Four Kachin bishops have met Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing to talk prospects for peace in the country’s north, where fighting between the military and armed ethnic groups has intensified. Retired Abp Paul Zinghtung Grawng of Mandalay and Bishops Philip Lasap Za Hawng of Lashio, Francis Daw Tang of Myitkyina and Raymond Sumlut Gam of Banmaw attended a meeting at Bayintnaung Parlor in Naypyidaw on Jan. 16.

For one hour and 45 minutes, the bishops and Min Aung Hlaing discussed the situation in Kachin and Shan states, where intense fighting has erupted in recent months between ethnic armed groups and Myanmar’s military.

Since late last year, the military has conducted an offensive using airstrikes and heavy artillery, resulting in thousands of internally displaced persons fleeing their camps.

“We conveyed the message on the Catholic Church’s stance of getting a durable peace through dialogue instead of arms, and the church stands ready to take part in nation building in collabora-tion with all stakeholders,” he told ucanews.com.

Bishop Gam said the military chief reaffirmed its commitment to ending civil wars in Myanmar while opening the door to all armed ethnic groups to negotiate.

Since the situation deteriora-ted in 2011, more than 100,000 people have been displaced. Most of the state’s 1.7 million Kachins are Christians, including 116,000 Catholics.

The idea of exceptionally ordaining older married men of proven virtue to celebrate the Eucharist in isolated Catholic commu-nities is something that should be discussed, said Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy.

“It is not about being in favour of or against something, but about attentively evaluating various possibilities without being closed or rigid,” the cardinal said in a new book in Italian, “Tutti gli Uomini di Fran-cesco” (“All Francis’ Men”) released Jan. 22 by Edizioni San Paolo.

The book, by Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, includes interviews with churchmen named to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis.

Francis was asked by the German news-paper Die Zeit last year about whether, in the Latin-rite church, he could see allowing married “viri probati” — men of proven virtue — to become priests.

“We have to study whether ‘viri probati’ are a possibility. We then also need to determine which tasks they could take on, such as in remote communities, for example,” Francis said.

The issue is expected to come up in the 2019 special gathering of the Synod of Bishops to study questions related to the church’s pastoral work in the Amazon. Already at Synods in 1990 on the priesthood and 2005 on the Eucharist some bishops — especially from Brazil’s Amazon region — suggested ordaining married men as the only way to ensure Catholics in isolated villages could receive the Eucharist regularly.

One possibility to explore is the exceptional ordination of older married men in remote communities, he said. “Continuing to maintain their family and jobs and receiving a formation contextualized for their environment, they could offer part-time service to the community they come from in order to guarantee the sacraments, especially by presiding at the eucharistic celebration.”

Love was literally in the air as Pope Francis performed an impromptu wedding ceremony at 36,000 feet aboard his flight in Chile.

During his flight to Iquique Jan. 18, the Pope was approached by LatAm flight steward Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriaga and asked for a blessing for him and his wife, stewardess Paula Podest Ruiz.

The couple were supposed to be married in their home parish in Santiago February 27, 2010. However, tragedy struck when an earthquake destroyed the church. Eight years later, they remained only civilly married.

Ciuffardi told journalists aboard the flight that, after he explained their story, he asked the Pope for their blessing.

At that moment, the Pope surprised the couple with offering to marry them right there on the plane.

Ciuffardi said the Pope asked the couple, “Well, do you want to get married?”

“I said, ‘Well, yes. Are you sure?’ Then the Pope said, “Are YOU sure?’ I told him, ‘Yes! Let’s get married,’” Ciuffardi recalled excitedly.

The UK “should lead the way” in tackling unprece-dented levels of Christian persecution a Conservative MP said on January 17. Teresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet was speaking at the launch of the annu-al World Watch List, a survey of global Christian compiled by the Christian Charity Open Doors.

The report reveals that 3,000 Christians were killed for their faith last year, more than double the number recorded in the previous survey. It also states that more than 200 million Christians in the top 50 countries experience high levels of persecution or worse. Eleven of the countries in the list are now places of extreme persecution, the highest number ever recorded.

Mrs Villiers said more should be done to tackle Christian persecution: “The UK must encourage other countries, particularly those experiencing high levels of persecution, to tackle the problem.”

Citing the Commonwealth Heads of Govern-ment meeting, which will be held in London this April, she said: “The meeting is a chance for the UK to set the agenda on this issue and encourage those countries to do more.” This is particularly pertinent given that nine of the countries attending the meeting are listed on the World Watch List.

The event featured speakers Michael and Hannah from Egypt and Pakistan respectively, talking about the levels of persecution endured by Christians in their native countries.

Michael, an elder in one of Cairo’s local evangelical churches, works for the leadership team of a national ministry and with partners to strengthen the church and teach Christians in Egypt to stand strong through persecution and pressure.

Hannah, from Pakistan, described how the country of her birth is being “violated by extremist ideologies” that “treat Christians as foreign enti-ties” and encourage “the vast majority of Muslims to believe that Pakistan is only for Muslims.”

“In Eritrea, the regime has begun to persecute religious confessions and, in particular, the Catholic Church. The object-ive is clear: to try to prevent its influence on society: not by prohibiting worship, but social activities.” This is the alarm launched by Mussie Zerai, a priest of the eparchy of Asmara, for years a chaplain of the Eritreans in Europe and active in saving migrants in danger in the Medi-terranean. “Since 1995 – explains the religious to Fides – there has been a law in force in the country according to which the State wants to carry out all social activities. Therefore, the latter cannot be carried out by private or even by religious institutions. So far, the law has been applied in a bland manner and has not seriously affected the network of services offered by Christians and Muslims. In the last few months, however, there has been an acceleration.”

Public officials have decreed the closure of five Catholic clinics in various cities. The minor seminary (which served both the diocese and the religious congre-gations) was closed in Asmara.