Yemen

A country where Christ is "rejected, ignored or persecuted," where there are bishops who "suffer". That their desire to stay in the one and Universal Church overcome the temptation to take a path independent of Peter.

This was declared by Anthony Liu Bainian, honorary president of the PA. On May 11 there was an election of Bishops in Shantou (Guangdong) with a single candidate, linked to the Communist Party to oust the bishop of the diocese, approved by the Holy See.

During the Regina Caeli, Benedict XVI makes a “pressing appeal” on behalf of the two Mediterranean nations. Today, Sunday of the Good Shepherd and the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, “it comes natural to remind God about the pastors of the Church and those who are training to be pastors.”

John Paul II’s teachings on the right of peoples and nations to exist and shape their future still matter for Lebanon today, a time when there is an attempt “to erase the consciousness of the Lebanese, as well as their memory and identity”.

For Angelo Del Boca, journalist and expert on Libya, the war violates UN resolutions and will last a long time, as long as Gaddafi has arms, to date only partially destroyed. NATO action is cynical and contradictory, and was initiated without recourse to diplomatic possilities. Gaddafi, a controversial figure, but a supporter of promoting African states.

Security forces opened fire on demonstrations calling for reform and democracy, after a day of general strike. The talks to end the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh are at a stalemate. Grave economic situation of the country.

Negative indices caused by the fall of prices in oil, silver and gold. The dollar gains on the euro because of crisis in Greece.

After rising for years, the price of silver, oil and other commodities has collapsed. This is not a good sign. A new crisis is in the making. In addition to its financial aspects, it involved public debt and an endless depression or hyperinflation. All this is connected to the price of gold and silver, which has been controlled for centuries by various groups, today by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

A Damascus suburb, Muadhamiya, is isolated. Hundreds of arrests are made. Heavy gunfire is reported. Since the start of anti-regime protests, more than 800 people have been killed, thousands have been arrested. Foreign journalists barred from entering the country.

Clashes at the church of St. Mina in north-east of the capital. Church of the Virgin Mary and the Al Azra burnt. Hundreds injured. The Salafists have accused the Coptic Church of holding women who have converted to Islam prisoners.

Christians today seem like the disciples at Emmaus, "immersed in doubt, sadness and disappointment." The risk of "emptying faith in the Risen Lord of truth" and of using it only as a superficial reference point, above all for its “social and cultural” aspects." Every believer must become a "witness, ready to proclaim with vigour and joy the event of the death and resurrection of Christ," without yielding to the temptations of the hedonistic culture of consumerism and materialism". At the Regina Caeli, a greeting and an invitation to the laity to work for the Church's mission.

The Bishop of Tripoli’s appeals for a truce and dialogue go unheeded. The West does not understand Libya, its tribal issues, the positive development of the country, stopping the fundamentalists. And there's room for Christian witness. Who really has interests at stake in this war?