Representatives from the country's various Christian denominations met in a seminar aimed at promoting dialogue among Christians. For the auxiliary bishop of Chittagong, "If the Catholic and Protestant Churches worked more closely together, both could benefit".
The victim is Hemonto Costa, younger sibling of Brother Proshanto Costa, high school principal in Mymensingh. His cell phone is turned off and there is no news of his whereabouts. Between 2013 and 2014 a total of 332 people were kidnapped in Bangladesh. Only half returned home alive.
No one was at home at the time of the fire. In 2008, the family left the village after a 14-year-old granddaughter was raped and murdered by a group of young Muslims. The owner of the house says he is "living in fear."
The rapists were four Muslim youths. The victim , 21, survived and reported her rapists , "I want them to go on trial". Student activist denounces : "When it comes to tribal women police do not want to deal with the case ."
The Xaverian priest, 74, has lived in the Asian country since 1970 where he has translated into Bangla Vatican II documents, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and some encyclicals. He has also written 200 Christian books directly in that language.
For now, only the capital Dhaka offers the service. Buses will also be fitted with vehicles tracking technology.
"I love Jesus and I can feel his suffering, when he was slain for our sins", says a little girl. Along with 250 other peers she took part in a representation of the Way of the Cross.
A devout Catholic, the composer wrote and arranged hundreds of hymns. As a vocational and regional leader in the YMCA, he has been able to join an interfaith and ecumenical sensibility to his passion for music. For the archbishop of the Bangladeshi capital, "His hymns have made praying more powerful. We are proud of him."
More than 95 per cent are into substance abuse, about half under the age of 10.
The Bishops' Conference (CBCB) publishes a pastoral letter for the period of preparation for Easter. It is a time to devote to "sacrifice, prayer and mercy to purify ourselves and become saints."
A local government official, a Muslim, inaugurates the new building, thanks Caritas for its work on behalf of "local residents". The new facility has solar panels and a big safe water tank, and will be used as a short-term disaster rescue centre as well as long-term shelter. Caritas runs about 250 such shelters in Bangladesh's coastal regions.
Like every year, after the Ash Wednesday liturgy pastors distributed a terracotta piggy bank to parishoners: to put money aside during the period that separates us from Easter. The funds will go to charitable and social projects.
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