Freedom for 1000 prisoners – Indian Franciscans’ initiative in the Jubilee Year of Mercy   At their 15th National Assembly in Shanthi Sadana in Bangalore, Indian Franciscans took up the theme: Franciscans: Christ’s Face of Mercy in this World and announced a nationwide plan to release at least 1000 prisoners under the network of Association of Franciscan Families...

BENIN – Parish church in Kalalé is bursting at the seams! The parish of Saint Pierre in Kalalé is situated in the northeast of Benin, close to the frontier with Nigeria. The present parish church was built in 1990. At that time it was large enough to accommodate all the faithful, but now the parish has...

Pope Francis speaks out against the death penalty Pope Francis is known to be an opponent of the death penalty and has spoken out against it on previous occasions, for example in  September 2015 during his visit to the United States. In his latest pronouncement he has gone even further and urged all Christians and...

India’s ruling BJP party uses divisive religious tactics to win critical by-election     Recent news that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party  (BJP)  won a by-election in the troubled Muzaffarnaga region is of concern to religious minorities in India, including Christians. The reason is that BJP deliberately used divisive tactics in a...

SUDAN – Finding the strength to forgive Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy can help refugees find the strength to forgive, says a Sudanese bishop. During the Holy Year Christians are invited to focus on the merciful God and encouraged to reflect on their faith. Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Daniel...

PHILIPPINES – “Fears are growing in the local Christian communities.” “In some areas of Mindanao we are experiencing exactly the same thing as is happening in Iraq.” These startling words are those of Father Sebastiano D’Ambra, an Italian missionary of the PIME congregation who has spent nearly 50 years in the Philippines. He made his comments...

Life under attack in Aleppo – Extract from a letter sent by Fr Ibrahim Two missiles on Ram.8 Dear friends, I try to tell you what is happening here in Aleppo, since the army’s offensive to take back the city began. On the night between the 3rd and the 4th of February, two missiles fired...

Pope Francis invited all Mexicans to be a church that is the voice and hope for building a different world of opportunity for all. During his visit Pope Francis made several important declarations on topics that were relevant not only to the Mexican people but the entire world. The environmental challenge “We have come to...

Pope uses trendy messaging app “Telegram” to broadcast Lent messages    The Vatican has announced that the Pope and other clergy would be using the controversial messaging app Telegram to broadcast recordings of Gospel readings and commentary during Lent.  Vatican broadcasters have ditched WhatsApp, the platform that was used last year, in favour of Telegram...

Muslim leaders declare support for religious minorities in Islamic countries    At a recent conference in Marrakech, a large international group of Muslim leaders adopted a Declaration defending the rights of religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries.The Marrakech Declaration of 2016 is based on the Medina Charter, a constitutional contract between the Prophet Muhammad and...