Mgr Jacob Manathodath sent a letter to the CPI-M secretary in support of Isaac Varghese’s inclusion on the party list, a decision that has raised some eyebrows. For a former spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Church, “It is not good for a bishop or a priest to show public support” in politics. But in this case, the endorsement is an internal party matter.
The wishes underline the desire to mend relations after the turbulent years of the Trump presidency. The Pope asks for "unfailing respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those who have no voice ". Iranian Javad Zarif: The Trump presidency ended up "in the garbage of history". The enthusiasm of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen. The hopes of China.
Prof Anjum James Paul writes to Prime Minister Imran Khan to denounce a new example of intolerance. A dialogue in a middle school textbook is at the centre of a controversy. But “there are hundreds of examples,” Prof James warns. Students must be taught “humanity, ethics and moral values”.
China is nostalgic for Trump, the "gravedigger of US hegemony". Chinese experts: The US containment policy will continue, reinvigorated by the relaunch of relations with allies. The centrality of Taiwan. Seoul could break the anti-China front. The focus on East Asia pushes the new president to "neutralize" the Middle Eastern chessboard.
Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw said that the Holy Spirit will guide us to be one and will open our hearts and minds so that we can love, respect and support each other.
Mgr Sarat Chandra Nayak, bishop of Berhampur (Odisha), send his greetings to the new president and vice president of the United States. Hehopes that Harris, who hails from high caste family, will not forget to look at the destitute and downtrodden as well. The bishop asks both of them to bring light to “the darker sides” of India and the world.
Others will follow in the coming days. Due to the epidemic, “this year it will not be possible to experience the Spiritual Exercises of the Roman Curia in community at the Casa Divin Maestro in Ariccia.”
In 2021, not enough people will be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Over 15 billion doses will be needed to immunize the world. China and India plan to help poor countries, but only after their own citizens. Developing countries face logistical problems. The UN has its work cut out.
Call to "work with determination to promote the conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons". "To pray means to fight for unity. Yes, to fight, because our enemy, the devil, as the word itself says, is the divider. The devil always divides, it is convenient for him”.
The Italian nun, former superior general of the Ursulines of Mary Immaculate died yesterday. In 1978, thanks to foreign and Indian aid, she managed to transform the Holy Family of Bandra from a modest nursing home into a missionary hospital. She did not remember the number of children helped to come into this world.
In a message on Martin Luther King Day, Francis writes that the leader for civil rights of African Americans is still relevant in a world “which increasingly faces the challenges of social injustice, division and conflict that hinder the realisation of the common good.”
Ordained on 15 January, five days earlier, he baptised 11 members of his family. Khokon came to know Christianity in 2000, at a Catholic school, “attracted by the life of PIME missionaries and local priests”. In his parish, 500 adults will be baptised this year.
In Cuttack cathedral, four nuns expressed temporary vows, four expressed perpetual vows. The Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy were the first to work in Odisha. Their work ranges from education and healthcare to development, catechesis and evangelisation.
Among many cases, that of a woman who was the victim of a campaign against her beauty salon and a man who was told that his shop had been emptied by thieves, but then his Muslim partner reopened in the same location.
Commentary on the Gospel of the second Sunday per year, B (John 1, 35-42).