Pope Leo XIV pleads for peace in the Middle East
Pope Leo has urged all parties engaged in the escalating war in the Middle East, to lay down their weapons and pursue peace and diplomacy. In his Sunday Angelus address, he spoke of the “alarming news” coming from the Middle East, especially from Iran. He appealed for an end to the tragedy of war, especially in the Middle East, and said that war only amplifies problems and creates deep wounds without providing lasting solutions. He was speaking on Sunday late morning, hours after American bombers struck nuclear sites in Iran. He said: “In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population—especially in Gaza and other territories—risks being forgotten, even as the need for adequate humanitarian aid becomes ever more urgent. Today more than ever, humanity cries out and pleads for peace”. Pope Leo urged every member of the international community to take up their moral responsibility to “stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” He advised: “Let diplomacy silence the weapons! Let nations shape their future with works of peace, not through violence and bloody conflicts!”
Bishop of Chelmsford who fled Iran in 1980, issues prayer for the people
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani, whose family fled Iran in 1980, has issued a prayer for Iran, hours after the US action on nuclear sites. Bishop Guli’s father was the Anglican Bishop of Iran and suffered an assassination attempt soon after the revolution in 1979, but the bullets missed his head, forming a halo shape on the pillow, an event described as miraculous. In May the following year, her brother, Bahram, was ambushed and killed in Teheran by, it is believed, government agents. He was 24. Soon after, the family fled to England and were granted refugee status. Bishop Guli was 14 at the time. The prayer is for the people of Iran and the wider Middle East at a time of fear and uncertainty. It says: “Be near to those who are anxious; bring comfort to all who are suffering. Guide those with the power to make decisions and lead them in the ways of wisdom, compassion and moderation, that people of good will would seek harmony and reconciliation.”
Health secretary fears vote in favour of assisted dying is the wrong choice
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that there is no budget to implement assisted dying, following the narrow passage of the bill by MPs last Friday, with a vote of 314 to 291. In a Facebook post to his constituents, he said: “Setting up this service will take time and money that is in short supply.. Politics is about prioritising. It is a daily series of choices and trade-offs. I fear we’ve made the wrong one.” The government has suggested assisted dying would cost between £10.9m and £13.6m a year. Mr Streeting echoed the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who said: “There is no effective freedom to choose if the alternative option, the freedom to draw on high-quality end-of-life care, is not available”. Over the weekend, there have been more comments from church leaders, Sikhs and Muslims all opposed to the bill, collated here. The Bill will now go to the Lords for further debate and scrutiny. Wes Streeting promised he would work constructively with Parliament to assist on technical aspects of the Bill and “make sure that we do a good job with it for the country”.
Tim Stanley: ‘It’s official: our establishment has lost any sense of right and wrong‘
Journalist Tim Stanley, writing in The Telegraph, reflects on a week when MPs voted for assisted dying and for the decriminalisation of abortion, suggesting ‘the vanishing of Christian ethics has been catastrophic for Britain’. He says the establishment: “has no coherent understanding of good and evil” and religion barely featured in the assisted dying debate, “except to suggest that opponents might be acting under orders from the Pope”. But Christianity has given the West “the idea that our life belongs to God, that He made us in his image, and this is a foundation for the principle that you can’t take away another’s life at will. This gradually flowered into rights for women or slaves, the peace movement and abolition of the death penalty” and he says it extends to unwanted foetuses and relatives in pain. His article is here
Suicide bomber kills 22 praying in a church in Syria
A suicide bomber opened fire and detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Syria yesterday, killing at least 22 and wounding 63 others. A Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman told a news conference that preliminary investigation points to the extremist Islamic State group. State media said the bomber entered the Mar Elias Church on the outskirts of Damascus, as the congregation of some 350 people were praying. AP reports that this is the first attack in Syria for many years, and comes as the government is trying to win the support of minorities.
India ‘deports thousands of Muslims to Bangladesh’
The Guardian reports allegations that the Indian government has deported thousands of Indian Muslims to Bangladesh, most of whom it accuses of being illegal immigrants. The report quotes human rights groups including the Bangladesh human rights organisation Odhikar, saying the people have had no due legal process and those who resisted were pushed back by gunpoint. Some were found to be Indian citizens and returned to India forced to walk miles to get home. The BJP chief minister of Assam is quoted saying it is now a policy of the state to automatically expel “illegal foreigners”. Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said it had written letters to the Indian authorities urging them to stop sending people over the border without consultation and vetting, but had not received a reply.
Estonian nuns accused of pro-Russian propaganda
The Kremlin is said to be using nuns at a remote Russian Orthodox convent in the Baltic region to spread pro-Russian propaganda, according to a report in The Telegraph. Estonia’s government has warned that the Pühtitsa Convent in eastern Estonia is promoting a pro-Putin narrative that claims religious freedoms are under threat in the West. The nuns are in dispute with the Estonian government over a law requiring them to sever links with Patriarch Kirill in Moscow, who supports the war in Ukraine
Vatican releases film of Pope Leo as a young priest in Peru
The Vatican has published the documentary “León de Perú”, featuring footage that retraces the mission of Pope Leo XIV while he was in Peru. He was known as Father Sean O’Malley, and the documentary records different people recounting his pastoral and social work. He first went to Peru for one year in 1985-86, when he was just 21, as an Augustinian missionary, working with local parishes. Two years later he returned to Trujillo, overseeing formation for Augustinian novices, a role which lasted until1999. Eventually he returned to Peru from 2014-2023, first as Apostolic Administrator and then Bishop of Chiclayo. During his ministry he became known for a life of simplicity in the community, fixing cars, eating local food, washing feet during Holy Week, assisting flood victims, advocating for migrants and challenging abuse and corruption.The documentary is a production by Vatican News journalists for the Dicastery for Communication and is available on YouTube.
