The convalescing pontiff wrote meditations for this evening's rite at the Colosseum, which he will follow from Casa Santa Marta. “The steps you take as you leave the city can foreshadow our own exodus to a new land,” the pope writes. Some of the evils of a world that call for redemption are an economy ruled by the cold logic of algorithms, crocodile tears, and divisions within the Church. Joseph of Arimathea is an icon of the boldness of hope.
Three weeks after an earthquake devastated Mandalay and central Myanmar, the Church remains close to the faithful and the victims, offering material and spiritual support. While many churches remain unusable, Holy Week is being celebrated in camps for displaced people and in parish halls. Maximilian, a Caritas volunteer, says that despite the destruction and the pain, people support each other in a true experience of rebirth.
In Malaysia, the "journey of the Cross" has begun, set to end next year at the Pastoral Convention. In Negombo, young people and children put on a play centred on the Lamentations with local traditions and customs. Tens of thousands take part in a pilgrimage in Zamboanga to remember the sufferings of Jesus. In Labuan Bajo, the bishop brought the Way of the Cross among inmates.
After the latest case of negligence in Uttar Pradesh, the justices issued new guidelines to counter trial delays and bail releases that often turn into impunity. Hospitals involved in such traffic can have their licence suspended. More than 2,000 cases of kidnapping and sale of newborns are reported each year.
Today's headlines: Myanmar’s military junta and exiled government extend a ceasefire (albeit repeatedly violated) to help aid to earthquake victims. Israel has violated the truce with Lebanon at least 2,740 times with 190 dead (71 civilians) and 485 wounded. The Afghan Taliban have given part of the half a million weapons abandoned by the United States to militant groups. Vietnam wants to increase development goals in terms of wind and nuclear power.
At the La Sapienza University in Rome, the Gaza activist talked about his struggle against Hamas. A member of the Bidna Naish movement, which emerged to demand greater economic fairness and fresh elections, he was arrested twice, in 2019 and 2023. Now in voluntary exile in Europe, he speaks out against the repression by the Islamist movement and calls on the international community to support moderate Palestinian voices, far from Iranian-style extremism.
