Mon 22 January 2024: Pope Francis on Sunday called for the release of hostages, including six nuns, who were kidnapped on a bus in Haiti on Friday, and said he was praying for social harmony in the country. Armed gunmen hijacked a bus in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince with at least six nuns on board and […]
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Mon 15 January 2024: Pope Francis said Sunday that retirement remains an option open to all popes, but he is not contemplating it at present. “I am still alive,” Francis responded when asked how he was by TV host Fabio Fazio, who interviewed the pontiff for about an hour during his show on the commercial […]
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Sun 14 January 2024: Sexual, psychological and physical violence has taken place in several countries within the ultra-conservative Society of Saint Pius X, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported Saturday after a months-long investigation into the breakaway Catholic group. The society “cannot escape accusations of control, sexual violence and a cult of secrecy”, the newspaper wrote, […]
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Fri 12 January 2024: The needless controversy surrounding the Tamil film Annapoorani, which was removed by Netflix, could have been avoided had the ‘upper’ caste people outraged over a dialogue actually read the very text they were seeking to defend. Another needless controversy over culture and food, provoked, as usual, by Hindutva hot-heads has broken […]
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Mon 08 January 2024: Pope Francis called Monday for a global ban on surrogacy, calling the practice “deplorable.” “A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally,” he told ambassadors accredited to the […]
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Mon 01 January 2024: Pope Francis emphasized the importance of gratitude and hope at a solemn service on New Year’s Eve. The 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church led the service on Sunday and delivered the homily with the traditional hymn of praise “Te Deum” (Thee, O God) in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. […]
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Mon 25 December 2023: The ongoing conflict in Gaza between Hamas and Israel is playing out on screens like never before. Through social media, millions are witnessing the violence that has killed thousands since Oct. 7. People have turned to social media to learn about the history and politics of the region. And increasingly, many are using […]
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Mon 25 December 2023: Bethlehem, occupied West Bank — This year, Bethlehem is sombre and quiet. There is no Christmas tree and there are no holiday lights or tourists to see them. Instead, the city of Jesus’s birth – which is in the middle of a war zone – is marking Christmas with a powerful and poignant message: […]
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Sun 24 December 2023: Ukraine will formally mark Christmas Day on December 25 this year, in a symbolic shift away from Russia, which celebrates the holiday on January 7. It will be the first time in more than a century that Ukraine observes the date in line with the Gregorian calendar, along with most of […]
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Tue 19 December 2023: Under certain conditions, Pope Francis has approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, the official Vatican News agency reported on Monday. “With the Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Francis, it will be possible to bless same-sex couples but without any […]
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