The World Bank has forecast a 2.5% contraction in GDP, while direct damage is estimated at billion. Religious groups continue to bring aid to the population, but poverty, already over 30% before the quake, is likely to increase further. The testimony of those who lost their homes and continue to live in tents.
Just four months before local elections, the Commission has ordered a review of the eligibility of nearly 30 million voters who have registered over the past 20 years. Sr. Dorothy Fernandes tells AsiaNews: ‘The government is afraid of losing and will end up depriving the marginalised, migrants and Muslims who are unable to complete the necessary paperwork of their right to vote.’
By abolishing the liberal principles of democracy and equality of all citizens before the law that the first president Boris Yeltsin had intended to proclaim, Vladimir Putin had already sanctioned in 2020 the transformation of institutions into instruments of the ‘vertical of power’ not to be shared with local administrations or other social bodies.
Today was the last Angelus in St Peter's before the pontiff takes two weeks of rest in Castel Gandolfo. In his commentary on the Gospel, Leo said that God placed “a desire for the infinite” in “people’s heart, but “few perceive” this. The Church and the world need “loving disciples”. After the Marian prayer, he said that “peace is a desire of all peoples,” while “those who govern” should replace weapons “by the pursuit of dialogue.”
The Plenary Assembly in Bohol elects the archbishop of Lipa to succeed Card David who has concluded his second term. The meeting is discussing how to continue the synodal journey in the Philippines. Noemi Saludo, a laywoman who contributed to the restoration of a hundred churches, is honoured.
Four years after the death of the Jesuit who dedicated his life to defending the land rights of India’s indigenous peoples, the Bagaicha centre, which he founded in the State of Jharkhand, continues to fight for the poor. Despite threats and continuous mining, Jesuits and activists continue their mission to accompany tribal communities in claiming their rights, in the name of Father Stan Swamy, a symbol of justice for new generations too.
