Social order & special needs

A 44-year-old woman from Argentina said that, after writing a letter to Pope Francis telling him that she had been raped by a local police officer, the Pope called her personally to tell her, “You are not alone.”

“The Pope told me he receives thousands of letters each day but that what I wrote moved him and touched his heart,” the woman said in an interview with the National University of Cordoba’s Canal 10 TV station.

“When I heard the Pope’s voice, it was like feeling the hand of God,” she said. Read more »

This year, the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese Office of Human Development (AOHD) has embarked on a signature campaign to call on the Federal Government to abolish the Death Penalty.

Many have expressed strong views in the retention of the death penalty and of the view that those convicted deserve what they get!

However as Christians, we are led in faith by the teachings of Christ. The gospel reading for the 5th Sunday of Lent challenges us who have not sin, to cast the first stone. Read more »

A whopping 83 percent of Malays believe that the word ‘Allah' belongs absolutely to Muslims.

Only 10 percent of Malays believe that the word was not exclusively for Muslims. The remaining respondents were unsure, or refused to give an answer.

This was based on a Merdeka Centre survey of 1,021 respondents between Jan 23 and Feb 6. Read more »

Pope Benedict XVI extended his greetings to “the various peoples of the Far East” that are today celebrating the Lunar New Year, in particular the Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese.

He also sent “a special greeting” to the Catholics of those countries.

He did so when, speaking from his study window in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, he addressed thousands of pilgrims from many countries who had gathered in St Peter’s Square to pray with him and receive his blessing at midday on this sunny but cold Sunday. Read more »

In 2005, Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the America Enterprise Institute wrote in ‘Bitterlemon International’ that ‘Islamists are intrinsically anti-democratic’.

He asserted that as Islamists base their legitimacy upon a higher power, they are intrinsically anti-democratic and unwilling to accept popular rebuke.

Fast forward to Bobby Ghosh who penned Why Islamists are better Democrats in Time Magazine (5 Dec, 2011). The writing argued for a bright future for Islamists in the emerging democracy for the newly liberated Muslim world post Arab-Spring. Read more »

Dear Hindu Friends,

Christians And Hindus Forming The Young Generation Into Peace-Makers

1.  The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sends its warmest greetings and congratulations on the occasion of this year’s Deepavali celebrations. May fellowship and fraternity shine forth more and more in your families and communities. Read more »

The Synod of Bishops has sent a message yesterday to Bishop Lucas Ly Jingeng of Fengxiang in mainland China who was unable to attend the Synod in Rome.

The Chinese prelate had written a letter to Pope Benedict XVI at the opening of the assembly assuring the Holy Father of his prayers for the success of the Synod. Read more »

Multiple sources have confirmed that about 25 to 30 Christian college students were massacred at a university in northeastern Nigeria late Monday night, causing Christians to pray for a "change of heart" among the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram to put a stop to the continued violence.

While there is speculation as to the motive of the massacre, sources close to the human rights watchdog Open Doors USA confirm that the massacre was performed by Boko Haram. Read more »