SPAIN Barcelona church shelters 800 people after terrorist attack More than 800 people found shelter in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi as they fled from the horror and chaos of the 17 Aug terrorist attack in the historic center of Barcelona. The church is close to Las [...]
ZIMBABWE Irish friar posthumously awarded country's highest honour An Irish Franciscan friar has been posthumously awarded the highest honour the Zimbabwean government can bestow on a foreigner, The Royal Order of Munhumutapa. Only six others have received the Order of Munhumutapa, five of them native statesmen who led their [...]
SOMALILAND Only Catholic church forced to close Just one week after being officially reopened, the only Catholic Church in Somaliland has been forced to close again due to "public pressure", A ceremony attended by expatriates and ministers on 29 July marked the reopening of the restored Catholic church of [...]
VENEZUELA Bishop calls for arms embargo Bishop Mario Moronta of San Cristóbal appealed to the international community not to let Venezuela down. "May the solidarity not diminish! I appeal in particular to the European countries and the US, which are now thinking about sanctions - I believe one of [...]
Pope announces November visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will travel to Myanmar (November 27-30) and to Bangladesh (November 30-December 2). This is the first visit of a Pope to Myanmar and the second visit of a Pope to Bangladesh, 31 years after John [...]
HONG KONG Bishop says China "trampling" on Christianity by cross removals The Archbishop of Hong Kong, Most Rev Paul Kwong, said the Chinese government is "trampling on Christianity" by removing church crosses. He also expressed scepticism over the government's reasons for taking the crosses down. Chinese authorities had previously [...]
SYRIA In Aleppo, not even the dead can rest in peace Aid to the Church in Need has agreed to support the rebuilding of the Greek Orthodox Cemetery and the transfer of the remains of Orthodox and Catholic Christians of various rites who died in Aleppo between April 2013 [...]
BANGLADESH Catholic Church demands more rights for ethnic minorities During a visit to the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Moses M Costa of Chittagong lamented the fact that the rights of the ethnic and religious minorities [...]
RUSSIA “Sign of a renewed path” – Cardinal Parolin’s visit to Moscow Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, spoke about his visit to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. He said “At this historic moment, in which [...]
COLOMBIA Pope’s visit will offer the people encouragement The President of the Colombian Episcopal Conference (ECC), Monsignor Oscar Urbina Ortega, spoke about the Pope’s eagerly anticipated visit to the country on 6-11 September. He said Colombians are expecting from Pope Francis “a word of encouragement for evangelization, for reconciliation [...]
