The Turkish president is elected in the first round of the vote with 53 per cent. Turnout was 87 per cent. In his first speech Erdogan pledges to fight terrorists, threatens the opposition. International observers faced obstacles during the poll. In Diyarbakir people celebrate pro-Kurdish party, which makes it into parliament.
Mgr Felix Toppo succeeds Card Telesphore P. Toppo, who headed the archdiocese for 34 years. The new archbishop will focus on education for children, young people and adults as well as support for tribal people and youth who leave school. He will pray for the fanatics who oppose Christians.
Thọ Hòa’s parish priest protested in front of Biên Hòa prison to demand the immediate release of a woman been missing for more than ten days. Phạm Ngọc Hạnh, a mother of five, took part in a peaceful protest against laws on cybersecurity and special administrative and economic zones. The authorities have kept the priest under their watchful eye because of his support for democracy and freedom.
Thousands of ex-servicemen and women who gathered in Zhenjiang class with police sent by the local government to disperse them. War veterans have complained for years about broken promises and unpaid benefits; they demand better retirement and welfare plans.
Card Yeom co-celebrated Mass with Mgr Xuereb, nuncio to Korea and Mongolia. For the cardinal, denuclearisation is a necessary condition for peace, but the "journey" must continue. He would like to visit the faithful in the North. The nuncio mentions the Pope's love and support for the Korean people.
"When we consign children to deprivation, the poor to hunger, the persecuted to war, the old to abandonment, are we not instead doing, the 'dirty' work of death? Where does the dirty work of death come from? It comes from sin ". Thinking about bioethics, not "starting from illness and death", but "from the profound conviction of the irrevocable dignity of the human person".