The director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Jordan advises against religious conversion for commonplace reasons such as marriage, without such a decision arising out of personal conviction. He also stresses that there are more factors that unite Jordan's Christians and Muslims than those which divide them. He suggests focusing efforts on key activities such as changing school curricula -- rather than heralding Jordanian society as the most positive and influential in the region.

In a new report published at the end of July, Caritas Italy reveals that there are somewhere between 50,000-70,000 prison camps in North Korea. 4,344 people have been killed in less than a year. Hostility against religious groups is acutest in Syria.

A year after the expulsion of Christians from the Nineveh Plain, the Pope’s “personal envoy” to Iraq retraces the history of Christianity in Mesopotamia, dispelling misleading stereotypes and recalling the Vatican attempts to stop the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

A long special report in the newspaper’s Sunday Magazine,July 26, addresses this dramatic question. Within a century (1910-2010), the number of Christians in countries such as Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Jordan has plummeted from 14 to 4 per cent of the population.

During the Marian prayer on Sunday, July 26, PopeFrancis called for a “renewed effort from the competent local and international authorities” to make sure these clerics are freed. Commenting on the Gospel passage about the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, the Pope recalled that Jesus replaces the buying mentality with that of giving. Concluding, he invited faithful to register for the World Youth Day in Poland and signed up himself in front of the crowd using a tablet.

The troubling conduct of many of our young people, such as reckless driving, littering and resolving differences on university and school campuses through violence, is an indicator of a lack of proper values in their upbringing.

The recent incident at one of our universities, where a group of female students vowed to use social media to “expose” the “immoral” behaviour of other female students because they simply look, dress and act differently is an indicator of how difference is viewed as alien and devious.

The UN is to hold the international climate conference in the French capital in December. Mayors confirmed their commitment to the fight against human trafficking, prostitution and black market labour. Marino, De Blasio, Madera, Hidalgo and Nicolini were among those present at today’s meeting in the Vatican

I will try to explain the meaning of the church depending on the essential role of the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I have depended on a number of paragraphs in the book of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (758-769, 781-801).

The official Financial Statements of the Holy See and the Governorate have been prepared by the Prefecture for Economic Affairs, examined by the Secretariat for the Economy and approved by the Council for the Economy. Net assets increased by 939 million Euro after some adjustments were made. At 25.621 million Euro, the deficit for 2014 is similar to the figure for 2013. Deficits are likely to continue in 2015.

The “wooden cross” Pope Francis was holding during his pontifical visit to South America, which includes Ecuador, Bolivia and Uruguay, drew the attention of media outlets.

The simple wooden cross (crozier) which the Pope holds is similar to the cane of the shepherd, being far from being made of gold or jewels. The Pope entered Samanes Park, in the city of Guayaquil of Ecuador, to celebrate his first Mass in his South American continent, which is not far from his native country, Argentina, to find out that his “cross’’ because the centre of inquiry. Where did you get it from?