YEMEN - Nuns killed in terrorist attack on retirement home Four nuns from the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, were killed last Friday in the city of Aden, Yemen. They were: Sr. Anslem from Ranchi, India who would have turned 60 years old on 8 May; [...]
43 Assyrian Christian hostages released by Islamic State 43 Assyrian Christian hostages have recently been set free by Islamic State in northeastern Syria. The released hostages, who were abducted in February 2015 from villages [...]
Just 13 years old Extract from a letter received recently from Archbishop Jeanbart of Aleppo He was just 13, poor Fouad Banna, the child whom we buried this afternoon – his sister Rosy, his close family members and myself. His parents, both seriously wounded, were not present at his funeral for [...]
Pakistani Christians call for Shahbaz Bhatti to be canonisedFive years after his death, Pakistani Christians and the Church of Pakistan are clamoring for Shahbaz Bhatti to be canonised.A request unanimously signed by the Pakistani Bishops' Conference arrived in Rome just after his murder. The Holy See has approved the opening [...]
Five years have passed since Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities Affairs and the first Christian to hold such high office in the Federal Government of this Islamic country, was murdered. Up to now it is not clear who stood behind his assassination, though in fact the far more interesting [...]
Kenya builds new prison for 'extremists' to tackle radicalisation Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta announced plans to build a special prison to house "violent and extremist" offenders to keep them from influencing other prisoners, though no timelines were given for its opening. "We will establish a new prison to hold violent, extremist [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Pope Francis speaks out against the death penaltyPope 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 [...]
