News and Views 8th May 2025

US Baptisms

• Largest water baptism in U.S. History. More than 7,000 people were baptized last Saturday in the waters off Huntington Beach, California, in what organizers called the largest single-day baptism event in American history. Some 30,000 people were in attendance. It’s part of the ‘Baptize California’ movement, which saw 6,000 baptised along Huntington Beach last year but a record 7,750 this year. The all-day event stretched until the evening, with men and women, young and old alike, lining up to publicly declare their faith in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean as well as in portable baptistries. An even larger Baptize America event in which thousands of U.S. churches nationwide are expected to participate in the “largest synchronized baptism in history” is scheduled for Pentecost Sunday (June 8).
• ‘It’s not all about hype and big numbers’. The founder of Baptize California, Mark Francey of Oceans Church in Irvine, CA, says he plans to take it across America and then the world. He said that each person baptised at the events hosted by Baptize California is provided with resources from an online database to help them connect with a local church of their choice. Francey also insists that this isn't all about getting “a crowd and just trying to get them hyped. Our heart is to unite the local church, to work together, to really reach our world.” Further, “the win isn't the count of how many got baptized, really, it's going to be how that translates into how we are getting people connected to the local church.”

Vatican

• New Pope chosen in historic vote. The new pope is Robert Prevost - Pope Leo XIV - the first American pontiff to be elected leader of the Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, was greeted with huge cheers from thousands gathered in St Peter's Square. Chicago-born Pope Leo is seen as a reformer and worked for many years as a missionary in Peru before being made an archbishop there.
• His election took the world by surprise. Strong contenders included Matteo Zuppi, the 'street priest'; Pietro Parolin, the soft-spoken diplomat, tarnished by a secret Chinese pact; Luis Antonio Tagle, the Asian ‘karaoke priest’. But it was outlier Robert Prevost who won the Cardinals’ trust – shocking the watching world.
• Pope Leo XIV is apparently no friend of President Trump, having spent years retweeting criticism of both him and JD Vance on social media. Pope Leo is also already facing charges of 'looking the other way' when confronted with multiple child sex abuse allegations against priests in his Chicago and South American churches. 
• The new Pope will have to deal with many challenges facing the Catholic Church, including the legacy of the widespread sexual abuse scandal, financial difficulties, and the ongoing tension between traditionalists and those wanting greater roles for women and LGBT Catholics. Read also here.

Antisemitism

• Pro-Palestinian activists’ cultural vandalism. Pro-Palestinian activists continue to show their determination to cancel any event across the UK where Israelis have been allowed to participate. In the last few weeks alone, violent threats were made against venues in London and Bristol where Jewish Israeli musician Dudu Tassa was due to sing – in Arabic – Arab songs his Iraqi grandfather had written. Last month, an under-21s netball competition in Cardiff was cancelled because of threats resulting from the inclusion of an Israeli team. 
• A few days later, the World Bowls Tour in Aberdeen – with bolstered security after it had been previously cancelled because of the inclusion of Israelis – was attacked when protesters took over the venue with Palestinian flags and released cockroaches into the area of play. Israeli actress Gal Gadot, meanwhile, had to stop filming in London last week as she was disrupted by protesters. And protestors held up last weekend’s London Marathon by dropping paint over Tower Bridge. Said Telegraph columnist Nicole Lampert, “The failure of our authorities to stand up to these people diminishes us as a nation.”

World Events

• Denmark a model for successful control of immigration. Denmark’s left-leaning government, which came to power in 2019, promised to curb migration to ‘protect Danishness’. And they acted on the pledge. The country famously banned the burka, and introduced new rules compelling all newcomers and their children to learn Danish or lose asylum-seeker benefits. Residents of a notorious housing estate, regarded as a ‘ghetto for non-Westerners’, were moved around the country to stop a ‘parallel’ foreign society forming. Now the country is considered a model for successful control of immigration.
• Other European countries look on Denmark in envy. At the heart of the policy is a determination to protect the livelihoods of working-class Danes, to safeguard their jobs and to stop schools and welfare systems from being overwhelmed by newcomers. The proportion of young ethnic minority families in Denmark is falling –  the reverse of what is happening in much of England, where last year 37% of pupils were from a minority ethnic background. Asylum applications have dropped by almost 90% over the past decade. Last year they plummeted to 2,333, while the UK total hit a record 108,138. In February, Keir Starmer met the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Fredericksen, in Downing Street to hear about her approach. So far, he hasn’t adopted it (but read here), though one or two other European countries grappling with their own immigration problems are beginning to – note Germany.

Upcoming Events

• The Millennium: A 5-part Series continuing weekly, presented by Geoff Barnard, with an opportunity for interaction. The second part will take place this Friday, 9 May at 11.00am, and the subsequent parts at weekly intervals. If anyone is interested to connect with this series pls contact Colin Wilson, ChristiansTogether editor@christianstogether.net.

Society and Politics

• The unashamed faith of Dutch footballer Cody Gakpo. After scoring in Liverpool’s 5–1 title-winning victory over Tottenham, Cody Gakpo lifted his shirt to reveal a vest that read: “I belong to Jesus.” He received a yellow card – standard practice for removing a shirt after scoring. Yet, for honouring Christ in that moment, Gakpo was formally reprimanded by the FA. They warned that any further public expressions of faith could lead to a match ban. International Football Association Board rules make it clear that “Players must not reveal undergarments that show political, religious, personal slogans, statements or images, or advertising other than the manufacturer's logo.” Yet the FA is highly selective in how it applies this, issuing Pride-themed captain’s armbands and encouraging players to wear Stonewall’s highly political Rainbow Laces. Citizen-Go has launched a petition in protest, Stop censoring Christianity on the pitch. Read also here.

Israel / Gaza

• Antisemitic BBC Arabic journalist wins tribunal. A BBC Arabic journalist who re-posted anti-Israel tweets has won more than £14,000 in a race case. Algerian Ahmed Rouaba had posted tweets suggesting that Israel was “starving” Palestinians “to save money bombing them”, and that Israel had lied to the International Court of Justice in the recent 'genocide' case brought against it. But an employment tribunal heard that a colleague had said Rouaba’s speech was of a “Bedouin character” – this was found to be patently racist.
• BBC to commission an independent investigation of BBC Arabic. BBC Arabic is the BBC’s most influential foreign-language service, reaching a weekly audience of 35 million people. But there have been repeated claims that it has become a platform for extremists across the Arab world. In April, a journalist who appears prominently on the channel to report from Gaza called for Jews to be burned “as Hitler did”. A regular contributor to BBC Arabic made many anti-Israel tweets, including “When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything” in 2011. He has appeared on the channel 12 times since the Israel-Hamas war began.  BBC Arabic’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has also been riddled with inaccuracies – having to make 80 corrections in the first five months of the Israel/Hamas conflict alone. At last the BBC has said it is investigating anti-Israel bias in its coverage of the Gaza War and will commission an independent investigation of BBC Arabic.

Church Issues

• Church crime-wave across the UK. There were a whopping 9,148 records of theft, burglary, criminal damage, vandalism and assault in UK churches and other religious properties in the three years 2022 to 2024 – an average of eight crimes per day. The worst-affected area was West Yorkshire, where a terrifying 1,121 crimes were committed in churches, followed by Kent with 655 and Greater Manchester at 642. While most include theft and burglary, criminal damage and arson are also common, while a staggering 1,974 cases of violence took place. Read also here.