Moscow granted asylum to the leader of the Damascus regime that collapsed in a few days under the offensive of Islamic militias from the north. In Soviet times, Syria was considered the ‘sixteenth republic’ of the Union, but Moscow's relationship with Damascus is much older, also due to ties with the patriarchate of Antioch. The node of the military bases in Tartus and Latakia, over which they will try to negotiate with the country's new leadership.
In this morning's Holy Mass in St Peter's, Pope Francis said that the 21 new cardinals created yesterday “have come from many parts of the world, bringing great wisdom”. In his homily dedicated to Mary’s beauty as daughter, wife and mother, and her yes, he said that she “appears before us as a beautiful flower that grew unnoticed until it finally blossomed”. At the Angelus, he renewed his call for peace, in Syria too, that it “may reach the feast of the Nativity with a ceasefire on all fronts of war.”
During today’s consistory in the Vatican basilica, the pontiff placed the biretta on 21 new cardinals. The College of Cardinals includes 37 from Asia, 25 electors. Archbishop Kikuchi of Tokyo, who chairs Caritas Internationalis, received the title of a suburban Roman church. Indian PM Modi sent an official delegation for the new Cardinal Koovakad. Francis will travel to India only after 2025, says Minister Kurian.
Y Hưng Ayun, pastor of a house church in Tara Puôr, shot in the knee by two men with covered faces in an ambush last Sunday. The government monitors independent churches it does not approve, seizing Bibles and equipment. In September, Y Phô Êban, 57, in Cuê village, was also threatened; he laments that they are “not allowed to gather.”
The impeachment motion against the president who tried to impose martial law was blocked. In his first address after the tumultuous night last Wednesday, Yoon called it an act of "desperation", pledging not to repeat it. The People Power Party, which sees his resignation as "inevitable", is taking its time to negotiate a less traumatic exit. Appealing to protesters, the opposition, however, won’t have it, and will try another impeachment motion.
The patriarch has tried to distance himself recently from the country’s political leaders, stressing his superiority in the relationship between Russia’s political and clerical power. At least two issues underscore a gap between Church and State, namely the response to the demographic crisis with monks criticised for being celibate, and the ban on organised prayers in private homes.
