Led by the heads of various Churches, pilgrims have returned to the 5th-century monastery built around the column on which Saint Simeon lived for 40 years. One of the most important monuments of early Christianity, it still bears the scars of bombing and looting. Yet it bears witness to a faith stronger than any adversity.
More than 30 lawyers have been detained; three of them have defended converts from Islam. Two journalists who first reported on Mahsa Amini's death face five years in prison. So far, the crackdown by Iran’s clerical regime has left 321 people dead, including 50 children, with almost 15,000 people taken into custody.
At the general audience Francis reviews his recent trip, answering the question: why visit a country with a very large Islamic majority? "Dialogue is the oxygen of peace. The Christians of the Gulf invite us to broaden our horizons and dedicate ourselves to getting to know others". Commemoration of the Orthodox Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos, "a far-sighted pastor".
The Swedish research body records a radical reversal in the balance of global powers, especially the US and Russia. Conventional, small arms and light weapons are growing. In addition to Israel, Turkey, Iran and to a lesser extent Jordan and Egypt are gaining ground.
A Sister’s testimony introduced the meeting with Pope Francis in Manama. “We involve ourselves in prison ministry,” and “visit hospitals, the sick and needy families,” she said. In a world “changing by leaps and bounds”, the nuns educate “young minds” from migrant families to follow Jesus.
Back from Bahrain, the pontiff appealed to Lebanese leaders. The Maronite patriarch hopes that the pope will be heard. The apostolic journey to Lebanon was cancelled and never rescheduled. The pope remains close to the country and its people, praying for them.
A business worth 10 billion euro a year that feeds government and opposition coffers, creating 'unthinkable' alliances. A universal substance consumed by students and professionals, considered less 'forbidden' than alcohol or other drugs. Saudi Arabia the main market destination.
He fought a long illness. For 16 years he headed the oldest Christian autocephalous reality, opposed a secularised conception of the Church and relaunched relations with Rome, making the words of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew his own.
The second convoy in less than two weeks took at least 330 people from the Bekaa Valley (Lebanon) to the Qalamoun region (Syria). In Lebanon, refugees are hot a issue. The government wants to speed up "mass" returns, but the international community and the UN are putting on the brakes.
The mass celebrated at the stadium "the most moving moment". The visible "enthusiasm" of tens of thousands of faithful. The 'dedication' of the local community in preparing for the visit. The pontiff's physical suffering, his "fragility" touched the hearts of Muslims too.
Pope Francis’s apostolic journey to Bahrain ended this morning with a meeting with the local clergy, men and women religious and pastoral workers. “It is beautiful,” he said, “to be part of a Church composed of different histories and different faces that find their harmony in the one face of Jesus.” After mentioning the countries of origin of the Catholics living in the Vicariate, Francis also mentioned Lebanon “so weary and sorely tried” and expressed hope for the peace agreement in Ethiopia.
Francis led the Mass at Bahrain's National Stadium attended by thousands of migrant workers from Asia. When Jesus invites us to love our enemies, he “is not idealistic, but realistic”, for that is the only way “to shatter the chains". At the ecumenical meeting, the pontiff said that the Gulf is a laboratory of unity. “Precisely in our own deserts, the Lord loves to open up new and undiscovered paths and makes fountains of living water spring up”.
In his address to the Forum for dialogue with other religious leaders, the Pope calls for fraternity to be made concrete: "In the garden of humanity, instead of caring for the totality, people play with fire, with missiles and bombs. Religion should not be constraint, but freedom, which is opening up to the good for which we were created".
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