King Abdullah's visit to Indonesia this week carries more political implications than the usual visits he had had to other South Asian countries. The Islamic dimension in the trip was very visible since the 241 million Indonesians identify more with the king due to his being a descendant of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, sanctified by tens of millions of Sufists.

Pope Francis has placed reform of the Vatican as a top priority of his papacy. Whether or not he will succeed remains to be seen.

There are at least three things necessary to successfully reform an institution: changing its culture, appointing key people who support the reform, and putting in place structures, policies, and procedures to concretize the reform.

The theological dialogue between Catholic and Orthodox Churches which was launched with the aim of achieving full sacramental communion, risks stalling permanently. One of the main reasons for this would appear to be the divisions that exist between the Orthodox Churches and those influential circles within the Orthodox faith–the Patriarchate of Moscow above all–that are refusing to recognise one universal primate as the leader of the Church, founded on a shared and canonical and ecclesial tradition.

Introducing a two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals on the family and the Church’s pastoral approach to marriage, Pope Francis stressed that the church’s pastoral approach to helping couples must be “intelligent, courageous and full of love.” “We are called to make known God’s magnificent plan for the family and to help spouses joyfully experience this plan in their lives, as we accompany them amidst so many difficulties,” he said.

The turbulent week of reforms begins on Monday: Eight counsellor cardinals are to meet with the Pope from Monday February 17 to Wednesday February 19, coordinated by Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga. The order of the day includes the first concrete proposals for the future organisation of the Vatican Congregations and the Secretary of State, topics already discussed at previous meetings, but also the beginning of a long and arduous examination of the Pontifical Councils.

For decades, the Christians in the Middle East remained "the invisible or neglected victims" throughout the region, and in best cases the United States only made humble interest in indigenous Christians who lived in the Middle East for centuries whether in Palestine, Syria, Iraq or Egypt. They currently suffer from problems and threats that force them in most cases to pack their bags and leave home.

Fifty years ago on January4, 1964, Paul VI's visit to the Holy Land began, and then concluded on the evening of the Epiphany with the embrace and lights of one million Romans' enthusiastic and moving welcome home of their bishop. The visit lasted a few short hours but it changed the face of the papacy. Since then, the successors of the Apostle Peter have resumed all over the world the path that the fisherman from Galilee and the first followers of the Teacher of Nazareth had obscurely taken, trusting only in his word.

“The Pope is the Holy See’s number one diplomatic “agent”. He proved himself to be a vigorous diplomat in the Syrian crisis. This made him an authoritative and sought-after voice internationally,” the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin said during an interview with Italian Catholic news daily Avvenire.

With the return of the Palestinians and the Israelis to the negotiations table under the auspices of the US, everyone wonders how serious and feasible the talks will be and what their outcome will be--at a time when they themselves expect their failure before their onset. We feel that they went to the talks under US pressure to avoid any blame. We also wonder what the proper Christian attitude towards the peace process is.

It is the first Arabic-language book on Pope Francis' march, issued by Monsignor
Pious Qaseh of Baghdad.

The book contains a dedication which reads: To the poor man coming from afar,
and from the streets of life enquiring about man being a child or old, poor or
discarded… it is the face of God. He adds: Poor among the poor for a poor church and for the poor… He is Pope Francis.