Two gunmen opened fire inside a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral. So far seven people are reported dead, with about a dozen people wounded. A Jordanian priest reports a sense of disbelief among both Christians and Muslims regarding an act that “wounded our hearts,” but “must not succeed in breaking our unity.”
In recent years, Asia has become the "centre" of the world. With its load of successes and moments of persecution, the Church's mission focuses on human-centred development. We celebrate the 10th anniversary of our agency, a small tool of mission and peace for the Asian continent.
Syria has handed over more "evidence" on the use of gas by the rebels to Russia. Russian diplomacy judges the UN report "biased". According to the UN, the trajectories of missiles with lethal weapons come from an area under army control, but the target area is in the hands of the rebels and was manipulated.
Meeting newly appointed bishops, Francis once again indicates the duties and lifestyle of the bishop: "To welcome with magnanimity, to journey with the flock, to remain with the flock. " New appeal for "the gift of peace in Syria."
At the General audience, Francis speaks again of the “Mother Church ". “A good mother who shows us the path to travel in life, who always knows how to be patient , compassionate , understanding, and knows how to put ourselves in God's hands ." Also present were a delegation from the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Vietnam and the bishops of the Latin Church of the Holy Land, Syria, Jordan , Iraq, Lebanon , Somalia and the Gulf countries.
In 2009, in the midst of the crisis, 5,000 more people died from suicide compared to previous years. The higher mortality is linked to higher unemployment, touching mainly the young and the middle aged. Meanwhile, the rich got richer in America, with assets on average worth more than US$ 1.3 billion dollars in personal wealth. In China, there are 64 more billionaires than last year. The gap between rich and poor widens.
For Msgr . Mario Zenari , the " innocent victims " and " Pope's prayer " have led to two miracles : armed intervention has been avoided and the decision to destroy Damascus’ chemical weapons. The need to work for a political solution to the conflict. The UN report confirms the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta but says nothing about the responsibility of the attack. United States, Britain and France accuse Assad , Russia states that one can not exclude the responsibility of the rebels.
When Jesus forgives us, "when he brings us back to life? When he returns us to Our Mother . "Our reconciliation with God does not end with the dialog ' You, me and the priest who gives me forgiveness ' ; it ends when He restores us to Our Mother. Reconciliation ends there, because there is the path of life, there is forgiveness, there is no reconciliation outside of Mother Church.
"A good Catholic becomes involved in politics," participates as best he or she can and "the best" they can do is pray "that they govern us well, that they lead our country , our nation forward and even the world , that there is peace and the common good . "
The Evil One is smart. He dupes us into thinking that human justice can save us and save the world. In fact, only God's justice can save us! And God's justice revealed itself on the Cross."
The book describes the missionary path followed by the Church from Vatican II to Pope Francis's Church, including the ambiguities that followed the council, the mission without Christ reduced to humanitarian care, as well as the relevance of John Paul II's encyclical 'Redemptoris Missio'. A first-hand witness, PIME missionary Fr Piero Gheddo, whose final work comes with an introduction by Vatican expert Sandro Magister, tells the whole story.
"Those who live judging others, speaking ill of others, are hypocrites because they do not have the strength, the courage to look at their own faults . The Lord does not speak much of this. But later on he says those who have hate in their hearts are murderers”. "We ask for us, for the whole Church, the grace of conversion from crime of gossip to love, humility, meekness, gentleness, and the magnanimity of love of neighbor ."
The US Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister find "common ground", plan meetings to implement peace process. Syria agrees to sign the UN Convention on Chemical Weapons. For Assad, other nations must stop supplying chemical weapons to the rebels. The Syrian Opposition Coalition is "sceptical" about the Russian-Syrian plan.
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