eni-summary list Ecumenical News International News Highlights 14 February 2003

Man convicted in bishop’s murder slain in Guatemalan prison riot

Tegucigalpa (ENI). Just hours before Guatemalan judges confirmed his conviction in the murder of a Roman Catholic bishop, Jose Obdulio Villanueva was decapitated during a prison riot near Guatemala City. Villanueva, a former sergeant in the elite presidential guard, was one of seven prisoners killed in the Men’s Preventive Detention Centre where the grisly riot took place. “We fear that Villanueva’s murder may have been orchestrated to remove him as a potential witness,” Amnesty International said in a statement. [404 words, ENI-03-0066]

Census shows more Christians than churchgoers in England and Wales

London (ENI). Despite years of falling church attendance, almost three-quarters of people (72 per cent) in England and Wales still say they belong to the Christian religion, according to newly-published census results. “These figures prove as a lie claims that England is no longer a Christian country,” said the Anglican bishop of Lichfield, Keith Sutton. [411 words, ENI-03-0067]

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