In November 2016, at the end of the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis announced that from now on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, the penultimate Sunday of the liturgical calendar, would be dedicated to the poorest people in the world.

Sunday Nov. 18 is the International Day of the Poor. This is not a celebration of poverty equated with that type misery that should be eradicated, but of poor women and men who cannot be eradicated, because they are people. Christ told us the poor will always be with us. But why?

We sometimes justify ourselves by saying, "I only told the truth!" "Maybe, but you've revealed personal or confidential facts. How many chatters destroy communion through inconvenience or lack of sensitivity!

His Majesty King Abdullah delivered a speech at a ceremony in Washington DC as he accepted 2018 Templeton Prize on Wednesday, November 14, 2018. His Majesty underlined Jordan's historic privilege as the land of prophets and its role in maintaining and defending their message of peace and goodness.

Following is the full text of the speech:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,

Thank you, all.

Interview with the Director of the International Centre for Studies on the Sacred Linen after the reopening of the Guarini Chapel in Turin, home of the Shroud until the 1997 fire broke out on the night of 11 April.

Professor Gian Maria Zaccone, why is it important to reopen the Chapel of Guarini?

The Christian woman acquitted of the charge of blasphemy in Pakistan was released from prison and transferred to a secret and protected location, awaiting expatriation. The government struggles with extremist groups.

Stephen Walford has become the unlikely English defender of Pope Francis’ mission of mercy when it comes to marriage and the family. A married father-of-five living in Southampton, on the south coast of Great Britain, is a conservative Catholic who teaches the piano and has a sideline in writing theology.

The Supreme Court orders the immediate release of the woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy. State of maximum alert in the country for threats from radical groups .

Asia Bibi has been acquitted. Today, October 31, at 9:20 a.m. (5:20 a.m. in Italy), the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared innocent the Christian woman arrested in 2009 and sentenced to death in 2010 for alleged blasphemy, ordering her immediate release. The tragic ordeal of Asia Bibi ended after more than 9 years of imprisonment, isolation and suffering.

The Pope from the Far West looks auspiciously to the Far East. Pope Francis’ special pastoral care for the small communities of the faithful in the Asian continent is expressed and substantiated with ever greater clarity during his pontificate. And it could have a worthy crowning with a trip to Tokyo, Beijing and Pyongyang.

Stories of coexistence between the faithful of the two religions. The memory of the attacks by the al-Shabbab militias, the return to calm, inter-religious dialogue, the works of the Church in the interview with Bishop Joseph Alessandro.

The Synod on Youth, which began on Wednesday, October 3 and will end next Sunday, October 28, is preparing to discuss, and then vote on, the final document. Today the Synod Fathers had a day of "vacation", "all except those who are working in the commissions in charge of the Letter to the Youth and the final document, which will be presented tomorrow”, the Prefect of the Department for Communication, Paolo Ruffini said during the daily briefing in the Vatican Press Room.