South East Asia

Francis celebrates Mass in one of the most popular Marian shrines in Latin America, Caacupé, which " preserves and treasures the memory of a people who know that Mary is their Mother, and that she has always been at the side of her children." Like the Mother of God, the women of Paraguay "lived through many difficult situations which, in the eyes of the world, would seem to discredit all faith”. " " When all seemed to be falling apart, with Mary you said: “Let us not be afraid, the Lord is with us; he is with our people, with our families; let us do what he tells us”.

According to the police chief at the time there are no specific ties that link Ridwan Agustin and Tommy Hendratno to the jihadist movement. An Australian police report stated that the two are in Raqqa, the capital of the Caliphate. In fact have both posted declarations of "support" for IS on social media.

Francis denounces a system which system has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature" and the "different faces" of the new colonialism. Need "a humane alternative to globalization exclusionary". " The world’s peoples want to be artisans of their own destiny. They want to advance peacefully towards justice. They do not want forms of tutelage or interference". "The future of humanity is primarily in the hands of the people."

During his visit to the Santa Cruz-Palmasola Rehabilitation Centre, Francis spoke of imprisonment, which must respect human dignity, as well as reintegration and pray. “The man standing before you is a man who has experienced forgiveness. A man who was, and is, saved from his many sins.”

The parties in the running include the ruling military junta (USDP) and the NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel Laureate, however, has been excluded from the race for president, the highest office in the country.

Politics must not be dominated by financial speculation and cannot rely exclusively on utilitarian and technocratic paradigm of maximum production. "In this land whose history has been marred by exploitation, greed and so many forms of selfishness and sectarianism, now is the time for integration". " The natural environment is closely related to the social, political and economic environment. It is urgent for all of us to lay the foundations of an integral ecology".

The Uyghur refugees had entered in the country irregularly about a year ago. They include many women and children. They were taken from prisons and transported to a military airport where for a flight to China. Men who refused to climb on board the plane were drugged. Activist reports that the "Beijing government behind this shameful act."

Scores of former members of the GAM separatist group are ready to fly to Syria to fight for jihad. A formal letter was sent to the province’s governor asking for money. Since January 2014, a group affiliated with the Islamic State group has existed in Aceh, the only Indonesian province where Sharia is enforced.

Faced with so much hunger in the world, the heart can yield to despair. However, “The Eucharist is a sacrament of communion, which draws us out of our individualism in order to live together as disciples. It gives us the certainty that all that we have, all that we are, if it is taken, blessed and given, can, by God’s power, by the power of his love, become bread of life for all.”

The US president welcomed Nguyen Phu Trong to the White House. The talks focused on bilateral trade and security in the Asia-Pacific region. Strengthening of axis between Washington and Hanoi to oppose Beijing’s expansion. Activists and US lawmakers protest over Vietnam’s violations of human rights and religious freedom.

A hundred people protested outside Parliament denouncing the indifference of the ruling majority and the opposition. The message concerns a forest in the north, which is likely to disappear. For environmentalists time "is running out." And traffickers are free to act undisturbed, offloading their goods in China and Vietnam.

Raising awareness that the earth is a gift from God that must "be cultivated", but also "safeguarded", that the goods are meant for all, and "a social mortgage weighs on them ". Building society which is not only driven by technology and economics, but by gratuitousness, solidarity and subsidiarity.