From Dili to Singapore. What a culture shock. What a poignant experience to touch with hand the two faces of our increasingly polarized world, marked by injustice and inequality that, as Pope Francis never tires of reminding us, lead to forced migration, exploitation, hatred, conflict.
In Papua New Guinea, Pope Francis fulfills his dream of embracing the world's most remote periphery.
There are tunnels of war and terror, designed to hide soldiers, militants, and hostages. But there are also tunnels built to foster friendship among people of different faiths.
In Jakarta, the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, stands across from the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, separated only by a three-lane highway.
We highly value the photo exhibition held by the Friends of Jordan Festivals, with the support presented by the Jordan Tourism Board and the cooperation with the historical archives of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, and the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies, in addition to the coordination by Darat Al-Tasweer.
In a world abounding with news reports that do not bode well, a film comes of the very heart of the Church that brings a desperately needed message of hope.
The feature film titled, “Triumph of the Heart relates St. Maximilian Kolbe and his companion’s triumph over the darkness of life.
“Intelligence” is a word that has been used all the times to mean the ability to acquire and apply knowledge, or to collect pieces of information that have military of political value.
In our modern time a new term has been coined, namely “artificial intelligence” (AI). This term seems strange or rather difficult to comprehend. Yet, it proves to reflect key issues relevant to every day’s life.
These days mark the 10th anniversary of the forcible displacement of Christians from Mosul and the rest of the Nineveh Plain in Iraq. It was in the first place an internal displacement to Erbil and the rest of Kurdistan, and then to neighboring countries, especially to beloved Jordan and brotherly Lebanon. These are the two countries that had received the forcibly displaced from Syria years earlier.
The investiture of Fr. Manuel Bader as a knight of the Holy Sepulcher has marked a day like no other day, as it sets off public jubilation among the Christian community in Amman and in Jordan at large.
On Thursday, August 8, 2024, Bishop William Shomali, Latin Patriarchal Vicar General, celebrated a ceremonial Mass at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Tla' Al-Ali for the investiture of Fr. Manuel Bader as a knight of the Holy Sepulcher.
Since the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Lebanon, a small Middle Eastern country, has not known peace or stability. The population, including Christians, have resisted and continue to resist. But since October 7 and the beginning of the war on Gaza and Israel, given the conflict with Hezbollah, which hold the country's fate in their hands and rule on war and peace, the situation has become hellish, not only in the south, near the Israeli border, but throughout Lebanon, with an economic and political paralysis that risks endangering the Nation's very identity.
Starvation has all the times been the scourge that afflicts nations in this world, while efforts to overcome this chronic problem have all the times been short of providing a viable panacea.
Apart from blaming climate change that adversely affects food production, one of the major and most outstanding cause of starvation is the incessant propagation of wars, or rather destructive wars that eliminate all sources of life.
