A few years ago, a group of visiting US senators who were given a talk by a Jordanian Cabinet minister, were surprised to discover that he was Christian. After the official discussions were over, one of the visitors ventured to ask the minister: “Can you tell me when Christianity was introduced to Jordan and by whom?” He was astounded to hear his host answer: “To the best of my knowledge, it was introduced by Jesus Christ in person. This is where it all started.”

Pope Saint John XXIII lived in Bulgaria for nearly ten years, from 1925 until 1934, while serving as Apostolic Delegate. Locally, they still call him “the Bulgarian Saint”.

While he was in Sofia, he developed a special veneration for Our Lady of Nessebar, whose name means “Gate of Heaven”. He continued to venerate her until the day he died.

On Sunday, Pope Francis prayed the Regina Coeli before the icon of Our Lady of Nessebar, in Saint Aleksander Nevsky Square, and recalled his predecessor.

In both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, saints tend to play a major role in daily spiritual life, making it only fitting that when Pope Francis visits Bulgaria and Macedonia this weekend, shared devotion of several towering figures in Eastern Europe likely will emerge as a key theme.

In both nations, saints such as Cyril and Methodius, Mother Teresa and Pope John XXIII have long served as a point of unity for the small Catholic population and the vast Orthodox community.

Religious communities are in the crosshairs of extremist forces fueled by grotesque ideologies and personal grievances

Kansheka Tawshi, 13, died while celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ at St. Sebastian’s Roman Catholic Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka. She was among more than 250 people killed on Easter Sunday during a series of coordinated attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka carried out by militants linked to the Islamic State.

From 5 to 7 May the twenty-ninth apostolic journey of the Pontiff this time to the Balkan “suburbs”. An encouragement to the Catholic communities of the two countries representing 1 per cent of the population. Visit to the refugee camp in Sofia. John XXIII and Mother Teresa the two national patrons.

After going to Bosnia in 2015, Sweden in 2016 and the Baltic states in 2018, Pope Francis is once again visiting the peripheries of Europe to meet two small Catholic communities -- in Bulgaria where there are 68,000 Catholics, and in Northern Macedonia where there are only 15,000.

The pope's trip also includes a ten hour stop in Skopje to pay tribute to Mother Teresa, who was born in the Macedonian capital although she was Albanian by nationality.

The monthly magazine will have a new editorial board coordinated by the journalist, feminist, and first woman to become deputy editor of a large Italian newspaper. "Monda assures us complete freedom".

Their connection to Vatican II was highlighted during the beatification ceremony presided over by Cardinal Becciu in the Argentinean city of La Rioja

Two are absent from Jerusalem, God and man

Holy places are many, but God is not there.

God is no more in Jerusalem. He has departed. The human being also. Men of war took over waging wars and oppressing others. They planted hatred in the hearts. Even their prayers are no longer praise of God but have become a curse against others.

Even so, there are still true human beings in Jerusalem. They pray and they praise the Lord. God does not forget them even if He departed from the city of war made by men.

Thearchbishop of Colombo comments with Vatican Insider on the Easter Sunday massacres: “We reject the death penalty but their punishment should match their crime. The terrorists are not Muslims, they do not believe in any God, they must be isolated”