Middle East

AsiaNews is neither an optimist nor a pessimist, but a realist. The "targeted" appointments of bishops have already lead to the suffocation of the Church today. The silence of the "optimists" in front of the destruction of churches, bans on young people practising their religion, the tight control on priests and faithful. A program – that need no agreements -: promote the unity of the Chinese Church; strengthen the formation of priests, religious, laity; support evangelization. The model of underground Protestant communities. The danger of considering the underground Catholic Church as something that can be just "discarded".

Religion and faith are not "a show". The pontiff calls for carrying out new “actions the Christian way, the way that comes from the Beatitudes”. One can recite "the whole Creed, even all the dogmas of the Church", but if one does not do it "with a Christian spirit", it serves no purpose.

The Saudi hereditary prince is in Cairo, for the first trip abroad since his ascent to power. He will also fly to Britain and the United States. A 10 billion dollar fund for the development of a megalopolis in southern Sinai. Egypt "gives" disputed Red Sea islands to Riyadh.

Christ's driving the merchants from the temple warns against the temptation to take advantage of good activities for private, and even illicit interests and helps us "to reject the danger of making of our soul, which is the abode of God, a market place, living in the continuous search for our own interests instead of generous and supportive love".

A decree establishes its insertion into the general Roman calendar. The celebration now decided by Francis "will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God".

Appeal to mobilization this week to draw the attention of the FIFA president. Women's protest against the country's rigid morality continues.

The visit to WCC headquarters will include an ecumenical prayer, a special session of the Central Committee to mark the anniversary, and an address by the pope. Francis will be the third pontiff to visit the organisation after Paul VI on 10 June 1969 and John Paul II on 12 June 1984.

A group of astronomers came across dark matter whilst trying to detect the earliest stars in the universe. The primordial gas was colder than expected. For the Israeli researcher, this is due to the interaction with dark matter. If confirmed, the results could change the orientation of scientific research.

About 30 bishops have visited Gaza in the last two months. The meeting with the young people, who leave because "they do not see a future". The situation is the "worst" in recent years: no work, water, electricity.

The Iraqi Church has promoted an inter-religious meeting in the presence of Sunni, Shiite, Sabean and Yazidi dignitaries. The invitation to monitor speeches in places of worship. Parliament has the task of approving a law to punish those who incite hatred and violence. The basic pluralism of Iraqi society.

The Chaldean Church is marking the tenth anniversary of the abduction of the Archbishop of Mosul, who died a few days afterwards in the hands of his kidnappers. Recognising the prelate’s sacrifice shows “the rootedness of Christians” in Iraq. Yet, the spilling of blood continues with the death of a Christian father of two in Baghdad.

A Letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reaffirms that salvation consists in our union with Christ, God and man. A rejection of " individualism centered on the autonomous subject ", whose "realization depends only on its strength" of neo-Pelagianism and the "merely interior" salvation of neo-Gnosticism.