Vatican City/Bern (KNA) A letter from Jewish rabbis to Pope Francis has caused a stir. The Vatican newspaper “L’Osservatore Romano” published extracts from the friendly letter on Thursday evening. On the political level, there had been criticism from the Israeli side shortly beforehand of statements made by the Pope’s chief diplomat Cardinal Pietro Parolin on…
Tobias Käufer (KNA) The socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela has called on the staff of the United Nations Human Rights Office to leave the South American country within 72 hours. This emerged from a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Caracas on Thursday. At a press conference, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil…
Kathmandu (KNA) The World Social Forum (WSF) began in Nepal on Thursday under the motto “Another world is possible”. 30,000 participants from 1,200 social movements and 100 countries will be discussing topics such as human rights, climate justice, food and democratisation in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu until Monday. “In fact, humanity is on the brink…
Pope Francis canonised Argentina’s first female saint, María Antonia of St Joseph — known affectionately in the Pope’s home country as ‘Mama Antula’ — in a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday. Argentina’s President Javier Milei sat in the front row to the Pope’s right during the canonisation on February 11 and embraced the…
Strasbourg (KNA) According to a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), states may prohibit Jewish and Islamic religious communities from slaughtering animals by bleeding them without anaesthesia. In their decision published on Tuesday, the Strasbourg judges rejected the class action brought by Jews and Muslims from Belgium. They had opposed the…
By Severina Bartonitschek (KNA) Argentinian summit meeting in the Vatican: one inspired people for the Christian faith over 200 years ago, the other has also been working towards this goal globally for eleven years, the third recently won an election with completely different convictions. 11 February could be an interesting date for the Pope’s home…
Ten children from Gaza in need of medical attention arrived in Rome on a military plane late January 29, the first group of young patients who will receive treatment in Italy thanks to the lobbying of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land and negotiations involving the governments of Italy, Israel, Palestine and Egypt. The…
Sarajevo (KNA) In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country’s most famous postcard motif is currently causing death threats. The university in Mostar actually wanted to advertise one of its seminars with a poster of the famous “Stari most” bridge and the historic city centre. However, the fact that an “artificial intelligence” (AI) used to generate the…
Colombo (KNA) The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is seeking the canonisation of hundreds of Catholics who were killed in the bomb attacks on Easter Sunday 2019. A petition to this effect is being prepared for the fifth anniversary of the deadly terror on 21 April, the Asian press service Ucanews reported on Wednesday. “A…
Bonn (KNA) German Catholic bishops believe that victims of human trafficking should be granted a residence permit in Germany. “It is necessary for those affected to be able to develop a secure life perspective. This is the only way they can be freed from the clutches of human traffickers,” explained the chairman of the German…