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The Catholic who could succeed Angela Merkel

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel, having just formed her fourth government, has established herself as one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders. But she enters her new term of office in a weakened position, and speculation has been turning to her possible successors. In last year’s general election Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) polled the lowest share […]

Monument to Alexander Solzhenitsyn unveiled in Moscow

At a ceremony on Alexander Solzhenitsyn Street in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a new monument of Solzhenitsyn on the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth on 11 December 2018. The bronze monument sitting on a granite pedestal was designed by National Artist of Russia Andrei Kovalchuk. His project won the architecture and sculpture […]

New survey documents how people deal with grief at Christmas

For most people, Christmas is a joyous time with family and friends; but this joy can turn to grief when those family and friends have died. How people deal with this sadness was the focus of a survey published Dec. 10 from St Mary’s University, Twickenham, that asked 2000 people across the United Kingdom what […]

Rodrigo Duterte’s office denies he wants to kill bishops

The office of Rodrigo Duterte, the controversial Philippine president, on December 6 was forced to play down remarks he had made about killing bishops, claiming it was only “hyberbole” and not a genuine threat. In a speech to local government officials on December 5, Mr Duterte, who has a running feud with the influential Catholic […]

Catholic bishops show solidarity with embattled youth in Middle East

“In light of the difficulties and challenges you face in the midst of the current situation in the Middle East, and in light of the bleak migration that threatens your future and the Christian presence [in the region] as a whole, we stand by you,” the Conference of the Catholic Patriarchs of the East wrote […]

Filipino Catholics challenge Duterte attacks on church

Filipino Catholics are not letting relentless attacks by President Rodrigo Duterte on the church and its leaders go unchallenged. An influential lay organization has called on Catholics “to stand up for God and defend our faith in Him … [and] renew our commitment to go and fill our churches.” The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, the […]

Chengdu, abuse and police violence after the arrest of 100 Protestant Christians

About 100 Protestant Christians and seminary students were arrested in Chengdu (Sichuan) between 9 and 10 December. Some of the faithful, later released claimed they were “raped and abused” by the policemen who kept them in custody. Among those arrested are Pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong , taken away by the police; […]

Myanmar women forced into marriage in China

Thousands of impoverished ethnic minority women in Myanmar’s war-torn Kachin and Shan States have been forced into marriages in neighbouring China, say the authors of a new study published by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. Thousands more disadvantaged women in the country’s mountainous northern most rural hinterland remain at risk of being trafficked […]