Card Pietro Parolin will preside over the solemn ceremony as papal legate on 10 January. The structure stands on land in the Wadi al-Kharrar area donated by King Abdullah II where the Franciscan archaeologist Michele Piccirillo excavated some of the churches built by the first Christian communities to remember the Gospel story, whose two-thousandth anniversary will be celebrated here in 2030.
Two days after the attack on the Allenby crossing, Jordan goes to the polls with a population deeply marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the government maintains its delicate diplomatic balancing act, Caritas Jordan continues its work in support of the local and refugee communities, with a particular focus on the latest arrivals from Sudan. For Lana Snobar, “Dealing with mental health significantly improves our communities.”
Today's news: 2.3 billion deal between Emirates and Jordan for a railway line. Beijing ‘warns’ students with access to sensitive data about national security risks. Over 100,000 people at the torchlight procession in Kolkata a month after the rape and murder of a female doctor. One thousand civilians ‘trapped’ in a Buddhist monastery by fighting in the Sagaing region of Myanmar.
In AsiaNews, the Jordanian scholar underlines the degree of ‘autonomy’ with which Nasrallah moves, who has turned Lebanon into the ‘front line’ to protect Tehran's interests. The militias supported by the Islamic Republic in the various countries of the Middle East are useful in pursuing the strategy of chaos. Pezeshkian ‘dialogue’ face with the West to ease sanctions.
In a stormy Middle East, the Hashemite kingdom stresses its stability, which rests on the 1994 peace deal with Israel. King Abdullah II told Biden that the ceasefire in Gaza is the first step towards de-escalation. He also condemned Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's incursion at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Protests continue in Amman after Friday prayers in the wake of Ismail Haniyeh’s killing.
The pontiff met with the Jordanian monarch today at the Vatican. The Holy See noted the "cordial" conversation and the two sides’ shared commitments. For the Jordanian priest, the bilateral relationship is well established with Jordan as a “model” of Christian-Muslim relations. Both are concerned about the escalation in the region, while stressing the importance of tourism, especially “religious tourism”.
