CHINA
Chinese scholar calls for CP reform, warns the PRC will go the Soviet way _0520_-_Partito_comunista_cinese.jpg)
For Zhang Xien, a professor at Shandong University, 20 per cent of the CP's 83 million members are old, sick and "unable to toe the party line". At least 32 million should be encouraged to leave. The scholar addresses the dangerous issue in an article published by a biweekly magazine published by the People's Daily, the party's mouthpiece. He wants better entry requirements to weed out potentially bad officials. |
VATICAN
Pope to Movements: The action of the Spirit is newness, harmony, mission At Mass for Pentecost, along with movements and lay associations, Francis asks believers not close in on themselves for fear the 'God’s surprises', defending ourselves " barricaded in transient structures which have lost their capacity for openness." The harmony of the Spirit brings unity, not exclusivism or standardization. "The Holy Spirit ... saves us from the threat of a Church which is gnostic and self-referential, closed in on herself" and " drive us to the very outskirts of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ." The final thanks of the Pope: "You are a gift and a treasure for the Church." |
VATICAN
Growth in number of Catholics worldwide, number of priests and seminarians also increase The data from the Statistical Yearbook of the Church. The faithful of Rome have passed, from 1196 in 2010 to 1214 million in 2011, up 1.5%. Asia remains a religiously vibrant continent: number of faithful and priests rise, as do the number of professed religious who are not priests, seminarians, and in contrast to the world's data, the number of nuns. |
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