12/09/2013VATICAN - PIME - MYANMAR Pope: Fr Mario Vergara and Isidore Ngei Ko Lat, martyrs for the faith in Myanmar, to become blessed The missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions carried out his mission among the Karens of the Soku tribe, one of the poorest in pre-independence Burma. Arrested by the British at the outbreak of World War II, he was back in the mountains after 4 years in captivity setting up an orphanage and a sanatorium. Along with a young priest, Fr Galastri, he continued his mission despite fighting sparked by Burma's independence between rebels of different religions. He and Burmese catechist Isidore Ngei were killed by Baptist rebels. Vatican City (AsiaNews)
- The Servants of God, Fr Mario Vergara, a priest with the Pontifical Institute
for Foreign Missions (PIME), and lay catechist Isidore Ngei Ko Lat will be beatified.
They were killed in hatred of the faith in Shadaw (Myanmar) on 24 May 1950.
Pope Francis
made the decision after authorising the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
to promulgate the decree concerning their martyrdom. Mgr Phamo Soter, bishop...
12/09/2013NEPAL Nepal: Christians , Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims prepare for Christmas together by Christopher Sharma Houses and shops of capital already decorated. Among the best-selling images are those of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Young Hindu volunteers help Catholics decorate Cathedral of the Assumption in Kathmandu. The former hotel of the Hindu monarch organizes a Christmas party for diplomats and VIPs themed on harmony between the faiths.
12/09/2013SRI LANKA On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, Salvatorian Sisters celebrate 125 years of service by Melani Manel Perera In an interview, Sister Dulice Fernando SDS, provincial superior of the Sisters of the Divine Saviour in Sri Lanka, talks about the celebrations surrounding the 60th anniversary of their presence in the Asian nation. Education, health and pastoral care are the congregation's main missions. In the island formerly known as Ceylon, the sisters have also been closely involved in helping war victims.
12/09/2013EGYPT The confrontation between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood blocking Egyptian reconciliation The military responded to the chaos caused by the Muslim Brotherhood with mass arrests and a crackdown on its schools. Young secular protesters are arrested under new anti-demonstration legislation. For Mohammed Osman, an official with an Egyptian political party, national reconciliation is still far away. Army and Islamists aim to boycott each other.
12/09/2013IRAQ Patriarch Sako: The flame of hope lights up Christmas for Iraqi Christians by Mar Louis Raphael I Sako In his message to the faithful during Advent, His Beatitude calls for "courage" and "perseverance", following the example of Abraham. He urges the faithful to keep the faith alive, even amid "suffering, anxiety and the considerable challenges." He also calls on "fellow" Muslims to join and be part of a true "peace project" for the country.
12/09/2013INDIA Elections in India: "great concern" over victory of Hindu nationalists The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP ) wins in Rajasthan , Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Local Catholic sources tell AsiaNews : "The results are serious, because the party is supported by the fundamentalists”. Congress (secular party at the helm of the central government) lost because "the people are exasperated with corruption, the party did not present a real political program ; inflation is bringing people to their knees ."
12/09/2013VATICAN-EGYPT-MIDDLE EAST Pope: peace and religious freedom for Egypt's Copts, the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East Francis concelebrates morning Mass with the Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak . Recognition for "the right for Christians to live peacefully where they were born , in the homeland they have loved as citizens for two thousand years , to contribute as always to the common good".
12/09/2013CHINA Smog cloud forces closure of schools and airports, affecting the economy No relief is in sight for China's pollution emergency. With the onset of the cold weather, coal burning is up, boosting the amount of polluting particles in the air. In Beijing, the levels of particulates reached 473 mcg per cubic metre. In Shanghai, they topped 600. The 'safe' limit set by the WHO is 25 mcg. Steps taken by the authorities "aren't enough", so companies are leaving.
12/09/2013THAILAND Bangkok: parliament dissolved for early elections. But protest continues The Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra wants to return "power to the people" and return to vote "as soon as possible." A response to the mass resignation yesterday of the opposition. The demonstrators head towards the seat of the executive. The protest leaders proclaiming "Judgment Day" and want the whole Shinawatra family out of the country .
12/09/2013RUSSIA - UKRAINE Church and people in Ukraine demand autonomy from Moscow by Nina Achmatova Protests continue in Kiev against President Yaukovich’s renunciation on European integration dictated by the pressures of Russia. The patriarch of the Ukrainian Church of Kiev Filaret , sides with the protesters, and calls for unity and autocephaly .
12/08/2013VATICAN Pope: Let us always be united with Mary who teaches us to live waiting for the Lord's Advent In today's Angelus, on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Pope talked about Mary, who came from a "small town" and "faced plenty of difficulties but remained faithful to God's plans of love." Today the pope will also pay homage to the Virgin in Piazza di Spagna, to entrust to her "Rome, the Church and the whole of humanity". He will also stop at Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica to pray before the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani."
12/07/2013VATICAN Pope: World Day of the Sick , "we are called to be conformed to Christ, the Good Samaritan of the Afflicted " The test of true faith is the gift of self , "especially for those who do not deserve it , for those who suffer, for those who are marginalized ." Jesus did not take away from human disease and suffering, but transformed and reduced it. Reduced, because they no longer have the last word, instead it is new life in fullness; transformed , because in union with Christ, they can be transformed from negative to positive .
12/07/2013VATICAN Pope: respect for human dignity against the "culture of waste" Society of efficiency at all costs hides a practical atheism. The weakest and most fragile are real victims of this culture. In the social doctrine "there is the defense of religious freedom, of life in all its phases, the right to work and to decent work , the family, education ... " .
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