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For Fr D'Ambra, the Eucharist is a spiritual force that leads us to the encounter with Muslims The PIME missionary spoke today at the symposium introducing the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu. “The point of comparison is Emmaus, where two  disciples recognised the Lord as he broke the bread, and from that, they found strength to move at night without fear.” In addition, “The challenge, in my opinion, is  to try to communicate to others what the Eucharist is, even though Muslims have a hard time understanding that." Cebu (AsiaNews) – A theological symposium titled The Eucharist in the Church's dialogue with religions and religious traditions began today in Cebu, in Central Visayas, as a prelude to the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) scheduled to take place in Cebu on 24-31 January. [link] Card Bo, Eucharistic Congress: Evangelizing via dialogue with religions, cultures, poor The Burmese cardinal and papal legate outlines the ...

ISIS obliterates oldest Christian monastery in Iraq IRBIL, Iraq — The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble, yet another victim of the Islamic State group’s relentless destruction of   ancient cultural sites. For 1,400 years, the compound survived assaults by nature and man, standing as a place of worship recently for US troops. In earlier centuries, generations of monks  tucked candles in the niches and prayed in the cool chapel. The Greek letters chi and rho, representing the first two letters of Christ’s name, were carved near the  entrance. [link] In Wake of Bombings, Jesuit Calls on Indonesian Muslims to Fight Islamic Terrorism Says That Government Must Succeed so Youth Don’t Go Looking for Alternatives Such as ISIS “This attack should serve as an alarm bell for all Indonesians, and above all for Muslims. They need to recognize the danger of terrorism,” said a Jesuit based in the  world’s largest Muslim countr...

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From the homily "We are often the slaves of appearances and allow ourselves to pursue appearances: ‘But God knows the truth’. And that is so in this story... Jesse’s seven sons are presented and the Lord does not choose any of them, he lets them pass by. Samuel is in a bit of difficulty and says to Jesse: ‘The Lord has not chosen any of them, are these all the sons you have? And Jesse replied that there was still the youngest, who is tending the sheep’. To the eyes of man this boy did not count”. [...]  “We have all been chosen by the Lord to be Baptized, to be part of His people, to be saints; we have been consecrated by the Lord on the path towards sainthood. Reading about this life, the life of a child – no… not a child, he was a boy – from boyhood to old age, during which he did many good things and others that were not so good. It makes me think that during the Christian journey, the journey the Lord has invited us to undertake, there is no saint without a past and no sin...

Cebu: all set for the International Eucharistic Congress Some 10,000 people from around the world are expected at the meeting, centred on "Christ in you, our hope of glory." Keynote speakers include cardinals from Yangon, Mumbai, Abuja and New York. The Eucharist is the heart of the mission and dialogue with other religions. Manila (AsiaNews) – About 10,000 people are getting ready to take part in the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu (Philippines) on 24 January 2016. A three-day theological symposium will precede it, at the same venue, starting this Wednesday. Pope Benedict XVI chose Cebu site in June 2012, at the last International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin (Ireland). This year’s gathering will be centred on "Christ in you, our hope of glory’. For the Philippines, it will also be the second time it hosts the Congress. The previous one, the 30th, was held in 1937 in accordance with Pope Pius XI’s wishes. At the time, the pontiff wante...

China’s economy slows down as it reaches its lowest growth rate in 25 years Government figures indicate that growth reached 6.9 per cent in 2015. Growth in investment, a key economic driver, weakened to 12 per cent in 2015. As the government insists on the need to change the country’s development model "at any cost", it focuses on services and domestic consumption in lieu of manufacturing. However, this increases the risk of social instability as well as party repression. Beijing (AsiaNews) – China's economy grew by 6.9 per cent in 2015, the lowest since 1990 (3.8 per cent) following the crackdown against the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement. China's economic growth edged down to 6.8 per cent in the final quarter of 2015, slightly lower than the previous quarter (6.9 per cent). The October-December growth figure was in fact the lowest quarterly expansion since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, when growth slumped to 6.1 per cent in the f...

January 2016 Issue