Bernardo Cervellera

The gathering of 250 members of the Central Committee lasts until November 12, under strict media silence. Think-tanks put forward important propositions: provinces detached from the economy; reduction in monopolies; reform of residence certificate for migrants. However it is uncertain whether they will be taken into account. Party monopoly of power remains, like in the days of the Chinese empire . Xi Jinping also retreats after promising many reforms

The date of his death and the place of his burial have been kept secret to avoid government checks. Bishop Liu spent 28 years in prison and many years under watch. A kung fu champion and expert chess player, he had a good rapport with young people. He never accepted compromises with the government and the Patriotic Association. Now it is up to young communist converts to Christianity, and a young bishop like Mgr Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai, to continue his struggle.

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions in Taiyuan and the attack on Tiananmen Square. But the targets were the Party’s symbols of the power. The people are disillusioned and divided. But above all, the Party itself is divided between reformists and the entrenched.

We have had ten good years, going from hundreds to millions of readers. In this period, we have upheld our Christian identity and felt close to every situation in which people are humiliated and persecuted. Our friends include Orthodox, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and atheists. By presenting the stories of Christians in Asia, we can help the Christians of the West.

John Paul II’s prophecy is still true: Asia is the continent to be evangelized in the third millennium. Exports, trade, tourists come and go from the Asian continent along with poverty, refugees, rumors of wars. The West tends to favor only the economic approach and profit, but the problems of Asia concern Europe and the world. Religious freedom, beyond fundamentalism and secularism , is a guarantee of integral development and of true humanism.

Unbridled economic development and materialism has undermined the moral standards of Chinese society, especially in the Communist Party . The president and secretary general plan on giving more freedom to Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism to restore morality to the tired Chinese society. But Prof. Liu Peng believes it beneficial to launch a real law for the freedom of all religions , including Christianity and Islam.

In an extensive interview to the magazine Civiltà Cattolica, Pope Francis outlines the Church's priorities, the importance of the mercy, of going out and encountering wounded situations and people. The Church as "a field hospital". Welcoming to divorcees , homosexuals, people who have had an abortion. Many applaud the "revolution", but in reality it is all in the purest tradition . The importance of women in the Church, collegiality with the Orthodox. "I am a sinner upon whom the Lord has looked ."

The US version of the use of chemical weapons has too many contradictions. Someone does not want to wait for the UN results. It is untrue to think that a military strike would help the peace conference. Instead, it would help Islamists, who want to dominate the opposition.

Fearing the collapse of Communist power like in the USSR, China's state media warn against moving towards democracy. Even Xi Jinping, seen by many as a moderate, believes that power must remain in the hands of the Party. Meanwhile, the hunt is on for bloggers, guilty of spreading "false news" about China.

During World Youth Days, the Pope laid down the path of change he plans to use to reshape not only the Curia but especially the Church, whose task is to ease the encounter between Christ and the world. His example is Aparecida, a 'mystery' that shows the needs of today's Catholic community and those of the world, in full communion with Pope Benedict XVI, outside the 'right-left' divide imposed upon him.

The first encyclical of Pope Francis - with the help of Benedict XVI - highlights that prior to a crisis of faith there is a crisis of man and truth. Relativism erodes the consistency of the person, of coexistence, justice, love, scientific research. The faith of Abraham, fulfilled in the gift of Jesus Christ enlightens all human research and every journey and can make an essential contribution to the "city of men."

Secularisation is underway in the Islamic world that is not driven by Western anti-religious ideologies. In Iran, civil society, especially young people and women, is putting pressure on the ayatollahs for greater space and rights. In Morocco, the separation of state and religion is gaining ground even among Islamist parties. In Saudi Arabia, the alliance of Wahhabism and consumerism is society's worst enemy. At the end, Card Scola sums up the meeting.