RELIGION NEWS BRIEFS

Park to host ‘Diplomat’ day

Pea Ridge National Military Park will host “Father John Ban-non: Catholic Priest, Soldier, Chaplain and Confederate Diplomat,” at 10 a.m. today in the park’s visitor center,, 15930 U.S. 62 in Garfield.

Park guide Kerry Jones will give a 90-minute program about Bannon, a Catholic priest attached to the Confederate First Missouri Brigade at the Battle of Pea Ridge, according to a news release.

In 1863 Bannon was sent to Ireland to dissuade Irish immigrants from joining the cause in America, and then traveled to Rome in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Vatican to recognize the Confederacy, according to the release.

More information is available at (479) 451-8122, Extension 1227.

Bishop to speak at convocation

Presiding Bishop Charles Blake, a native Arkansan and leader of the Church of God in Christ International, will speak on Thursday during the faith’s Arkansas First Jurisdiction 108th Holy Convocation next week in Little Rock.

The event will be hosted at Holy Temple Cathedral Church of God in Christ, 1322 S. Pulaski St.in Little Rock, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; and at Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. in Little Rock, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and June 20 and at 11 a.m. June 21.

According to the faith’s website, Church of God in Christ is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States, with more than 6.5 million members, and is predominantly black. The church has congregations in 63 countries worldwide.

Blake, a Little Rock native, is the religion’s fifth Presiding Bishop and was appointed to the role in 2007. He is senior pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, a congregation with more than 26,000 members.

More information on the convocation is available at (501) 372-8662.

— ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Twitter amends rules on hateful comments

Twitter Inc. expanded its user guidelines Tuesday to ban tweets that “dehumanize others on the basis of religion,” and will require users who share those tweets to delete them in order to regain control over their account.

The social media site previously banned users from harassing others based on their religious beliefs, or using dehumanizing language, such as calling someone a “rat” or a “virus” because of their religion. But that was at a personal level, meaning the abuser would need to specifically call out another individual in order to violate the rule. With the change, anyone who uses dehumanizing language against a religious group will have to delete the tweet, even if it doesn’t mention a specific person.

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