August 30 marks the commemoration of the anti-Christian massacres: bishops are expected to make a statement and a delegation representing the Indian government will be coming to Rome for the canonization rite on 4 September.

All the conditions are there and the President of the Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, expressed the hope that the 101 Christians killed “in odium fidei” in the wave of Hindu extremist violence that engulfed the Indian state of Orissa in 2008 will be recognised as martyrs.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its appreciation at Parolin’s latest statements: in his “Pordenone speech” he talked, amidst other things, about two centuries of Western obstructionism which hindered the forging of relations between China and the Holy See.

“Fr. Hamel was killed in order to damage France and the coexistence of faiths”. This is according to Italian Jesuit periodical La Civiltà Cattolica, which wrote that the priest’s murder is the latest in a series of Christian martyrs, but it is important to remember that ISIS has also killed thousands of Muslims. Its aim was to strike at the very heart of France and the very concept of coexistence. This is why the Pope has not wanted to give terrorists any theological-political legitimacy and is pursuing dialogue with the major religions.

Francis called off today’s catechesis, expressing his solidarity and “the embrace of the whole Church” to all those affected by the earthquake which struck central Italy this morning. The Bishop of Rome expressed his closeness to the municipality of Amatrice and other towns in the local area destroyed by the quake.

Mohammed VI’s speech to fellow-citizens living abroad, the letter Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi wrote to the Pope and the position taken by Croatia’s Grand Mufti are encouraging signs from the Muslim world.

An interview conducted with His Majesty King Abdullah II and published in the daily Ad Dustour on Monday, August 15, reflects delight and restores normalcy. Sometimes altercations take place among members of a family, yet the family remains united with the familial atmosphere serving as a basis that enables the family to continue its constructive and coherent unity.

Religious abuse is condemned, and we do not accept any offence directed at any religious symbol by any side," Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media told "Rum" website in reaction to an insult directed by a journalist to the Almighty God through social networking sites in an attempt to abuse religious symbols and sow sedition.

Pope Francis has chosen “a pastor with the smell of the sheep” and “a man of dialogue” who fully embraces his vision of Church as the first prefect of the new Vatican dicastery. He becomes the senior American prelate in the Roman Curia

In a surprise but highly significant move, Pope Francis has named Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas, Texas, to be the first prefect of the newly created Vatican Department (“dicastery” is the official term) for the Laity, the Family and Life. He thus becomes the senior American prelate in the Roman Curia.

The visit takes place after the killing of the priest Hamel by terrorists. The words of the Pope about Islam. The issue resolved over the appointment of the ambassador to the Holy See.

After the killing of Father Jacques Hamel, an 86-year-old French priest who was slain - while celebrating Mass - by two young French terrorists with Maghreb origins last 26 July, in the parish of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in the diocese of Rouen, in Normandy - an attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State (Isis) - French President François Hollande will meet with the Pope tomorrow.

For two weeks every afternoon Francis’ Almoner has accompanied groups of homeless people for a swim at Passoscuro and an evening at the pizzeria.