19 May, 2013

Help AsiaNews | About us | P.I.M.E. | | Rss |  Newsletter YOUR DONATION

Home | China | Islam | India | Economy | Freedom of religion | Vatican

Geographic areas Middle East East Asia South Asia Central Asia South East Asia North Asia South West Asia

e-mail this to a friend printable version » 11/17/2011 11:38 RUSSIA The icon of the Mother of God in space together with Russian astronauts by Nina Achmatova The International Space Station gets a new crew, in March an icon of the Mother of God of Kazan arrived, now in plain sight together with the picture of the first man in space. Moscow (AsiaNews) - As the world celebrated the arrival of a new crew on the International Space Station (ISS), during a live TV broadcast of the astronauts speaking about their experiences two images were clearly visible: the first man in space, the Russian Gagarin , and the icon of Our Lady of Kazan (see photo). The icon of the Virgin, one of the most venerated by Orthodox Russians, was gifted last March by the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill, to the then Director of Space Agency (Roscosmos) Anatoly Perminov. "I hope that the icon is taken on board the ship on the journey that will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first man in space," to the religious leader had hoped referring to the mission of the Soyuz TMA-24 that shortly thereafter, on 30 March, would be leaving for the ISS, a mission dedicated to the now legendary Gagarin. According to the Patriarch, the astronauts "as well as their complex and important duties" will also make "in some way a spiritual mission" with the icon. It is not the first time that an icon of Our Lady has traveled in space: in 2009 the image of Our Lady of the Sign was carried to the ISS on Soyuz TMA16. The mission of the Soyuz TMA22 which ended yesterday, November 16th, was followed with bated breath as it was the first manned mission since the end of August, when a cargo rocket had crashed in Siberia. Before leaving Baiknour Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) the space ship was blessed by an Orthodox priest. This has been an obvious success for Soyuz, which is now the lone standing form of transport to get to the ISS since NASA pulled its shuttle and the Russian space industry, marked recently by a series of accidents. Currently the crew on the ISS consists of three Russian cosmonauts, two American astronauts and one Japanese astronaut. e-mail this to a friend printable version See also 08/29/2004 RUSSIA - VATICAN Aleksij II: "Orthodox and Catholics together against secularisation" 07/21/2005 RUSSIA Aleksij II delivers the Mother of God Icon to Kazan 08/31/2004 vatican - russia Message of Patriarch Alexij II to Pope John Paul II 09/06/2004 VATICAN - RUSSIA McCarrick: "You could see joy in people's eyes after the icon's return" 09/01/2004 RUSSIA - VATICAN Orthodox Church hopes in more meetings in Moscow and Rome after icon's return Editor's choices VATICAN Growth in number of Catholics worldwide, number of priests and seminarians also increaseThe 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. ASIA - PIME PIME mission, in the footsteps of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis by Bernardo CervelleraThe PIME Annual General Meeting will discuss the mission ad gentes and "new evangelization"; missionary revival for the older Churches (Italy, USA, Latin America), and the communications media. But above all, the awakening of faith, according to the teaching of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis’ call to "go out to the geographical and existential outskirts". VATICAN Pope against "slave labour", for solidarity, in the month of MayIn today's general audience, which falls on the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker, also International Workers' Day, Francis calls on the world to take "decisive action" against human trafficking as well as work that denies dignity and represses man. He calls on people, especially young people, "to keep your hope alive" because "there is a light at the end of the tunnel." He also calls on families to recite the Rosary during the month of May. Dossier The Year of Faith and the martyrdom of Fr Fausto Tentorio John Paul II is beatified [Show all dossier]

Al-Ghazâlî - Pensatore e maestro spirituale by Paolo Nicelli pp. 136 Fatto per andare lontano. Clemente Vismara by Piero Gheddo pp. 504 La Mangrovia Una donna, due anime by Claire Ly pp. 160 Augusto Colombo. Apostolo dei paria by Piero Gheddo pp. 320 Matteo Ricci: missione e ragione. Una biografia intellettuale by Gianni Criveller pp. 132 Matteo Ricci e Giulio Aleni, due vite incrociate by Giulio Aleni / (a cura di) Gianni Criveller pp. 176 La Cina di Mao processa la Chiesa by Lazzarotto Angelo S. pp. 528 Il Rovescio delle medaglie by Bernardo Cervellera pp. 240 Piero Gheddo: Il vescovo partigiano – Mons. Aristide Pirovano by Piero Gheddo pp. 454

2003 © All rights reserved - Autogestione contenuti di AsiaNews C.F. e P.Iva: 00889190153 - GLACOM®

Copyright © 2003 AsiaNews C.F. 00889190153 All rights reserved. Content on this site is made available for personal, non-commercial use only. You may not reproduce, republish, sell or otherwise distribute the content or any modified or altered versions of it without the express written permission of the editor. Photos on AsiaNews.it are largely taken from the internet and thus considered to be in the public domain. Anyone contrary to their publication need only contact the editorial office which will immediately proceed to remove the photos.