Worldaround - Informations

After three days of rising protests from students and professors, Pope Benedict XVI has pulled out of a long scheduled visit to Rome's historic La Sapienza University. The Pontiff had been invited by the La Sapienza rector. Pope was scheduled to deliver the speech as part of a ceremony to inaugurate the academic year at the university, which was founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303. In the speech, the pope was expected explore the mission of popes and of universities. About 67 of the 4,500 professors at the university had signed a letter to the university rector, saying the pope should not be allowed to give the inauguration speech for the academic year. The university has 145,000 students. Italians condemned the protests, saying they smacked of censorship. Politicians and pundits used words like “shame” and “humiliation” to describe national sentiment .The intolerance against the Holy Father has cause a wave of protests across Italy. The universal church and the worl...

10th Jan. Rome officials visited Pope. This visit created a political storm. The p olitical officials are Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni; the President of the province of Rome, Enrico Gasbarra; and the president of the region of Lazio, Pietro Marrazzo. All three are members of center-left political parties. They visited pope to wish him new year greetings. Pope as a bishop of Rome points out urgent needs to resolve a series of emergencies in education, housing, poverty, unemployment and public safety. He also warned that there should be greater support for the traditional family "founded on marriage" -- an implicit criticism of recent efforts in Rome to grant legal recognition and benefits to cohabiting couples. Referring to the recent murder of a Roman woman, allegedly by a Romanian immigrant, the pope said city officials urgently need to find a way to increase security. But they also need to provide to immigrants the basic opportunities for an honest and dignified life. Italian...

Christmas night !! Joy and peace !! But in Orissa (India) it was a horrible night!!! Christians could not celebrate birth day of their Lord. It was a violence day. As the violence against Christians by the Hindutva extremists in Orissa has seen over 30 churches and institutions destroyed, some people shot and injured in gunfire, nuns and pastors forced to flee their homes, reportedly by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) activists. The violence, which has claimed five lives, began on Christmas Eve and has caused damage costing about $700,000, said church officials at a press conference Dec. 31 at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India centre in New Delhi. The violence began after about 500 Hindu radicals attacked a tent displaying the Nativity scene that Christians of various denominations put up in Bamunigam, a small town in the Kandhamal district. Our sisters are missionaries in Orissa. They also experienced a lot of threat in these days. We are facing great cha...