Finnish Christian MP acquitted of hate speech

News in brief.

Finnish Christian MP acquitted of hate speech. Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen was unanimously cleared of hate speech charges by a Finnish court. The charges relate to statements she had made concerning gay marriage. Her public stance and trial divided opinion in the Finnish Lutheran Church. The court ruled that it was "not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts." The prosecution has said it is going to appeal the decision. Read more.

Pax Christi calls for asylum for conscientious objectors. The German branch of pacifist organisation Pax Christi has called on Western governments to grant asylum to conscientious objectors from both the Ukraine and Russia. Read more (in Dutch).

French Catholics voted for Macron. Some 62% of French Catholics who voted in the elections in France on Sunday voted for Emmanuel Macron, according to a poll carried out by IFOP for La Croix and the Christian weekly Pèlerin. Marine Le Pen's share of the vote among Catholics grew compared to the last election but remained at around 19%. Read more.

Spotlight on Bilbao.

Santiago cathedral in Bilbao is, like its more famous namesake Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, associated with pilgrimage, being on a northern route of the Camiño de Santiago. The cathedral is mainly Gothic and Gothic Revival in style, and unusually features carvings of local merchants on the exterior.

3 things about Saint Isidore of Seville. 

• Born in Cartagena, Spain in 560, he became bishop of Seville and promoted an educational and theological blossoming in the region.

• He was a prolific writer, writing a 20-volume Etymologiae, a kind of encyclopaedia, and he is said to have invented the comma.

• The Vatican is considering naming Saint Isidore as patron saint of the internet.