The parishioners of the Latin St. George the Martyr Church in Irbid, northern Jordan, led by its parish priest Suleiman Shobash as well as nuns and the believers, welcomed on Sunday, January 14, Most Rev. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem who was accompanied by Fr. Joseph Sweiss.

In an address, Fr. Suleiman welcomed the grand guest. Further speeches were addressed by leaders of local functionaries who shed light on the tasks assigned to them and the challenges they face.

According to the 2018 Open Doors Report, persecution has expanded geographically and numerically. The threat of religious or ideological nationalism is serious, especially in Asia and Africa.

More than 215 million Christians suffer from intolerance in the world (about 1 every 12 or 8.6%), 3060 Christians were killed, 1922 imprisoned, 793 churches targeted: these are the figures of the 2018 Report published yesterday by Ong Portes Ouvertes/Open Doors (reference period November 1, 2016-31, October 2017).

Pope Francis is asking the Catholic Church to adopt a “change of attitude” towards families and the problems they face today, the Vatican’s Secretary of State has said.

Asked in a January 11 interview about the ongoing discussion over the meaning of the pope’s 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the document “flows from a new paradigm that Pope Francis is bringing forward with wisdom, prudence and patience.”

Pope Francis will spend a day in Temuco, the capital of a Chilean region with a large indigenous population, during his January 15-18 visit to the nation. The city's bishop has said the Pope decided to come to the area because it represents Chile's peripheries.

“If we look at where the Pope likes to go when on a visit, it is precisely the borders, the existential borders, where there is pain, where there is suffering, where there are wounds, where there is poverty, Bishop Hector Vargas Bastidas of Temuco told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language sister news agency.

Francis’ video message a few days ahead of his departure for the two South American countries, “Thank you for the love you demonstrate towards those who are discarded by society”

“I will visit you as a pilgrim of the joy of the Gospel, to share “the peace of the Lord” with all and “to confirm you in the same hope”. Peace and hope, shared among all”. So Pope Francis begins his video message to all the “brothers and sisters of Chile and Peru” sent, as usual, a few days before the departure for his apostolic journey scheduled from 15 to 22 January.

The Pope speaks to the Diplomatic Corps and relaunches the Declaration of Human Rights: stop the arms race, the “ideological colonizations”, the trafficking of human beings. A call for dialogue in Korea and Syria, for the welcome and integration of migrants and refugees, and for the respect of climate commitments. The urgency of family support

The Pope baptized 34 newborns in the Sistine Chapel, “catechists will come afterwards, with ideas and explanations. But don't forget: if you don't speak the language of love at home, you won't be able to pass on” what we believe in.

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The Egyptian president intervened at the Coptic Christmas Eve Mass, to show the strong bond that in this historic moment, strengthens the largest Christian community to the Middle East and to Egypt's current strong man.

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Among the various reasons, two seem to be decisive: the Local Church’s self-referential precariousness and the many ambiguities of the outgoing government on the Bolivian issue.

It is significant that the first thing the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary about the son she will conceive is his name. Even before Our Lady learns of her son’s divinity, she is told to name him Jesus. Clearly, the name of Jesus is of great importance, which may be the reason so many people say it, whether with reverence or in vain.

On this Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus it’s good to consider the power of names, and especially the name Our Lord was given when he assumed our human nature. It is a name that can heal and protect us.