Sister Regina, of the Sisters of Repair, offers her testimony. “Without humanitarian aid, children and the elderly are suffering in the forests because the roads are blocked by the military. Conscription is used to provide human shields to force the rebels to kill their own countrymen. Our sisters remain close to the people, walking with them, even in tears, amid the dangers and the pain.”
In the Indian state shaken by ethnic violence, the state government had announced that this Sunday, 31 March, would be a working day, using as a pretext the fact that it is the last day of the fiscal year. After protests by Christians (who are over 40 per cent of the local population), state authorities backtracked.
Three Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Pakistan have been hit in seven days. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharf is set to visit to China next month to boost the economic ties but, for analysts, new projects are not likely to materialise. While the latest suicide bombing has not been claimed, several groups have reasons to go after the Chinese.
Francis dedicated the homily of the Chrism Mass, which he delivered personally in the Vatican Basilica, to Peter's tears. In the life of the spirit, “if we fail to weep, we regress and grow old within, whereas those” who “wonder in the presence of God, grow and mature.” In the afternoon, he will visit the women’s section of the Rebibbia prison to celebrate the Mass in Coena Domini and take part in the rite of the Washing of the Feet.
The Chinese president reassures of 'ample room for development' even for US companies, which are worried about the implications of the increasingly tightening mesh imposed by 'national security' laws and the crisis in the Chinese economy. Meanwhile, Beijing itself only plans 'national options' for the operating systems of government computers and servers.
The conflict with Hamas and the question of hostages is one of the "sensitive issues", but not the only one. From Jerusalem - the day after Pope Francis' letter to the Christians of the Holy Land - the patriarchal vicar for Israel recalls the tensions surrounding military service for the ultra-Orthodox, violence in Arab society, and growing anti-Semitism abroad. Political isolation also adds "suffering upon suffering". "As Christians we avoid being drawn into hate speech".