Built in 1928, St Joseph’s Catholic Church needs to be renovated and enlarged. Originally it could accommodate 100 people, but now it has more than 700 members. Despite having all the permits, the project is opposed by a small group of young Muslims who threaten action against public order. For the first time, Indonesian Catholics openly criticise local authorities for their incompetence and inability to uphold the country’s values.
St Joseph hospital in Labuan Bajo to open thanks to benefit concert (photos)
by Mathias Hariyadi | INDONESIAFrom Abu Dhabi to Palembang, the Church promotes the 'spirit of fraternity’ (photos-video)
by Mathias Hariyadi | INDONESIASpeaking about the Holocaust, the pontiff said that “In the face of such an enormous tragedy, indifference is not admissible and we must remember”. "Never Again" should be everyone’s prayer tomorrow. Francis also urged a prayer “for the people who have become ill because of the virus that has spread in China. May the Lord welcome the dead in his peace, comfort the families and support the great work already put in place by the Chinese community to fight the outbreak.”
On the first Sunday of the Word of God, Francis urged the faithful to make room in their daily life for the teaching of Jesus, who urges conversion. “‘Change your life’. Change your life, for a new way of living has begun. The time when you lived for yourself is over; now is the time for living with and for God, with and for others, with and for love.”
At the end of the 53rd Week of Prayer for Christian unity, Francis calls on the faithful “not to devote ourselves exclusively to our own communities, but to open ourselves to the good of all, to the universal gaze of God who took flesh in order to embrace the whole human race and who died and rose for the salvation of all.”
Francis met with Iraqi President Barham Salih. During the visit, discussions centred on “promoting stability and the reconstruction process, encouraging the path of dialogue” as well as “preserving the historical presence of Christians in the country, of which they are an integral part”.
In his “inner chatter", the jealous "is unable to see reality", and only “something really formidable” can open his eyes. “In the end it is a grace of God when the jealous person meets reality as Saul did: jealousy bursts like a soap bubble because jealousy and envy have no consistency”.
Francis’ message is dedicated "to the theme of narration". God himself is both creator and narrator. "In fact, he pronounces his Word and things exist." "Even the Gospels are stories." The story of Jesus, then, shows how God took man to heart and that for Him "there are no insignificant or small human stories".
East Asia and Asian communities around the world are preparing for lunar New Year celebrations, which begin tomorrow. A new dangerous coronavirus outbreak is however complicating things. Other factors also bode ill for the festivities. In South Korea, many people are stressed out by the New Year. Considered the bearer of good luck for thousands of years, the rat has come to be regarded as a dangerous and disease-carrying fiend.
Intervention of religious leaders at the World Forum to "generate global awareness for change". The Oxfam report highlighted that wealth remains highly concentrated at the top of the distribution pyramid: the wealthiest 1%, in mid-2019, held more than double the net wealth owned by 6.9 billion people.
Sometimes “they are exploited by criminal traffickers; they are treated like numbers and as a threat by some authorities"," many times they do not let them land in ports ". Best wishes to those "in the Far East" who on January 25th celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Francis' message to the World Economic Forum. "We are all members of one human family", from which derives "the moral obligation to take care of each other", as well as the principle "to place the human person and not the search for power or profit, at the center of politics ".
During a meeting with a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Francis reiterated the Church's condemnation of anti-Semitism, expressing concerns about “an increase in selfishness and indifference, lack of concern for others and the attitude that says life is good as long as it is good for me, and when things go wrong, anger and malice are unleashed.” For the pontiff, “This creates a fertile ground for the forms of factionalism and populism we see around us, where hatred quickly springs up.”
"When you insist on the will of the Lord you are an idolater, because you prefer what you think, that idol, to the will of the Lord." When you rebel against the "will of the Lord", you are not docile, "it is as if it were a sin of divination". As if, while saying that you believe in God, you went "from the fortune teller to have your hands read 'for safety'".
“Let us learn from John the Baptist not to presume that we already know Jesus, that we already know everything about him,” said Francis. “He, and He alone carried, suffered, atoned for the sin of each of us, the sin of the world, and also my sins. All of them. He carried them all on himself and took them away from us, so that we could finally be free, no longer slaves to evil. Yes, we are still poor, sinners but not slaves, no; children, children of God!”
“Jesus teaches us a simple thing when he goes to the essentials. The essential is health, overall [health]: that of the body and that of the soul. Let us protect that of the body, but also that of the soul. And let's go to that Doctor who can heal us, who can forgive sins. Jesus came for this, [and] gave his life for it.”
