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Pakistan’s Christians have condemned a public prosecutor’s reported offer to a group of Christians facing trial he would acquit them if they converted to Islam. Nearly 60 Christians are on trial for the mob killing of two men mistaken for militants shortly after two terrorist suicide bombers blew themselves near St. John’s Catholic Church and Christ Church of the Church of Pakistan, in Youhanabad in Lahore on March 15, 2015. The assault claimed 17 lives and injured more than 70. More than 100 Christians were rounded up and put on trial after the lynching of the two.The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), an interdenominational organization working for persecuted Christians in the country, said that Deputy District Public Prosecutor (DDPP) Syed Anees Shah offered Christians acquittal if they agreed to convert to Islam. "How can we expect justice when people sitting in...
(Vatican Radio) The logo for Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey to Egypt, which takes place 28-29 April, has been released by the Egyptian Catholic Church.The three main elements present in the logo are Egypt, Pope Francis, and Peace.“Pope of Peace in Egypt of Peace” are the words in Arabic and English at the base of the logo.Egypt is represented by the Nile River – a symbol of life – as well as by the pyramids and the Sphinx, which highlight the long history of civilization in this African country.The Cross and Crescent Moon at the center of the logo represent the coexistence between the various components of the Egyptian people.A white dove signifies peace, which is both the highest gift to which every human being can aspire and the greeting of monotheistic religions.Finally, the dove precedes Pope Francis to announce his arrival as the Pope of Peace in a country of peace.
Thousands of hard-line Muslims marched in Indonesia’s capital on Friday, calling for the jailing of the city's minority Christian governor. Following Friday prayers, the protesters marched from Istiqlal Mosque in central Jakarta to the nearby presidential palace, which was under heavy police guard. Protests against Gov. Basuki ``Ahok'' Tjahaja Purnama have snowballed since September when he was accused of blaspheming the Quran and subsequently charged. His trial is still underway.The turnout for Friday's protest was small compared with the hundreds of thousands who answered the call of hard-line Islamic groups to flood central Jakarta for demonstrations in November, December and February. Jakarta police's director of traffic Ermayudi Sumarsono estimated the crowd at 13,000 to 15,000. Police estimates are often conservative. Earlier Friday, police said they had arrested Muhammad Al Khatht...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday visited a Rome institute for blind people, continuing what he called his ‘Mercy Friday’ initiatives during the recent Jubilee year.The institute, situated close to the Vatican, cares for 37 adults and elderly residents and offers services to a further 50 children with impaired sight who use it as a day care facility.A note from the Vatican said that besides meeting with medical staff, volunteers and residents, Pope Francis offered a donation and signed a visitor’s book in the centre’s chapel.
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2017 / 09:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although the Jubilee Year of Mercy has officially ended, Pope Francis today made a surprise “Mercy Friday” visit to a center for the blind and visually impaired in Rome – showing that he doesn't think works of mercy are just for special occasions – or years.Continuing his tradition of performing a spiritual or corporal work of mercy on one Friday a month during the Church's Jubilee of Mercy in 2016, the Pope went in the afternoon of March 31 to the St. Alessio-Margherita di Savoia Regional Center for the blind in Rome.According to a March 31 communique from the Vatican, the Pope wished to make this visit as a “follow-up” to the private visits of the Jubilee.This particular act of mercy, the communique stated, was to guests of the center, which organizes activities “aimed at social inclusion of the blind and visually impaired.”During his visit, the Pope met with the differe...
Raleigh, N.C., Mar 31, 2017 / 09:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- North Carolina has modified its law on gender identity and the use of bathrooms and locker rooms, after facing pressure from LGBT activists and their allies in business, sports and entertainment.But some say the changes take the wrong path.“Every North Carolinian deserves to have their privacy respected in intimate settings like locker rooms and restrooms,” said Kellie Fiedorek, legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, March 30.“One of government’s essential duties is to protect the citizens it governs, not to create uncertainty about whether showers and locker rooms will still be safe for women and girls,” she said. “North Carolina's economy is booming, so the state should not let the NCAA and others dictate the state’s policies and sell out their citizens’ interests based on flat-out lies about an economic doomsday that never happened.”Fiedorek charged that ...
IMAGE: CNS photo/L'Osservatore RomanoBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Serious research on Martin Luthercan help heal relations between Catholics and Protestants, highlight what waslegitimate about the Reformation and pinpoint the errors and sins that led to thedivision of the church, Pope Francis said."Today, as Christians, all of us are called to putbehind us all prejudice toward the faith that others profess with a differentemphasis or language, to offer one another forgiveness for the sins committedby those who have gone before us, and together to implore from God the gift ofreconciliation and unity," he said.The pope spoke March 31 to about 150 people taking partin an international congress organized by the Pontifical Committee forHistorical Sciences. The congress, held March 29-31, discussed the theme,"Luther: 500 Years Later. A Rereading of the Lutheran Reformation in theHistorical, Ecclesial Context."The pope told the participants that his first reaction tohearing about "...
DALLAS (AP) -- Several Texas counties that are struggling with debt because their jails have few or no prisoners hope to refill those cellblocks with a different kind of inmate: immigrants who have entered the country illegally....
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Ferguson, Missouri, has become "an emblem of the tense relationship" between law enforcement and those it serves, especially minority communities, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday during a visit to St. Louis....
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Convicted South Carolina church shooter Dylann Roof is set to plead guilty to state murder charges, avoiding a second death sentence and effectively bringing to a close the prosecutions against him for the 2015 slaughter....
