The two women religious were arrested while handing out food to the poor in a slum during the pandemic. Sr Gemma Lucia, Sr Martha and two volunteers spent two months in prison. The Sisters of St Paul of Chartres run a facility with 120 children in a rundown area of the city. They still have to appear in court. Their predicament is a worrying sign of the criminalisation of Christian missionaries.
A French missionary's agricultural system for Nepal's rural populations
by Alessandra De Poli | NEPAL
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The "guardian of Jesus," "reminds us that all those who are seemingly hidden or in the 'second line' have an unparalleled protagonism in the history of salvation" and that they "sustain the lives of us all."
In today's headlines: Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai holds video call with the IOC president saying she is safe; in India, a 45-year-old man survives night in a mortuary freezer; Jerusalem, a march of support for the Hamas bomber who killed an Israeli and wounded three others; in Uzbekistan, 26,000 people suspended from work because they were not vaccinated.
Today's headlines: Burmese junta arrests former Democratic MP and hip-hop star. Japan launches record 431 billion euro stimulus. Military talks between China and India on border issue resume. Alibaba's stock market plunge. Moscow wants to send prisoners to work at the North Pole. Collapse of the Turkish lira: the opposition calls for early elections.
Today's headlines: Chinese coast guard blocks Philippine ships in the South China Sea. Gang smuggling lumber between Russia and China busted. Taiwan launches upgraded version of F-16 fighter jet. Covid-19 infection spike in South Korea. Explosion with riots in Shiite neighborhood of Kabul. Egypt and Qatar in aid of Gaza.
"The peripheries are preferred by Jesus," who "continues to manifest himself in the geographical and existential peripheries" and that even today the Church "knows that it is called to announce the good news starting from the peripheries." New cycle of catechesis dedicated to St. Joseph, who "reminds the Church to fix its gaze on what the world deliberately ignores."
Today's headlines: UAE announces purchase of South Korean anti-missile system. US and China agree on visas for journalists. Japan tests first self-driving superfast train. Protests in Kazakhstan over high prices. India reopens export of Covid vaccines. Tensions between Indonesia and Vietnam over fishing rights.
Today's headlines: Kuwait "pardons" three political dissidents; China imprisons a blogger for "insulting" dead Chinese soldiers on the border with India; Journalist Danny Fenster freed in Myanmar; Hindu radicals attack the home of former Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid.
In the headlines today: A new Covid outbreak in China; expectations ahead of the virtual meeting between Xi and Biden. Japan's economy declines sharply. Two journalists arrested in India for reporting on clashes in Tripura. Kabul mediates truce between Islamabad and Pakistani Taliban. Israel and the US launch partnerships against ransomware. Schism in the Russian Orthodox Church.
During Mass, Francis offered “some advice for making important choices. [. . .] Before deciding, let us imagine that we are standing in front of Jesus, as at the end of life, before Him who is love. And imagining ourselves there, in His presence, at the threshold of eternity, we make the decision for today. [. . .] It may not be the easiest, it may not be the most immediate, but it will be the right one”. The pontiff also announced that “today, World Day of the Poor, registration opens for the Laudato si' platform, which promotes integral ecology.”
Francis travelled to Assisi ahead of the Fifth World Day of the Poor. “It is time for sleeves to be rolled up so dignity can be restored by creating jobs,” he said. “It is time to be scandalised once again before the reality of children who are starving, reduced to slavery, tossed about in the water in the aftermath of a shipwreck, innocent victims of every sort of violence.” Likewise, “It is time that violence against women cease and that they be respected and not treated like bargaining chips.”
The news of the day: Thai authorities deported two Cambodian activists; the toll of floods in India and Sri Lanka rises to 41; in Hong Kong more than one in five citizens in poverty; a Taliban commander is the new governor of Kabul; Erdogan wants two more atomic power plants.
"Prayer to the Holy Spirit is spontaneous: it must come from your heart. You must say in moments of difficulty: 'Holy Spirit, come'. The key word is this: 'come'. But you have to say it with your language, with your words. Come, because I am in difficulty, come because I am in darkness, in the dark; come because I do not know what to do; come because I am about to fall. Come. Come."
Today's headlines: A "virtual summit" between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next week; The Burmese junta indicts a US journalist for "sedition and terrorism"; China stages drills near Taiwan in response to US congressional delegation visit; The E-economy booms in Southeast Asia.
The day's news: In India, four newborn babies die in a hospital fire; China offers money for information in the fight against the new coronavirus; Pyongyang forges death certificates to remain 'Covid-free'; Pakistan signs ceasefire with Taliban.
