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Articles By ZENIT Staff

Human Rights Watch: church ban for minors in China violates human rights

A new release by the human rights NGO highlights the increased pressure by Chinese authorities on Catholics in the shadow of «sinicisation» and the agreement with the Holy See on episcopal appointments. A member of an underground community merged into an official diocese laments that, “We started praying like we were thieves.” A United Front document has emerged calling for telling on parents who “instill religious ideas to their children”.

Popes and wars in the contemporary era

Faced with the destructive power of modern weapons, it is very difficult to speak, as was done in past centuries, of the possibility of a ‘just war.’ As early as 1963, Pope John XXIII, in ‘Pacem in Terris,’ wrote that in the atomic age it becomes almost impossible to think that war can be considered an instrument of justice. In this same spirit stands Pope Leo XIV, who is making peace one of the central themes of his pontificate.

PHOTO GALLERY: Heralds of the Gospel Ordain 26 Priests and 31 Deacons Following the Vatican’s Lifting of Restrictions

Yet the significance of the Caieiras ceremony cannot be understood without reference to the recent past. In 2019, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life imposed a series of disciplinary measures on the Heralds following an intervention whose details were never fully clarified publicly

Although there are no diplomatic relations, the President of the National Assembly of Vietnam invites Pope Leo XIV to visit the country

The President of the National Assembly in Hanoi presented the Pope with a letter from the President, who is now firmly at the helm of power in Vietnam. It was precisely internal disagreements over the local political balance of power that had slowed down the preparations for the visit, which is so eagerly awaited by the Catholic community. Cardinal Parolin is due to visit soon to establish full diplomatic relations. The possibility of 2027, when the Pope is already expected in Seoul for World Youth Day.