According to the International Labour Organisation, forced labour use dropped by 48 per cent. About 70 per cent of the country’s farmland is dedicated to growing cotton and wheat. One adult in five picks cotton. Forms of illegal employment and fines encourage exploitation.
Disbelief and sadness at the "terrible fire that devastated the cathedral of Notre Dame, a symbol of Christianity in France and the world".
Persecution and martyrdom are signs of today's Christians. In Holy Week, we should remember our commitment to evangelization. Even as a minority.
Francis met with members of Italy’s National Amateur League, a football (soccer) association, on the 60th anniversary of its foundation, telling them that overcoming “all the walls that unjustly divide people” is a goal that can be achieved “by promoting the involvement and appreciation of everyone on the basis of a team spirit that is the true hope of humanity.”
In Lanzhou another priest forcibly taken away. A church destroyed in Xiangtao (Hubei). Underground priests do not feel safe: they can disappear at any time. The faithful are holding a sit-in from this morning in front of the local government office.
In the moment of triumph and in that of the Passion, Jesus rejects the temptation of the Evil One. For today's Youth Day the invitation "to young people and to all" to pray the Rosary for peace, "especially for peace in the Holy Land and the Middle East".
Receiving the Archicofradia de la Virgen de la Cinta of Tortosa, Francis emphasized that "Living in this way, as united brothers and sisters, supposes effort and renunciation, but I assure you that it is worth it, because it is a sign before a society that is often divided, though it may be outdated now, it has always been and remains a social sin to be divided”.
At the end of the spiritual retreat in the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis called on South Sudan’s civil and Church authorities present to pay attention to the gaze of God and the people. He urges them to “reflect on our own lives and the common mission the Lord has entrusted to us”. The civil war that followed independence has left 400,000 people dead. Currently some seven million people suffer extreme hunger, whilst four million are refugees. The retreat was held on the day Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir was removed from power. The pope donated a copy of the Bible to participants.
In a long essay published today, the Pope Emeritus highlights the causes of the moral crisis in the Church, which he attributes to the sexual revolution and liberation of 1968, along with a relativism in moral theology and a misunderstanding of the Vatican Council II. The absence of God in society undermines the capacity to distinguish good from evil and to the endorsement of paedophilia. The path of renewal in the Church and society requires the recovery of faith in the Church, of the mystery of the Eucharist, and of witness. His thanks go to Pope Francis.
In fact, trafficking disfigures the humanity of the victim, offending his freedom and dignity. But, at the same time, it dehumanizes those who carry it out, denying them access to "life in abundance". Those who aim to "restore and promote" our humanity and that of others are in line with the mission of the Church.
"The Christian who prays asks God, first of all, to forgive his trespasses, namely, his sins, the bad things he does. This is the first truth of every prayer: even if we were perfect persons, even if we were crystalline saints who never deflect from a life of goodness, we always remain children who owe all to the Father”.
Since yesterday evening the faithful have been holding a sit-in to protect the sanctuary, located in the district of Taibai, a very poor mountainous area. The authorities want the whole diocese to join the Patriotic Association. The faithful ask all Christians to pray for the preservation of the sanctuary and the salvation of the population.
At Mass in Santa Marts, Pope Francis compares the lives of many Christians to that of the Jewish people in the desert: "They could not stand the journey". It gave rise to complaints, dissatisfactions, negativity, attachment to failure. The "snake that had seduced Eve ... always bites in desolation".
The work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which held its tenth ordinary plenary assembly in Rome from 4 to 7 April, continues with its program of learning, listening, assistance and protection of the most vulnerable.
The evangelical episode of the woman caught in adultery “invites each of us to realise that we are sinners, and to let fall the stones of denigration, condemnation and gossiping that we sometimes want to hurl against others."
