The Transport Minister has dismissed a number of senior officials just two years after taking office, following renewed allegations of embezzlement at the national airline and two other key bodies. Above all, however, answers are needed regarding costs, management and policies.
In his homily during the Mass he celebrated in Santa Marta this morning, Francis spoke about Italy’s recent "government crisis". "Who among us has prayed for their rulers? Who among us has prayed for parliamentarians? So that they may agree and take their country forward.”
"Last week the long awaited exchange of prisoners between the Russian Federation and Ukraine was carried out. I rejoice for the people who were freed, who have been able to re-embrace their loved ones, and continue to pray for a rapid end to the conflict and for lasting peace in eastern Ukraine ".
Francis writes to the Ecumenical Patriarch on the meaning of the gift of relics of St. Peter. It is "a confirmation of the journey that our Churches have made in drawing closer to one another". "The joining of the relics of the two brother Apostles can also serve as a constant reminder and encouragement that, on this continuing journey, our divergences will no longer stand in the way of our common witness".
After John Paul II, the second pontiff to visit the two Asian countries. The program of the first stage yet to be defined. The Pope will visit Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where he will pray for the victims of the atomic bomb. Fr. Marco Ribolini, PIME missionary, reflects on the meaning of the visit for Thai Catholics.
Francis invites the representatives of the main religions, the exponents of international organizations and the various humanitarian institutions, from the academic, economic, political and cultural world to sign the "Global Compact on Education". The event scheduled for May 14, 2020 in Rome, in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican.
Beijing is implementing total control over the Church and religious communities. For some Chinese priests there is a re-edition of the Cultural Revolution. But in reality China is implementing a project that dates back to the 1980s: the Chinese Church is a national church that belongs only to the state.
At the general audience, Francis retraced his journey to Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius. Before leaving and on the way back, the visit to the Our Lady, Salus populi romani "for her to accompany me". "With Our Lady I travel safely".
Peace, xenophobia, interfaith dialogue and globalisation are some of the issues Francis spoke about during a press conference on the flight home from Madagascar.
Francis took his leave of the Antananarivo nunciature greeting a dozen poor elderly women representing the people assisted every Friday by the nunciature.
On the culturally and religiously diverse island nation, Francis talks about "A conversion that seeks not only to avoid terrible climatic phenomena or extreme natural catastrophes but also to promote a change in the way we live, so that economic growth can really benefit everyone, without the risk of ecological catastrophes or serious social crises.”
Survivors of the 21 April bombings are working out their grief their own way. Some do not accept what happened; others are relying on their capacity to adapt. The sense of community has also been affected, and the trauma has also caused "sensory disintegration".
Celebrating Mass on the island, Francis calls for a missionary spirit that bears witness to Christian joy. "When we hear the forecasts of gloom "there are so few of us left", we should first of all be concerned not with the reduction of this or that form of consecration in the Church, but rather with the lack of men and women who want to live happiness by making paths to holiness."
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