The Catholic Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism organised an Iftar, the dinner that breaks the Ramadan fast, together with other minorities. For Archbishop Benny Mario Travas, the event is a testament to the values of compassion, empathy, and mutual respect that bind everyone.
The tragedy of war in the land of Jesus (and "martyred Ukraine") are the focus of the Holy Week general audience. Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, Israeli and Palestinian fathers who lost their daughters in the war, are among those present. “They don't look at the wickedness of the war," the pontiff said about them. In a letter, he also expresses his closeness to the Catholics of the Holy Land, grateful to them for their “ability to hope against all hope”.
Ma Ying-jeou will make a stop in the Chinese capital and also visit other provinces. The trip will fall on the eve of the inauguration of Lai Ching-te, who is opposed by Beijing as an "independence seeker". The Kuomintang hopes the visit will lower cross-strait pressure and foster a peaceful exchange.
The first chapel dedicated to the patron saint of the Swiss Confederation and his wife Dorothea was inaugurated over the weekend in the south of the capital. It is located in the convent of Notre-Dame de la Plaine, a retirement home belonging to the Greek Melkites. A 15th century hermit, he saved his homeland from civil war and instilled in it the founding value: neutrality.
Today's news: new deaths in Israel and Lebanon in the war front with Hezbollah. The Singapore ship that caused the Baltimore disaster had passed two overhauls last year. Mumbai overtakes Beijing in number of billionaires. Russian dissident Kara-Murza's wife: prisoner exchanges with Moscow political prisoners to save their lives.
The Isis cell in the region between Afghanistan and Central Asia sees Russia as the main support for its two worst enemies, the regimes in Kabul and Tehran. While in Tajikistan, President Rakhmon stigmatises the high number of Tajiks among the militia, but according to his opponents their radicalisation is the effect of his twenty years of repression.