Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education began reorganising schools with a pilot project in two districts, aiming at 3,114 schools with fewer than 100 students. The initiative is meant to improve learning and the use of resources, officials told AsiaNews. Still, some scholars are critical of the lack of adequate public debate.
Every year, 23,000 tonnes of waste are generated on the island. New plan is meant to avoid tragedies like the one that occurred at the Meethotamulla landfill. The Takakura composting method includes sorting waste in the home and turning into fertiliser.
At the general audience, Pope Francis speaks of the encounter with Jesus as a source of joy, vocation, and mission. Jesus "appears to ignite hearts." "What youth is a happy youth, without a search for meaning? Young people who are looking for nothing are not young, they age before their time. " "Do not give credence to disappointed and unhappy people." A Message together with Patriarch Bartholomew I to ask everyone to "take a respectful and responsible attitude towards creation" and to the powerful "to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, who are most affected by ecological imbalances.
The Government of Sri Lanka approved the new law, which authorises abortion under two conditions: rape and serious deformities. Since the beginning of the year, 240,000 illegal abortions have been performed in the country.
Pope Francis will travel to Bangladesh from 30 November to 2 December. The themes chosen for the trip are harmony and peace. Parishes receive directions to prepare the faithful. PIME Superior: "Christians are the hope of the country, our work is for the benefit of all."
The announcement made today by the Holy See Press Office and at the same time in Dakha and Yangon. From November 27 to 30, Francis will visit Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw. From November 30 to December 2, he will visit Dhaka. Yesterday's appeal on the persecution of Rohingya.
During the Angelus, Pope Francis paused for a moment of silence on behalf of Myanmar’s often rejected Bengali minority. As he did with the apostles, Jesus "expects from his people a different and superior answer than those of public opinion." He also “wants to continue to build his Church” with “small stones”. Indeed, “no small stone is useless; on the contrary, in the hands of Jesus a small stone becomes precious”.
Cabinet approved compensation for the families of the dead and for those wounded, but not for destroyed property. In June 2014, the radicals from the Bodu Bala Sena group plundered and destroyed properties in three towns in in the southwest of the island. Now locals can hope.
Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe publicly condemned the multimillion dollar agreement on Hambantota Harbor. The sale to Beijing of 70% of the stock is worth 1.1 billion dollars. The protests of the local population, which fears being evicted.
The Russian President met the Vatican Secretary of State in his dacha. Collaboration on international issues, especially Syria, Ukraine, North Africa and Venezuela, underlined. The Russian cultural heritage exhibition in Moscow and in the Vatican. The pilgrimage of St. Nicholas's relics is appreciated. Parolin: Vatican diplomacy moves on many levels. There is some doubt about the pre-electoral use of the visit.
At the general audience in Paul VI hall, Pope Francis emphasizes the foundation of the future positivity of Christians: God who makes "all new things". "There is a Father weeping with tears of infinite pity for his children. A Father who waits for us to console us, because He knows our sufferings and has prepared a different future for us. " "It is not Christian to walk with a downward gaze, without looking up at the horizon." Present pilgrims from Lebanon, Syria, Middle East, India, Vietnam.
The pressure and violence of the civil authorities control and suffocate the official Church. Underground Catholics wonder whether the Holy See has married the government's thesis, to eliminate them. The "unrealistic" hope in an agreement between China and the Holy See. The appeal of a PIME missionary, a great expert on China.
The importance of the collaboration of the two Churches to support Christians in the Middle East reiterated. The pilgrimage of St. Nicholas's relics, "a small brick in building a new relationship". Hilarion: There was no talk of a meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill.
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