Churches and other Christian properties around Egypt had already been looted, so when Catholics in Berba were tipped off that their southern village could be next, they acted fast.
It was lunchtime at Cairo’s Italian Hospital, and some of the nuns who reside there were watching state television’s latest announcements on Egypt’s “war on terror,” the expression used by the country’s military and its supporters to describe the nationwide crackdown on Islamists.
Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite patriarch, visited a predominantly Muslim city hit by explosions and called on political leaders to come up with a plan to save Lebanon.
The Malaysian government has won the right to continue its appeal against a court ruling that allowed non-Muslims — including a Malay-language Catholic newspaper — to use the word Allah.
Jesus told his disciples that the entrance to heaven is like a “narrow gate,” not because God has made salvation so difficult, but because people find it difficult to recognize their sinfulness and accept God’s mercy, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis called again for an end to the fighting in Syria, denouncing the “multiplication of massacres and atrocious acts,” including the suspected chemical weapons attack that left hundreds dead.
Vatican activities for the Year of Faith begin again in late September with an international meeting of catechists, followed in October by a Marian pilgrimage in the presence of the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima and a celebration of faith and family life.
A national reconciliation commission, launched in September 2011 after months of armed conflict over disputed election results, should continue working past its mandated closure in September, said the president of the Ivory Coast Catholic bishops’ conference.
The Vatican ambassador to Syria said the international community must help find a political solution to the “serious crisis” continuing in the country.