It was supposed to be a day of rest – Tuesday 28 November – with the planned institutional meetings and the speech before the political authorities of the country. But Francis accelerated the times and this afternoon in the palace of the Archbishopric of Yangon he met with the Burmese military leaders.

Commander-in-chief of defence,  General Aung Hlaing paid a courtesy visit to his guest. He was accompanied by a small delegation of Lieutenants: Tun Tun Tun Naung, Than Tun Oo and Soe Hut, all serving at the Bureau of Special Opera-tions. Colonel Aung Zaw Lin, as transcriber, and a translator of the Burmese Catholic Church were also present.

Defence, Interior and border control, three key ministries of the Government of Myanmar are in the hands of the military.

At the end of what the Vatican authorities have called “courtesy visit,” there was an exchange of gifts: the Pope gave a pontificate medal and the general gave a Burmese harp in the shape of a boat and a decorated rice bowl.

An Italian missionary-priest is undertaking a 450-kilometer bicycle journey with two compa-nions from northern Bangladesh to meet Pope Francis in the country’s capital Dhaka. Father Almir Trindade, 38, from Ponti-fical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) set off on the “pilgrimage” from St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dinajpur district on Nov. 20.

The priest is now at Gazipur district near Dhaka with two Oraon indigenous Catholics — Ripon Albinus Lakra, 25 and Ranjon Minj, 18.

They intend to attend the papal Mass at Suhrawarday Udyan Park at Ramna, Dhaka on Dec. 1. They will also attend an interfaith youth gathering at Church-run Notre Dame College on Dec. 2.

“Our journey is a pilgrimage. We have decided to take this journey as the Pope is coming as a pilgrim to Bangladesh from thousands of miles away, so we could do the same from here,” Father Trindade told.

A Northern Irish priest has called for the Catholic Church to stop using the word “Christmas,” saying the holiday has been hijacked by commercialism, Santa and superficiality. “We’ve lost Christmas, just like we lost Easter, and should abandon the word completely,” Father Desmond O’Donnell, of a parish outside Enniskillen, told the Belfast Telegraph. “We need to let it go, it’s already been hijacked and we just need to recognize and accept that.”

O’Donnell said he had nothing against Christmas celebrations, but felt that they have become far removed from the true spiritual meaning of the holiday. “I am not seeking to take anything away from anyone, I am simply asking that space be preserved for believers for whom Christmas has nothing to do with Santa and Reindeer,” he said. “But non-believers deserve and need their celebration too, it’s an essential human dynamic and we all need that in the toughness of life.”

O’Donnell explained that “My religious experience of true Christmas, like so many others, is very deep and real — like the air I breathe.”

He added: “I’m all for Christians choosing to celebrate Christmas by going out for meals and enjoying a glass of wine, but the commercialization of anything is never good,” he said.

The Bishops of England and Wales have announced that the current translation of the Roman Missal will be retained for use, in spite of Pope Francis’ motu proprio restoring responsibility for liturgical translations to local churches.

Magnum Principium amends canon 838 of the Code of Canon Law, giving back to bishops the responsibility for liturgical translations that they lost after the Second Vatican Council. But the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said after their meeting in Leeds last week that they were “grateful” for guidance that they have received from the Congregation for Divine Wor-ship that the motu proprio “concerns future liturgical translations and cannot be applied retroactively.”

The bishops’ statement appears to put paid to hopes that the highly-praised 1998 trans-lation of the Roman Missal that had been approved by 11 confe-rences of English-speaking bishops might be authorised for use in England and Wales. This translation was ultimately rejected by Rome for being insufficiently true to the Latin original.

Archbishop of Southwark Peter Smith, vice-president of the bishops’ conference, said that the aim of Pope Francis from the start of his papacy has been to devolve power back to the bishops’ conferences.

A list of statues and monuments that should be imme-diately withdrawn from Skopje’s city centre is in the hands of Culture Minister of Macedonia, Robert Alagjozovski, with the final decisions to be taken by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

The list was put together by a working group of the ministry of culture, headed by the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDSM) member Miroslav Garchev, which examined the legality of statuary and statute-making procedures.

So far, it has been made known that the statues of Mother Teresa, an Albanian in origin Catholic nun from Skopje who developed multi-year humanitarian action and a missionary work in India, and of Anton Janev – who claim as their national hero both Macedonia and Bulgaria are included in the disputed list and is are candidates for removal.

On November 8th 2017, on Wednesday a fiery Pope Francis chastised those who spend Mass talking to others, looking at their phone or even taking pictures during papal liturgies, saying these are distractions that take focus away from the “heart of the Church,” which is the Eucharist.

“The Mass is not a show: it is to go to meet the passion and resurrection of the Lord,” the Pope said. “The Lord is here with us, present. Many times we go there, we look at things and chat among ourselves while the priest celebrates the Eucharist… But it is the Lord!”

In particular, Francis condemned the use of cell phones to take photos at papal Masses. At one point during the Mass the priest says, “we lift up our hearts,” he said. “He does not say, ‘We lift up our phones to take photographs!’”

“It’s a bad thing! And I tell you that it gives me so much sadness when I celebrate here in the Piazza or Basilica and I see so many raised cellphones, not just of the faithful, even of some priests and even bishops.” “But think: when you go to Mass, the Lord is there! And you’re distracted. But it is the Lord!”

Card. Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in Syria, has restarted the “Open Hospitals” project, reported the AsiaNews agency on November 2, 2017. This health program aims to offer free medical attention to all Syrians.

“From an economic and social point of view, the situation remains difficult” in Syria, Cardinal Zenari said. Poverty is spreading while prices are increasing, he explained. This critical situation has led the cardinal to revive the Open Hospitals project, providing medical attention for Syrians completely free of charge.

To do this, said the nuncio, it is necessary to renew three Catholic hospitals in the country. “Over half of the facilities are out of use” and “two-thirds of doctors have left the country,” he lamented. With this program, Cardinal Zenari hopes to “bring the operating capacity from the present 20%-30% to 90%-100%.” He plans on reaching this objective thanks to the support of Pope Francis and of Msgr. Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, Delegated Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

The cardinal also mentioned that the program receives support from foreign medical centers, including the pontifical Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, which has already sent a pediatric team on-site to train Syrian doctors.