The Vatican, Wednesday reported that 153 Cardinals are present at the pre-conclave ‘general congregation’ meetings. Four cardinals arrived in Rome overnight, three of them cardinal electors, cardinal Lehman from Germany, the Egyptian cardinal Naguib, and from Hong Kong cardinal Tong Hon. Two cardinals are still to arrive, cardinal Nycz from Warsaw and Vietnamese cardinal Pham. Read more
A Vietnamese priest imprisoned for criticising human rights abuses has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by two members of the United States Congress. Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, 65, has been nominated by members of Congress Chris Smith and Zoe Lofgren along with the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the Read more
The People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced three Christian bloggers on Monday in a case that has drawn international criticism. A report by UCA News said the bloggers were charged with spreading anti-government propaganda under Article 88 of the country’s criminal code. The three are founding members of the Free Journalist Club, an Read more
Communist officials in the Central Highlands of Vietnam have compelled ethnic villagers to remove the cross, altar, tabernacle and pictures from their chapel, replacing them with two images of Ho Chi Minh, the revolutionary leader who died in 1969. Authorities told parishioners that the building was to be used “for village activities, not for worship”. Read more
An international survey has recorded a dramatic decline in religious faith among the Irish over the past six years. Between 2005 and 2011, the proportion of Irish people declaring themselves to be religious dropped from 69 to 47 per cent — a percentage drop in religiosity exceeded only by the Vietnamese. Over the same period, Read more
Vietnam authorities deny blocking a Vatican delegation from entering the country. The Bangkok Post reported on Tuesday that Vietnam had revoked visas for a Vatican delegation working to advance the beatification of former assistant archbishop Francois-Xavier Van Thuan. “Vietnamese authorities have not received any official request from the Vatican for such work to take place Read more
Two Vietnamese Catholics have been sentenced to jail for distributing anti-government material. AsiaNews sources say, however, that the charges – at least for one of them – are false and it is only a government vendetta toward Catholics who defend the rights of the Church.
Read the article...Hundreds of priests and parishioners were attacked by an outnumbered of police and militiamen this mooring in the capital of Hanoi after they submitted their petition to suspend a construction on a land in dispute.
At 8:30 this morning, dozens of Hanoi Redemptorists led a group of hundreds of parishioners to the City’s People’s Committee to submit their urgent petition which asked for the suspension of a hospital sewage treatment system on a parish’ lot of land.
They could manage to hand in their petition. However, on the way home, an outnumbered of police and militiamen stopped them and brutally beat, and arrested dozens of priests and parishioners of Thai Ha Parish.
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In the context of Anzac Day the Cross is a symbol not of triumph but the pity of war. “There is no honour or glory in war. There’s just the smell of blood, the smell of cordite in the nose. Fear, sweat, noise,” said John Kingi, one of nine soldiers from Victor 3 Company One Platoon who Read more