At the Wednesday audience, the pontiff began his reflection on Christ's childhood. The meanings related to genealogy are explained with women's names at the start of the Gospel of Matthew. "No one gives life to himself, but receives it as a gift from others,” he said. For Christmas, the pontiff is encouraging the faithful to put up a nativity scene at home. “This,” Francis said, “is an important element of our spirituality and culture”. He also called for prayers for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Myanmar.
The Filipino migrant sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking arrived in Manila after 14 years in prison. Today she was finally able to see her children. ‘Living behind bars has changed my life, transforming me into a person who has come closer to God’. There have been many requests from the Church and civil society for President Marcos to grant her a pardon, which the Jakarta government will not oppose.
Aleppo's parish priests sits down with AsiaNews: in some cases women are asked to wear the veil or drivers to remove symbols such as the cross, but there are also examples of solidarity. And calls from Muslims to rebuild the nation ‘together’. The call for a ‘democratic and civil state’ in which all ‘citizens’ have equal ‘rights and duties’.
After lengthy debates, the Žogorku Keneš has approved at first reading a measure that, in the name of the fight against extremism, has aroused not a few perplexities within the religious communities. Among the new provisions is a ban on missionaries of any denomination going around preaching in homes according to their own inspiration. And in religious training institutes, students who have not completed 11 classes of compulsory schooling may not be accepted.
Today's news: Xi Jinping in Macao for the 25th anniversary of the handover to the People's Republic of China; Japanese giants Honda and Nissan in talks to establish partnership to counter Tesla and the electric industry; More Indonesians travelling to Cambodia for jobs in the gambling industry; Mgr Iyad Twal, 51, new vicar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem for Jordan.
While the Constitutional Court announced a preliminary hearing, the government and the opposition are unable to agree on the veto power the prime minister can use as acting president. Several important bills are thus stuck in Parliament. South Korean bishops have issued a new appeal to politicians to work together respectful of the democratic process.
