Minsk: 'fasting', Metropolitan Venjamin's recipe for peace

In “a time that obliges us to social distance due to the pandemic, communication can make possible the closeness that is necessary to recognize what is essential, and to understand truly the meaning of things.”

At the Angelus Pope Francis asks for a silent prayer for the conflict in the Caucasus.  His meeting with the Armenian Patriarch Karekine II is cancelled.  A prayer also for migrants and refugees, on the World Day dedicated to them.  Obedience does not consist in saying "yes" or "no", but in acting, in cultivating the vine, in realizing the Kingdom of God. Jesus does not point to tax collectors and prostitutes as models of life, but as "privileged of Grace ”, which God offers to anyone who opens up and converts to Him. God is patient with us:… He anxiously awaits our“ yes ”.

Pope Francis intervenes at the 75th General Assembly of the UN with a video message, extolling the United Nations as a "bridge between peoples". The pandemic is "a concrete opportunity for conversion, for transformation, for rethinking our way of life and our economic and social systems". At the root of everything is the "throwaway culture", which determines exploitation, marginalization, humiliation of human dignity and even abortion and violations of religious freedom. It is time to move from "declarationist nominalism" to the effectiveness of solidarity.

Francis speaks to the St Peter’s Circle charity association, urging them to “heart that knows how to 'see' the wounds of society and creative hands in industrious charity. These two elements are important so that a charitable action can always be fruitful ".

At the United Nations General Assembly, Antonio Guterres warns of the risk of dividing the planet according to the two great economies, which can lead to geostrategic and military divisions. The speeches of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping: the challenge between "two bullies". The United States and China will not participating in an alliance of 156 nations for the creation of an anti-Covid vaccine even for poor countries.

The news was given by Father Gregory Gaston, rector of the Pontifical Philippine college, where the cardinal currently resides, who had tested positive on 11 September, upon his arrival in Manila for a period of holidays.

“Multinational companies are listened to more than social movements”. “Or let's also think about how to treat the virus: the big pharmaceutical companies are listened to more than the health workers, working on the front line in hospitals or refugee camps. This is not the right way ”. “Everyone must have the opportunity to assume their responsibility in the healing processes of the society to which they belong”.

After the end of communism, he was among the first to spread the texts of the great Russian philosophers and theologians. In Soviet times he adhered to the so-called "inner dissent". He was a member of the Biblical-Theological Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate. His "synergistic anthropology" is the inspiration for a true rebirth of faith and culture in an increasingly secularized world.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith publishes a document affirming the Church is also opposed to persistent therapeutic treatment, welcoming palliative care, and recommending support for the families of those who are suffering.

"Saying 'thank you' to God is a beautiful prayer. God likes this way of praying. You can also add a small question”, like “Jesus, please help the Pope lead the Church well. If you ask with faith, the Lord will certainly listen to you.”

Her family includes Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and atheists. Other imams refused to pray for her because they "suspected" that she was not Muslim. For Imam Drouiche, this type of Islam “acts with the aim of separating communities, creating conflicts and ultimately increasing resentments between French citizens with different beliefs.”

Message from the Archbishop of Minsk to Msgr. Ante Jozic: "We are witnesses of bloodshed on the streets and squares of our cities ... We need your support, as the Holy See representative, and we look forward to your arrival in our country". Police unleash violence against opposition marches, led by women. Lukashenko claims Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and the West want to reduce Belarus "to a state similar to Venezuela". The igumena Gavriila (Glukhova), superior of the patriarchal convent of the Mother of God in Grodno, terms the opposition "a crowd of idiots".

During the Angelus, Pope Francis noted that "God calls everyone and calls always, at any time". “The Church must be like God, [and] always go out,” he added. God's action "goes beyond justice". He "gives us more than we deserve". The International Eucharistic Congress has been postponed to next year, in the same venue in Budapest.