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.
In a long Christmas interview, the Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholics, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, spoke about the future of Ukraine by looking at it with the eyes of faith. For him, the representation of God as the “Great Protector” who guarantees our well-being is a "stereotype that has now been destroyed, so we must learn again to ask ourselves: God, where are you? Where can we find you in a time of war? How should I communicate with You today?”
Ordained a priest in 1947, the Verbite clergyman passed away at almost 105 after a very long ministry that included 25 years in prison. For Bishop Lu Peisen of Yanzhou, “Fr Guo dedicated his entire life to writing a wonderful story of selflessness and love, using his life as a pen and time as ink.”
The Ministry of Public Administration released an initial list of successful candidates, which was revised without explanation leaving out 99 applicants. Some had quit their job pending the official government announcement. Several Christians spoke to AsiaNews about the injustice they suffered.
The Nepali and two Chinese climbers completed the seven highest summits in every continent, from Asia to South America, as well as all the eight-thousanders in the Himalayas. He was honoured with flowers and garlands upon landing at the capital's airport. The country is also celebrating a record-breaking year for visitors to the Annapurna region, with close to 245,000 arrivals in 2024.
Westerners jailed by the Islamic Republic, who are rightly an international issue, are but a fraction of the more than 8,000 non-Iranians jailed in Iran, 95 per cent of them migrants from Afghanistan. More than 70 Afghans were hanged in 2024. Other countries of origin of prisoners include Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and India.
