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Herald Malaysia
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Three die in Israeli raid on Gaza Parish. Msgr. Shomali: 'They want to drive Christians away'
'They will say it was not intentional, they will always find an excuse, but war is like that, it always causes damage and victims,' but what remains is the attack on a church, which is always a terrible and scandalous act, reports Msgr. William Shomali. Jul 18, 2025 By Dario Salvi 'They will say it was not intentional, they will always find an excuse, but war is like that, it always causes damage and victims,' but what remains is the attack on a church, which is always a terrible and scandalous act, reports Msgr. William Shomali. The patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine was commenting to AsiaNews , on this morning's raid by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family parish in Gaza, causing at least three deaths [Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad and Najwa Abu Daoud, according to the Latin Patriarchate] and six seriously injured Christians. According to initial, summary information, the parish priest, Fr Gabriel Romanelli, was also hit, albeit slightly in the leg. The church, the prelate continues, 'was also seriously hit and suffered significant damage', particularly 'on the roof where the cross was located'. Faced with this dramatic news, Pope Leo XIV immediately expressed his closeness through a telegram sent in his name by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. 'Leo XIV,' the telegram reads, 'has learned with deep sadness of the loss of life and injuries caused by the military attack on the church and assures the parish priest, Father Gabriele Romanelli, and the entire parish community of his spiritual closeness.' The Pope entrusts the souls of the deceased to God's mercy and prays for comfort for those who are in pain and for the healing of the wounded. 'His Holiness,' the telegram concludes, 'renews his appeal for an immediate ceasefire and expresses his profound hope for dialogue, reconciliation and lasting peace in the region.' During these years of war in the Strip, the parish of the Holy Family has become a symbol of welcome and openness to the entire population, not only Christians. For this reason, it had already been targeted by the Israeli army, which had bombed the area surrounding the compound on several occasions and also hit a school run by the Latin Patriarchate. Added to this is the death of two Christian women, including an elderly woman, at the hands of an Israeli sniper who shot them in cold blood. At the beginning of July, Fr Romanelli himself denounced in an interview with AsiaNews the terrible conditions in which the Gazans live, in a reality that the priest described as 'a cage' where 'bombs also kill hope'. Speaking of the parish in Gaza hit today by Israeli bombs, even though there were no weapons or anything linked to Hamas inside, the so-called 'target' of Benjamin Netanyahu's war in the Strip, Monsignor Shomali wants to emphasise 'one thing: it is a place that has welcomed many, up to 600 people, while now there were just over 400, and that was doing so much for the population. This attack is terrible. It also houses disabled children,' continues the patriarchal vicar, 'entrusted to the care of the Missionaries of Charity. We are responsible for feeding them." In these years of war, he recalls, 'we have also prepared trucks of food, and we hope that within a week we will be able to send them to them and to their neighbours' in the area where the parish is located, because 'they are hungry.' However, he warns, the possibility of bringing aid 'remains uncertain, because every minute there is a surprise.' The reason for the attack on the parish – which has always been in the thoughts and prayers of Pope Francis, who even from his hospital bed during his hospitalisation and shortly before his death called Fr Romanelli to express his closeness – is simple and dramatic at the same time, according to the prelate: 'Probably [the Israeli military] want to get everyone out of the north [of the Strip], including our Christians who have so far refused to move. Because,' he concludes, 'if they leave the church compound, they will feel more defenceless.' Meanwhile, 'a few days after the International Day of Solidarity, when we celebrated the suffering of Taybeh with bishops, church leaders and representatives of diplomatic missions, the settler is back grazing his cows on our land, where the church of al-Khader stands. ' This is what Fr. Bashar Fawadleh, Latin parish priest of Taybeh in the West Bank, told AsiaNews . The town has become, despite itself, a symbol of the violence of settlers in the Occupied Territories with the approval, if not the support, of the leaders of the Jewish state. On 14 July, a delegation led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Greek Orthodox Primate Theophilos III visited the area, bringing the solidarity of the Churches of the Holy Land and denouncing the 'serious harassment, intimidation and damage to agricultural land'. The Christian leaders denounce that the Israeli authorities have 'facilitated' or at least 'encouraged' these attacks. For the Christians of Taybeh, this latest provocative gesture ( in the photos ) represents a 'blatant violation of the sanctity of the historic church of Al-Khader', inside which 'the settlers enter with their livestock'.In a shocking and painful scene, settlers stormed the historic church today and brought their livestock, including cows, into the sanctuary, in clear violation of the sanctity of the site and the sacredness of places of worship," a source said. It "is one of the oldest historic churches in the region and is of great religious and historical significance to the city's inhabitants and Christians throughout Palestine. However, neither its age nor its sacredness,' continues the AsiaNews source, 'have spared it from becoming a target of attacks by settlers, which continue as part of ongoing provocations and attempts to impose a settlement reality through force and racism." For at least three weeks, an escalation of attacks has involved the village of Taybeh, in the West Bank, composed of about 1,500 inhabitants and three churches, located 30 km north of Jerusalem and east of Ramallah, the only village entirely inhabited by Christians. The most emblematic case occurred on 7 July, when pro-occupation fanatics set fire to the cemetery and the historic 5th-century Church of St. George (Al-Khadr), one of the oldest religious sites in Palestine. Among the residents - over 600 are Latin, while the rest are Greek Orthodox and Greek Melkite Catholics - there is concern for the future of a community known since the time of the Gospel, where Jesus retired before the Passion. The violence began well before 7 October 2023 with Hamas' attack on Israel and the conflict in Gaza. However, the war in the Strip and the 12-day war with Iran have left the field open to settlers and extremists operating with total impunity. 'The residents of the city expressed their shock and outrage at this shameful act, stating,' the source continues, 'that bringing animals into a church is not only an attack on religious property, but a deliberate insult to the feelings of believers and a desecration of their sacred symbols. ' 'This act is considered a serious escalation that cannot be ignored, with a call on the international community and ecclesiastical bodies around the world to take immediate action to protect holy places from these racist practices that strike at human values above all else. What happened today at the church in Al-Khader is not just an attack, it is an open wound in the conscience of humanity,' he concluded.--Asia News
Herald Malaysia
09-07-2025
- General
- Herald Malaysia
Fr Francesco Rapacioli, new PIME superior general
Fr Francesco Rapacioli, 62, a missionary in Bangladesh, is the new superior general of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) Jul 09, 2025 ROME: Fr Francesco Rapacioli, 62, a missionary in Bangladesh, is the new superior general of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), the missionary institute that publishes Asia News . The institute elected him this morning during its 16th General Assembly, underway since 22 June at the International Centre for Missionary Activities in Rome, focused on the topic "All and only missionaries: identity, responsibility and freedom in the common missionary vocation". Fr Rapacioli takes over from Fr Ferruccio Brambillasca, who has led the institute since 2013. After completing a second six-year term, he was no longer eligible for re-election. PIME's new general administration was also elected for the next six years. Hitherto the regional superior for Southern Asia, Father Rapacioli was born in Paris in 1963 but grew up in the Italian diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio. He entered PIME after graduating in medicine and becoming a priest in 1993. His first destination was the seminary in Pune, India, where he carried out his ministry until 1997, when he was transferred to Bangladesh, a largely Muslim country, working mostly in Dhaka. After a six-year hiatus (2012-2018) as rector of the PIME International Seminary in Monza (Italy), he returned to Bangladesh where he set up groups for alcoholics and drug addicts in the capital in 2020 to help them take back control of their lives. This was a concrete response to a major need in the country. 'Many of those who attend the groups are Muslims, but there are also Christians, Hindus and Buddhists,' he said in an interview with Mondo e Missione. "Many participate because they feel the need to be among people who do not judge and who are interested in understanding. One comes across many difficult situations, devastating sometimes. But it is also beautiful to see that some manage to rebuild a life of relationships, work, study, and find peace. 'It is a true blossoming. I believe it is an authentically missionary project,' Fr Rapacioli explained. 'It touches something profound in people; it is a true spiritual experience. And even if it never becomes part of religious discourse, it is truly an inner journey.' PIME was founded by Bishop, later Patriarch Angelo Ramazzotti in 1850, out of the experience of the Lombard Seminary for Foreign Missions. Pope Pius XI reset it in 1926 as the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, uniting it with the Pontifical Seminary of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul for Foreign Missions, established in Rome in 1871 by Mgr Pietro Avanzini. PIME currently has about 400 missionaries from 17 different nationalities who carry out their ministry in 20 countries in every continent. The latest endeavour, created in cooperation with other institutes set up in mission with the same charism as PIME, is taking its first steps in the Diocese of Tanjung Selor, Borneo (Indonesia).--Asia News
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Business Standard
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
HRW urges new Pope to review 2018 China deal to protect religious freedom
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged newly appointed Pope Leo XIV to review the Vatican's 2018 agreement with the Chinese government, which gives Beijing significant control over the appointment of Catholic bishops. The human rights group also criticised the Chinese government for continuing to install Communist Party-aligned clergy while cracking down on underground churches, clergy, and worshipers. In a statement released on Monday, the HRW said, "The new Pope, Leo XIV, should direct an urgent review of the Vatican's 2018 agreement with the Chinese government that allows Beijing to appoint bishops for government-approved houses of worship. He should also press the government to end the persecution of underground churches, clergy, and worshipers." It added, "The Chinese government has continued to install Chinese Communist Party-compliant clergy. AsiaNews reported that during the mourning period for Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025, the Chinese government had moved forward on the appointments of an auxiliary bishop in Shanghai and the bishop of Xinxiang, Henan province." Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, said the new Pope should push for fresh negotiations with Beijing to protect the religious freedom of Catholics in China. "Pope Leo XIV has an opportunity to make a fresh start with China to protect the religious freedom of China's Catholics. The new Pope should press for negotiations that could help improve the right to religious practice for everyone in China," Maya said. "Chinese Catholics worshiping in underground churches are among the 'ordinary people' on whom Pope Leo has said the church should focus its attention. It's critical for religious freedom in China that the Catholic church stands on their side, and not on the side of their oppressors," Maya added. The HRW statement further said that Pope Leo should press the Chinese government to immediately free several Catholic clergy, including James Su Zhimin, Augustine Cui Tai, Julius Jia Zhiguo, Joseph Zhang Weizhu, Peter Shao Zhumin, and Thaddeus Ma Daqin, who in recent years have been imprisoned, forcibly disappeared, or subjected to house arrest and other harassment. The Chinese government has long restricted the country's estimated 12 million Catholics to worship in official churches under the leadership of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, and has persecuted Catholics who have attended underground "house churches" or pledged allegiance only to the pope. The government has conducted frequent raids on underground churches and arrested unapproved clergy and congregants. The 2018 Provisional Agreement regarding the Appointment of Bishops, the full text of which has never been made public, ended a decades-long standoff over who had the authority to appoint bishops in China. Under the agreement, Beijing proposes future bishops, and the pope has veto power over those appointments. Since the 2018 agreement, the two parties have agreed on the appointment of 10 bishops, covering about a third of the over 90 dioceses in China that remained without a bishop. The Vatican has never exercised its veto power, however, even when the Chinese government violated the agreement by unilaterally appointing bishops in 2022 and 2023, appointments that Pope Francis later accepted, according to HRW. The Chinese government, which restricts all religious practice in China to five officially recognized religions, regulates official church business and retains control over personnel appointments, publications, finances, and seminary applications. The 2018 Holy See-China agreement was reached during President Xi Jinping's drive to tighten already stringent controls over religions in China in the name of "Sinicization" of religion. In recent years, the authorities have demolished hundreds of church buildings or the crosses atop them, prevented adherents from gathering in unofficial churches, restricted access to the Bible, confiscated religious materials not authorised by the government, and banned Bible and religious apps. The HRW further reported that the Chinese government's Sinicization of religion has meant ruthless repression of Buddhism in Tibet, where the Chinese authorities have imposed strict controls over the process of selecting Tibetan lamas, including by forcibly disappearing the six-year-old Panchen Lama since 1995, and by controlling the process for the selection of the future Dalai Lama. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Euronews
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
How local groups of bishops could revolutionise the conclave
One of the late Pope Francis' central goals was to try and bring together the different strains of Catholicism. To do this, he used a particular device of ecclesiastical and institutional action: the synod, a council of bishops institutionalised in 1965 by the modernising Second Vatican Council to moderate and modernise the absolute power of the popes and the Roman curia in matters of faith. Synods are not popular assemblies, but councils of the bishops of a country or a fairly large geographical area. Their members already occupy prominent positions in the church hierarchy. "Pope Francis' objective was to enhance the synodal element, but not as a new power structure," says Francesco Clementi, professor of Comparative Public Law at Sapienza University, Rome. "The pope is always the pope. And as Pope Francis said, he remains a central figure in the vertical of ecclesiastical and spiritual power. The assemblies of bishops would simply have facilitated decisions (in Rome) by widening the audience in the hierarchies." The proposals made by synods during Pope Francis' pontificate have been crucial for the future of the church and the faithful, such as the celibacy dispensations for Catholic priests or the potential priestly role of women in the church. The late pontiff's unprecedented use of the synod thus represents a decisive innovation that could change the course of both the conclave and the future pontificate. Synods are consultative institutions whose decisions are not binding on the pontiff, but in the age of mass media, they oblige him to be more sensitive to the needs of external and remote realities, even without bringing the Vatican's centrality into question. The decisions synods produce, even if not formally adopted, may therefore influence the conclave, which this year is composed of newly appointed cardinals who in many cases come from the church's peripheries. Moreover, papal elections often throw up surprises, as Father Gianni Criveller, director of the digital periodical Asia News, a sinologist and longtime missionary in China, explains. "The unexpected happens in conclaves: they (the cardinals) start voting and then unexpected candidates emerge who do not necessarily correspond to the initial objectives," he tells Euronews. "However,* it will be difficult for someone to be elected who goes beyond what Pope Francis has already done. There would be two or three such candidates among the cardinals, but I don't see how they can gather consensus until the end of the conclave." The innovative use of synods both under Pope Francis and also in the short period after his death before the papacy is filled may prove to have changed the spiritual and political agenda of the cardinal electors by introducing elements and views that are relatively heterodox, if not directly opposed to previous convictions. However, synods do not necessarily advance progressive ideas. Their orientation depends on the geographical area and culture from which they are drawn. The blessing of people in same-sex relationships was one of Pope Francis' major decisions, and it still causes great divisions in the church. "The entire African Church, including the bishops and cardinals, were strongly opposed to this initiative," recalls Father Criveller. "They have clearly said that in Africa, they will never apply the letter on the blessing of homosexuals inspired and approved by Pope Francis." Pope Francis himself was a man capable of great leaps both forward and backward, such as on the women's issue. He was the first pope to appoint seven women to the top administrative posts in the Vatican, among them prefect, director of the Vatican museums and secretary general of the governorate, a position usually occupied by a bishop. However, he did not open up the priesthood to women, a move demanded by Catholic groups from Germany to the Amazon. On this front, the Catholic Church has fallen behind Protestant and Anglican churches that have welcomed women into the clergy. Among the cardinals taking a stance against women in the priesthood is Bishop of Stockholm Anders Arborelius, an ex-Lutheran convert to Catholicism who was appointed Cardinal of the Nordic countries by Pope Francis in 2017. He is opposed to the priesthood of women even though in Sweden's majority Protestant denomination, there are now more female priests than male ones. Despite the expanded role of the synods, some proposals of the bishops' assemblies from other parts of the world were rejected by Pope Francis, among them, the notion of allowing the appointment of married priests. "The Amazon synod had called for the admission to the priesthood of married men," says Father Criveller. "Not priests who can marry, but married men who want to become priests. Yet Pope Francis rejected the proposal." Pope Benedict XVI himself had gone further on this issue, opening the doors of Roman Catholicism to Anglican priests who were at odds with their original denomination. Moreover, dispensations have existed for centuries within the Catholic Church for married priests, among them Ukrainian Greek Catholics, Chaldeans, Maronites, Copts and other Eastern Catholics. For many sectors of the Catholic Church, therefore, synods are not a problem because of some inherent progressivism. Instead, their disruptive role could come from the diversity of their orientations and decisions. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen said that the electors of the future pope must be aware that he will have the responsibility to either allow the synod process to continue or decisively cut it short. "It is a matter of the life or death of the Church founded by Jesus," he said, concluding that if synods are disconnected from tradition and the heritage of faith, they might turn into an instrument of disunity instead of communion. Zen is known for his harsh criticism of the agreement reached by the Vatican in 2018 with the Chinese communist government for the appointment of bishops in mainland China. The architect of the agreement with Beijing was one of the current papal appointees, the outgoing secretary of state Pietro Parolin, who would also be disliked by the US for his role in the deal.
Euronews
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
How China will influence the next pontiff after Pope Francis' pivot to Asia
ADVERTISEMENT The body of Pope Francis will be buried this Saturday in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. At that point, his mortal remains will rest under the protection of an image of Mary with a high spiritual value for Catholicism, great symbolic power for the Jesuits — and for relations between the Catholic Church and Asia. This is the Byzantine icon of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani, the saviour of the Roman people. It was the first representation of Mary officially authorised, by papal bull, to be disseminated and reproduced. The icon of the Virgin of the Basilica of St Mary Major is also a symbol of Catholic attempts to evangelise Asia. In fact, it became the emblem of the epic of the great Jesuit journeys to the Far East, including China, and in 1602, Jesuit missionary and sinologist Matteo Ricci donated a copy of the icon to the Chinese Emperor. The search for a new "passage to the East" for evangelisation has been one of the great axes of Pope Francis' pontificate. Many observers even consider it the late pope's core political mission. A decentralised conclave The eastward turn is manifest at this year's conclave, where Asia will be better represented among the voting cardinals than ever. Some ecclesiastical observers have gone so far as to call the redistribution of voting power "revolutionary". Theologian Gianni Criveller, a missionary for decades in the Chinese world and editor of the digital newspaper Asia News, said this spells the end of a Eurocentric custom that assigned an overwhelming majority to cardinals from the Old Continent. "Surprisingly enough, cities like Paris, Milan, and countries like Austria and Ireland will not have a cardinal in the conclave," he explained. "Instead, we will have cardinals from Mongolia, where there are only about a thousand Catholics, from Myanmar, and another from Thailand, countries with a large Buddhist majority." For the first time, Asia will be represented by 23 cardinal electors out of 135. China will have one, Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-Yan of Hong Kong. The proportion of Asian electors is large compared to the spread of Catholicism in that region. The only deeply Catholic country in the region is the Philippines, whose religiosity was inherited from its Spanish colonisers. Fedeli cattolici siedono davanti a un'icona della Vergine Maria nella Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, martedì 25 febbraio 2025. (Foto AP/Bernat Armangue) Bernat Armangue/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved Of the almost 1.5 billion Catholics worldwide, Asia accounts for 10%, although they comprise little more than 3% of the continent's population. Nevertheless, Asia is now at the forefront of human and economic development, and the Vatican cannot pretend it does not exist. According to Pope Francis' papal diplomacy, a Catholic presence in those no longer remote areas will soon be as essential as its traditional rootedness in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Another reason Asia was relevant in the late pope's time is technology. Pope Francis was the first pontiff to address a summit of G7 economy ministers, appearing in Apulia in June 2024 to talk about artificial intelligence. The Gospel, a passport to the world Father Criveller said the ultimate aim of the geographical revolution of the College of Cardinal electors was "the spread of the Gospel". "It is not proselytism, but simply the transmission of Gospel knowledge to other cultures, exactly as the Jesuits did in the 17th century." ADVERTISEMENT The idea was for a pastoral mission to move the Catholic Church away from the West's colonial history; to bring the world to Rome, and not vice versa. That vision was certainly informed by Pope Francis' South American background. But the evangelical mission is not everything. According to Professor Silvia Menegazzi, founder of the Centre for Contemporary China Studies, "Pope Francis had a very precise vision of relations between states. A vision that has certainly always been much more in line with that of countries that we might call non-Western, that we might call the Global South." Il cardinale Luis Antonio Tagle, a sinistra, e il cardinale Ricardo Vidal, delle Filippine, arrivano per un incontro in Vaticano, mercoledì 6 marzo 2013. Alessandra Tarantino/AP The Argentinian Pontiff made pastoral trips to the Middle East, South Korea, the Philippines, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore. Yet despite political efforts, he failed to visit the two Asian giants: India and China. ADVERTISEMENT As things stand, the Vatican and Beijing have no formal diplomatic relationship. In fact, the Holy See recognises Taiwan as the Republic of China, one of the key reasons that Pope Francis failed to grace mainland China with a visit. Beijing, however, has expressed condolences for Francis' death, and is considering whether to send a "high-ranking government delegation" to his funeral. Rapprochement with Beijing Nevertheless, papal diplomacy achieved a major political breakthrough with Beijing in 2018, establishing the possibility of approving the appointment of Chinese Catholic bishops by the communist regime. Until then, the Chinese authorities unilaterally appointed local bishops, but as of 2018, the Vatican now approves the appointments, a change that could greatly boost the Catholic Church's credibility in China and East Asia more widely. ADVERTISEMENT But there have necessarily been tradeoffs. "This agreement is certainly an exercise in Vatican realpolitik," says Father Criveller. "As a quid pro quo, the pope has not been able to visit Catholics in Hong Kong, Macao and especially Taiwan. Nor has he ever intervened in detail on the issues of human and religious rights in China and the issue of Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists, or the military threats against Taiwan." According to official figures provided by the government in Beijing, there are about 10 million Catholics in China, but church sources say that that number includes only the faithful who belong to official religious institutions. There are also unofficial Catholic organisations in China that the authorities do not recognise, comprising as many as 30 bishops out of every hundred, who are accepted by the Vatican as legitimate. ADVERTISEMENT "Compared to predecessors, with Francis, relations between China and the Vatican have improved," said Menegazzi, "but not as the Vatican expected. China remains by ancient tradition — not just by virtue of communism — the most atheistic country in the world." "We will see how the successor will set his Asian policy. Certainly the relationship with China was tied more to the person of Francis. So it will be necessary to evaluate how the new pontiff will look at China, rather than vice versa." Related Mural in Rome questions funeral guests for Pope Francis Trump and Zelenskyy to sit apart at pope's funeral as organisers opt for French alphabetical order Although the composition of the post-Francis conclave is partly linked to the late pope's political and religious orientations, it is unclear how far the political conditions of the world and Europe will allow his successor to complete Pope Francis' outreach to the east. "Certainly the late pontiff attached great importance to politics and international relations," said Father Criveller. "In contemporary times, the only pope we've had like him was John Paul II." ADVERTISEMENT
