Global Church News
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"Dear faithful in China ...": Pope Francis for the feast of Our Lady of Sheshan
May 23, 2019
At the end of Wednesday's audience, the pontiff expresses "special closeness and affection to all Catholics in China" and invites them to remain "united in the communion of the universal Church". On May 24, the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China is celebrated by Benedict XVI in 2007.
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Papal trip to Romania to mix Orthodox outreach, support for Eastern rite church
May 23, 2019
Pope Francis is set to visit his third Eastern Orthodox-majority country in the space of a month at the beginning of June, traveling to Romania just weeks after visiting Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
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As Italy’s gypsies struggle with stigma, pope’s outreach stands alone
May 23, 2019
Few things unite the people of the relatively young country of Italy like an unreasonable obsession for soccer, a reverential love for food, and a shared, unabashed hatred for gypsies.
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Philippines to declare Virgin Mary’s birthday holiday
May 23, 2019
The House of Representatives is to pass a bill soon declaring the birthday of the Virgin Mary a holiday.
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'I'm still a Christian,' Pakistan teen tells court
May 23, 2019
A teenage Pakistani Christian, who was forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a 45-year-old Muslim man has testified that she is still a Christian.
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Violence in Jakarta: Police deny claims of deaths, slam 'premeditated actions'
May 23, 2019
Indonesian police have denied claims of casualties among the people who took part in violent protests in central Jakarta in the early hours of the dawn.
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Cardinal Filoni in Sri Lanka with Pope’s solidarity for attack victims
May 23, 2019
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is on a 3-day visit to the Church in Sri Lanka, May 22-24, to bring the solidarity and closeness of Pope Francis to the Christian community, recovering after the Easter Sunday attacks.
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Thai Catholics are missionary Church
May 23, 2019
Thai Catholics have welcomed Card. Fernando Filoni’s call for a Church that is "missionary, free from self-celebration,” says Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) priest Fr. Marco Ribolini.
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Pope’s Marian pilgrimage to Transylvania shines light on ethnic Hungarians
May 22, 2019
When Pope Francis visits Romania May 31-June 1, he will helicopter to Sumuleu Ciuc, site of the country’s only major Marian shrine and an important place of pilgrimage for Hungarian Catholics.
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Vincent Lambert: French court orders life support to resume
May 22, 2019
While a court order in France reverses procedures to stop feeding and hydrating Vincent Lambert, in the Vatican Pope Francis reaffirms that life is “God’s gift, from its beginning until its natural end”.
Sunday Reflection
Our lives should reflect the Spirit
Reflecting on our Sunday Readings with Fr Philip Tay, OCD