London: The UK government on Jan 12 defended India’s position on religious rights and praised its “diversity” and “rich tapestry of religious minorities alongside its sizable Hindu majority” during a Westminster Hall debate on ‘Persecution of Muslims, Christians and minority groups in India’. The Indian High Commission in London issuedContinue Reading
More than 340 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith, one in eight worldwide, according to World Watch List 2021, Open Doors’ yearly report on the persecution of Christians. Open Doors found that the coronavirus and the measures taken to contain it have actually worsenedContinue Reading
By Barbara Crossette on Jan 11, 2021 New York: António Guterres, a former Portuguese prime minister who has been United Nations secretary-general since January 2017, is seeking a second five-year term in office, beginning January 1, 2022. UN officials confirmed on January 11 that Guterres told the five permanent membersContinue Reading
San Francisco: Amazon, Twitter and other tech companies on January 11 confronted fresh blowback for banning President Donald Trump and taking action against a wide array of websites that had glorified the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol five days ago. Twitter’s decision to remove Trump’s account, citing the potentialContinue Reading
Rome: Pope Francis’ personal physician, Fabrizio Soccorsi, died of “complications due to Covid,” according to the Vatican’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. Dr Soccorsi was handpicked by the Pope to serve as his doctor back in 2015, the news outlet said. He practiced medicine at San Camillo hospital and was also theContinue Reading
Washington: In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the leading vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses. One outspokenContinue Reading
Lima: Police were called in to rescue two Christians after they were swept away during a river baptism in Peru. Rosa Jiménez Bartolo was being baptized by her brother, a pastor, in the Rímac river when the accident occurred. Video of the incident showed Bartolo lowering herself into the fast-flowingContinue Reading
Jakarta: A passenger jet carrying more than 60 people crashed into the Java Sea on January 9, minutes after taking off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, Indonesian officials said. The cause of the crash of Boeing 737-500 is yet to be determined. Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry said that the last contactContinue Reading
Vatican City: Pope Francis appointed on Friday the first lay head of the Roman Curia’s disciplinary commission. The Holy See press office announced on Jan. 8 that the pope had named Vincenzo Buonomo, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, as president of the Disciplinary Commission of the RomanContinue Reading
Rome: Filippino churches and authorities will limit attendance for the Masses of the Black Nazarene – one of the country’s largest series of events, which usually gathers millions of people to Manila each year. The Quiapo Church has instilled a 400-person cap for each of the 15 Masses that willContinue Reading