For the thirteenth year in a row, Japan has experienced a population decline. The childcare subsidies launched by the government almost a year ago do not seem to be enough. Demographer Minagawa: 'Conflict in work and family management and the pressure on motherhood in society also weigh heavily. Secularisation is also a factor: according to research by the Pew Research Center, Japanese people who pray are more likely to have children.
At an international forum held in Novgorod, Prof. Fen Yu Shun of Shanghai's Fudan University openly stated that in his opinion the invasion of Ukraine is bound to end in a fiasco for Russia. 'Moscow wants to destabilise the world order by forceful actions, Beijing wants to recompose it'.
The archbishop of Goa has called on Catholics to give up the weekly visit to the Marian shrine in Velankanni on 6 May to avoid missing voting set the following day in this part of India. On candidates, he stressed the importance of voting for “persons with secular credentials, who are truly committed to work for the good of all the people”.
Senator Risa Hontiveros introduced a resolution ahead of Earth Day on 22 April. “As stewards of the Earth, we have a moral imperative to protect our environment for future generations,” said Caritas vice president Bishop Alminaza.
In St Peter's Square, Pope Francis remembers Palestine, Israel and Ukraine, as well as all the "prisoners of war." Today's catechesis focused on temperance, “the virtue of the right measure”. A sensitive person “does not weep over himself. In defeat, he rises up again; in victory, he is capable of returning to his former reserved life.”
The daughter of Sukarno, who heads the PDI-P, the party to which outgoing President Joko Widodo belongs, has asked the Constitutional Court to allow her to act as “amicus curiae” in a legal case that could stop Gibran Rakabuming Raka from taking office as vice president after his running mate, General Prabowo Subianto, won the presidency.