Missionaries of the World

Pope Francis celebrated his first Easter Sunday Mass praying for world peace and urging a diplomatic solution to the standoff on the Korean peninsula. Only two weeks after his election, the first pope from the developing world continues to make his mark on the Catholic Church. St. Peter's Square was bedecked with flowers and packed with joyous pilgrims and tourists as Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass. The Pope appearing before more than 250,000 people for his first Easter Sunday address at St. Peter's Square.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday urged the faithful to stop the practice of "crucifixion" and self-flogging during Holy Week. Philippines Authority announced that at least 24 "penitents" are expected to be nailed on the cross on Good Friday, an annual ritual meant to atone for sins and give thanks to God for blessings. Archbishop Jose Palma, President of CBCP said the Church does not encourage these spectacles because that is not the desire of Jesus Christ.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) supported women's initiatives against violence on the basis of a Christian conviction that "women as well as men are created in the image of God and deserve to be respected, protected, and cared for" at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This stance was presented in a statement at the 57th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, focused on the elimination of violence against women, on 14 March, in New York City, United States, by Dr Isabel Phiri, WCC's Associate General Secretary for public witness and diakonia.

Christians demanded a separate province in Pakistan after more than 180 Christian owned homes shops and two Churches were torched on Saturday by an enraged Muslim mob, following reports that a Christian man had blasphemed Islam in Lahore, eastern Pakistan. Thousands of Christians in in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad protested the violence on Sunday, accusing the police of failing to protect the Christians of Joseph Colony while also condemning the country's blasphemy laws, demanding justice and criticizing the police for failing to protect them.

Pope Francis, giving his clearest indication yet that he wants a more austere Catholic Church, said on Saturday that it should be poor and remember that its mission is to serve the poor. He speaking mostly off-the-cuff and smiling often, made his comments in an audience for journalists where he explained why he chose to take the name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, a symbol of peace, austerity and poverty.

Government of India shall establish 50,000 Technology and Skill education Centres to provide skills to 50 lakh personnel and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has a big role to play as the ultimate destination for those who cannot afford education through conventional universities, announced by Mr.Oscar Fernandes, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) at the inaugural of the Mother Teresa Chair in IGNOU at New Delhi.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to be the new Pope Francis I. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who lack an Ordinary of their own rite, was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires. He studied a degree as a chemical technician, but then chose the priesthood and entered the seminary of Villa Devoto. On 11 March 1958, he moved to the novitiate of the Company of Jesus where he finished studies in the humanities in Chile. In 1963, on returning to Buenos Aires, he obtained a degree in philosophy at the St. Joseph major seminary of San Miguel.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to be the new Pope on Wednesday in a surprise choice, taking the name Pope Francis I. He becomes the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years. Pope Francis, 76, appeared on the Central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica just over an hour after white smoke poured from a chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel to signal 115 cardinal electors had chosen him to lead the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.