Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa issues a letter calling for prayer. In it, he acknowledges the pain for the blood-soaked Holy Land and slams “all forms of violence, any cynical use of human lives and disproportionate violence.” For Fr Ibrahim, a Palestinian priest, "At this time, our hope rests only in the Lord God, to bring about a change in the hearts of political leaders, so that this bloodshed can end."
The first meetings were held in Mannar District on 12 May. The Office must look into the disappearance of more than 20,000 people during almost 30 years of civil war. Meanwhile, families hold protest rallies over the slow pace and modus operandi of the investigation.
Mgr Joseph Châu Ngọc Tri, bishop of Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng said, “We offer our lives as if they were flowers to [. . .] Our Lady.” Five colours symbolise the graces the Vietnamese ask from Our Lady. In Ho Chi Minh City, thousands take part in the ceremony organised by the Sisters of the St Thomas Institute.
Throughout its history, China’s Communist Party has used well-known Buddhist leaders, Protestant clergymen and bishops to control religious communities and bend them to its will. The stories of Zhao Puchu, Zhao Fusan, Li Chuwen, and Jin Luxian are examples of that. A possible deal over episcopal the appointments between China and the Vatican is now raising fears.
Mgr Couto calls on the faithful in every parish to recite the prayer for a year as well as fast and perform the Eucharistic adoration. The secretary of the Bishops’ Conference urges believers to pray so that the country can be guided by pluralism and government wisdom in which the poor, tribals and Dalits are considered and respected with equal dignity. In Karnataka’s elections, surprisingly, the BJP does not get a majority.
Francis receives a Thai Buddhist delegation. Christians and Buddhists "are witnesses in the world of the values of justice, peace and the protection of human dignity". Dialogue and peace in the meeting with a delegation of Dharmic religions.
