Chinese authorities have demolished, closed and converted hundreds of mosques in the northwestern Ningxia region and Gansu province as part of the government’s efforts to restrict Islam, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Wednesday. Police have also removed domes, minarets, and other Islamic architectural features from other mosques as part of Beijing’s Read more
World
Aides defend Pope from charges of false equivalence on Gaza war
Monday, November 27th, 2023A group of Italian rabbis and other prominent Jewish leaders have struck back against Pope Francis’s referral Wednesday to the ongoing war in Gaza as “terrorism.” The group asserts that he’s falsely equating the aggressors with the victims, while the pope’s aides insist he’s not “overlooking” the Hamas attack that launched the conflict. In a Read more
Javier Milei smooths waters with “imbecile” pope
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023
During the election campaign the now new Argentine president Javier Milei labelled Pope Francis a “‘filthy’ communist”, an “imbecile”, and the “representative of the Evil One seated on the throne of the house of God”. Milei – a far-right populist and libertarian economist who was prone to brandishing a chainsaw on the campaign – got Read more
Pope Francis’ inclusive stance resonates with transgender community
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023
In a significant gesture towards inclusivity, Pope Francis extended a lunch invitation to a group of transgender individuals. The group, mostly Latin American migrants and often engaged in sex work, has received unprecedented support from the Vatican. Under the guidance of the local parish priest, Rev Andrea Conocchia, these women now attend Francis’ weekly audiences Read more
Israeli army surrounds Mother Teresa nuns’ Gaza facility
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023
The Gaza headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, the Sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is under siege by the Israeli army according to one of the nuns inside the building. The nuns and their 60 guests, most of whom are disabled and handicapped, are trapped in the facility without food, water, medicine, electricity or Read more
Pope intervenes in German Synodal Path plan
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023
Pope Francis has written a letter about several proposals regarding the German Synodal Path and “the numerous concrete steps that are taking place”. On Tuesday this week German news outlet Die Welt published a copy of the letter which was addressed to four recipients. Those four are German women who resigned from the Synodal Path Read more
Catholic priest delivers twins in cathedral grounds
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023
A Catholic priest suddenly found himself taking on tasks usually performed by a midwife when her helped deliver a homeless woman’s twins in the grounds right outside his cathedral. “What is God trying to tell me through the extraordinary experience?” he wondered. It was just a ordinary errand that began the extraordinary chain of events Read more
Church rushes to the aid of flood victims in Vietnam
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023The Church and the government in Vietnam have extended aid to thousands of people hit by severe floods that were caused by unnoticed discharge of water by private hydropower plants. Heavy rains have battered the central province of Thua Thien Hue which has been facing floods since Nov 13. The flood claimed the lives of Read more
Pope Francis appoints coadjutor to French diocese where ordinations were halted
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023Pope Francis has appointed a coadjutor bishop to a French diocese whose priestly ordinations were suspended by the Vatican in 2022 following a “fraternal visit.” Bishop François Touvet of Châlons will serve alongside the current bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, the 71-year-old Dominique Rey. Touvet will automatically succeed Rey upon his resignation after he reaches age 75. Read more
Dispute erupts over whether pope called Gaza situation a ‘genocide’
Thursday, November 23rd, 2023A messy dispute broke out on Wednesday over whether Pope Francis used the word “genocide” to describe events in Gaza, with Palestinians who met with him insisting that he did and the Vatican saying he did not. The opposing versions emerged at an afternoon press conference with 10 Palestinians who met the pope on Wednesday Read more