the pandemic changes the way we do weddings, that will be a good thing. People know they do not have to remortgage their lives now to wed; things have become simpler and more genuine.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">Religion has big challenges ahead, over and above financial ones. There are parishes where the bond between priest and people has deepened over the last year and others where it has vaporised.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">Relying on the ways things were done in the past will not be adequate. People have recovered their faith and need for God and if that is not the foundation of what we do going forward, then forget it.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">Religion for religion’s sake is gone and that is not a bad thing.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">We will have to meet as people of faith with a renewed authenticity and open a real conversation about rebuilding church. In the past, non-talk prevailed: women and minorities sat and listened, children and young people were irrelevant, finance and church fabric took precedence over energising community and faith. The challenge and the opportunity will be in developing authentic Christian community again.</p>
                                                    <p class="no_name">Leadership has not come and will not come from a moribund clerical caste; it will come from the people who want community, who reclaim their voice, who know the connection between faith and real life, who have found the spiritual strength in the pandemic to prevail and who now must step up to the bar and start rebuilding. Exciting times ahead.</p>