The Philippine cardinal today brought to the Vatican meeting what he experienced in Manila’s poorest areas, among the victims of extrajudicial killings of drug addicts and small-time dealers. For him, fragility among families also stems from poverty, violence, and underemployment, but they can teach how to walk alongside others while trusting in grace.
Never before "recorded" climatic phenomena bringing farmers and fishermen to their knees in the south of Vietnam. El Niño and dams built by China have dramatically lowered the level of the river water. The sea reclaims land and salinity levels killing crops. Environmental experts: "Beijing ignores our cry for help".
Some 90 people are on trial for human trafficking, international crimes, and corruption, including Kongoaen Manas, a former top Thai army officer close to Prime Minister Prayut Chan o-cha. Human rights groups complain that hundreds of potential witnesses have been left without protection.
"We all experience a sort of exile, when loneliness, suffering, death makes us think we have been abandoned by God, but "God is not absent" not even in the most dramatic situations we sometimes experience. "God is at hand, and carries out great works of salvation for those who trust in Him".
The archbishop of the metropolis during the soon-to-be-proclaimed Saint’s mission, Msgr. Henry Sebastian D'Souza, tells AsiaNews about the last days of Mother Teresa and her legacy for India and for the world: "The beauty of life and of Mother Teresa's mission is that she was able to transcend the barriers of race, language, culture, social status ... Whatever barrier. She was the image of Jesus, His face in the world".
Francis’ decision came in today’s ordinary public consistory for the canonisation of the blessed. The life of the "little sister" devoted to the poorest of the poor went from a shack in a Kolkata slum to a Nobel Peace Prize and global reach of the Missionaries of Charity.
The saint of Kolkata is a Jubilee icon, and can help promote corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The pope is praised but not understood. For Mother Teresa, as for Francis, the Church "is not an NGO". The Mother is also an example of how to reconcile contemplation and action, sacrament and mission, witness and commitment in the world, rectifying the discrepancies of those who are traditionalist and inward looking as well those who hold shapeless liberal views.
The Udomsarn weekly gives young Catholics a forum to express their views about mercy during the Extraordinary Jubilee. It “is not only a feeling of pity, but is something that needs to be put into practice every day.” Thai youths are set to participate in the World Youth Day in Krakow in July.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) deputy, is the first civilian to occupy the position since 1962. Elected today with 360 votes out of 652, he defeated a fellow party member and the junta candidate, who will be vice-presidents.
"When we today, we look at the many dark valleys, so many misfortunes, so many people dying from hunger, from war, so many disabled children", we wonder "where is the Lord?". "I do not know: it is a mystery to me. One thing alone gives me solace - not my mind, but my soul - Jesus at Gethsemane: 'Father, take this cup from me, no. Thy will be done, not mine '. He trusts the will of the Father ".
Free copies of the Gospel of St Luke were handed out. Memorising works of mercy makes it “easier to fulfil them”. As the adulterous woman stood in front of Jesus, they were like “misery and mercy, facing each other,” like us when we go to the confessional. “God does not nail us to our sins; he does not identify us with the wrongs we have done.” Instead, “He wants to free us” so as to make us into “new creatures”.
During today’s Jubilee audience, Francis said that "By washing the Apostles' feet, Jesus showed how God acts towards us, and set an example of his ‘new commandment’ to love one another as he has loved us." Speaking to the participants in a course organised by the Roman Rota, the pontiff said that "the verification of the validity of a marriage represents a major possibility”. Those who have experienced a failed marriage “should be helped to follow this path as smoothly as possible."
A government report indicates that half of pupils in rural areas do not get a higher education. Only 4 per cent graduate from universities. Unemployment for those between 15 and 24 stands at 50.3 per cent. For general secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Education, educating teenagers is “a source of concern”. Private individuals and religious congregations help fill the educational gap.
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