02/28/2015VATICAN Pope encourages the growth of cooperatives as an economic model that serves the common good Cooperatives are "enterprises based on the principle of solidarity and social relations," that act as "the lever that raises and develops the weakest part of local communities and civil society," and provide "new welfare solutions" that support, facilitate and even encourage family life, because even though money is "the dung of the devil," if it is well managed, "it can be used to promote the common good." Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis
spoke to thousands of members of the Italian Federation of Cooperatives in the
Vatican's Paul VI Hall about the need to build "a new quality economy"
that can "create...
02/27/2015MYANMAR - ASIA WHO sounds alarm over spread of Bird flu after massive cull in Myanmar Concerns over the rapid spread and genetic swapping of the virus, termed "unprecedented”. Taiwan, Myanmar and Vietnam, as well as Egypt, the United States and Hungary under observation. In the center of Myanmar in 1500 poultry and over 20 thousand quail specimens culled. Many poultry farms risk collapse.
02/26/2015TAIWAN Lent in Taiwan: proclaiming the Gospel by defending migrants by Xin Yage Migrant workers face a tough situation on the island. Their rights are denied, their contracts are not respected, and some of them have been tortured by their employers. After years of legal and cultural struggles, things are getting better. The Church and its affiliated groups help workers become better integrated in their milieus. Mhike So's story illustrates this fight for justice for those who have none.
02/25/2015TAIWAN Taiwan, a Lent dedicated to evangelization by Xin Yage Chinese Catholics "no longer want to complain because they are few, but are beginning to work harder to make themselves better known and especially to share the Gospel. This period leading up to Easter must be rich in fruits and testimonies." The story of Paul Su, a manager in the media industry.
02/24/2015EGYPT - ISLAM What Tayeb and Sisi said is big step towards a revolution in Islam by Samir Khalil Samir The grand imam of Al-Azhar slammed literalist interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, as fundamentalists and Islamic terrorists do. He supports the urgent need for Islam's reform, especially in terms of teaching lay people and clerics. He also calls for an end to mutual excommunication (takfir) between Sunnis and Shias. Egyptian President al-Sisi chose to fight the Islamic state group after it beheaded 21 Coptic Christians, whom he called "Egyptian citizens" with full rights.
02/23/2015SAUDI ARABIA - ISLAM For head of Al-Azhar, religious education reform is needed to stop Islamic extremism For Ahmed al-Tayeb, it is urgent to come up with new educational programmes to avoid "corrupt interpretations" of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Islamic terrorism undermines the unity of the Muslim world. He blames Mideast tensions on a "new global colonialism allied to world Zionism". a speech by the Saudi king is read at the conference.
02/22/2015VATICAN Pope gifts "Guard your heart" booklet as an aid to conversion in Lent At today's Angelus Pope Francis gave away booklets containing "the wealth of our doctrine," the essentials of the faith: "the seven sacraments, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Ten Commandments, the virtues, works of mercy. .. ". The booklet was distributed by volunteers and homeless people. "Those who are in need are also the ones who give us this great wealth." Lent is a time "for spiritual battle against the spirit of evil", already won by Jesus in the desert. "We go into the desert without fear, because we are not alone, we are with Jesus." This afternoon, the Pope goes to Ariccia on retreat with the Curia: "Pray so that in this desert we can hear the voice of Jesus and correct our many defects".
02/20/2015TAIWAN "God showed me the power of hope," says TV director after his conversion by Xin Yage One of the island's foremost TV directors, author of two books, was baptised at the age of 58. Working for TV, he saw "many believers, believers in Jesus Christ," full of energy and doing good things. "God gave me the gift of a cancer, which showed me the way. Now I am happy."
02/20/2015VATICAN Pope: "a good Christian is just to the people who depend on him" "Love of God and love of neighbor are one in the same" and especially in Lent "fasting, is not just abstaining from meat” only to "fight with and exploit workers" and make offerings to the Church "on their backs". The point of Lent is "to think about them: what can I do for the children, for the elderly, who do not have the opportunity to be seen by a doctor?", who maybe wait "for eight hours and then they give an appointment for a week after ".
02/18/2015VATICAN Pope: Lent, a time of conversion, a push to return into "the arms of God" "This work of conversion is not just a human endeavor. Reconciliation between us and God is possible thanks to the mercy of the Father. [. . .] We will do well to ask, at the beginning of this Lent, for the gift of tears, so as to make our prayer and our journey of conversion ever more authentic and without hypocrisy."
02/18/2015TAIWAN - CHINA - VATICAN Taipei: the Chinese Church to live 2015 in light of the Bible The meeting marked the 25th anniversary of the United Chinese Catholic Biblical Association. More than 300 people travelled to Taiwan from 18 countries. In order to mark the 50th anniversary of 'Dei Verbum,' participants humbly offered Pope Francis a new Chinese translation of 'Evangelii Gaudium'.
02/18/2015VATICAN Pope: "the international community must a find peaceful solutions to the difficult situation in Libya" Francis again asks for prayers at the general audience "for our Egyptian brothers," killed in Libya "for the mere fact of being Christian." Peace also for Ukraine. "Brother" and "sister" are "words that Christianity loves" and "history has shown enough, moreover, that the freedom and equality, without brotherhood, becomes filled with individualism and conformity, even personal interests".
02/17/2015VATICAN Pope calls on young people to be "revolutionaries" because the pure in heart "shall see God" "The Lord's invitation to encounter him is made to each of you, in whatever place or situation you find yourself. [. . .] God can be 'seen' also in the face of your brothers and sisters, especially those who are most forgotten: the poor, the hungry, those who thirst, strangers, the sick, those imprisoned." Be "revolutionary", and turn "against the widespread tendency to reduce love to something banal, reducing it to its sexual aspect alone."
02/17/2015VATICAN Pope celebrates Mass for the 21 Copts killed in Libya, "for sole reason of being Christian" We are all "capable of doing good, but also of destruction”. "In arms trafficking ... 'But, we are businessmen!' Yes, but of what? Of death? And there are countries that sell weapons, are at war with one side but also selling weapons to them, so that the war continues. A capacity for destruction".
