Missionaries of the World

Pope Francis explained the true meaning of hope saying it’s much more than simple optimism for Christians, it is constant expectation, it is a gift from the Holy Spirit and it is a miracle of renewal that never lets us down. Speaking on Tuesday at morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, the Pope reflected on the words of St. Paul in which he says: 'Never disappoint yourself'- Hope never lets you down. Why? Said the Pope: “Because it's a gift from the Holy Spirit”. And he continued: Paul tells us that hope has a name. Hope is Christ.

The 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) opened on Wednesday, 30 October in Busan, Republic of Korea under the theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.” Pope Francis has called on all Christians to intensify prayer and cooperate in service of the Gospel in a letter to the participants of the Tenth General Assembly. The President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch, read the letter to participants.

Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash was conferred Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice. He is a human rights activist and a Jesuit priest based in the city of Ahmedabad in Western India. He is the Director of Prashant, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace. He has committed himself to the service of faith and promotion of human rights, communal harmony, justice and peace, since the last 30 years.

Pope Francis appealed for peace in Iraq on Wednesday. The Holy Father made his appeal at the close of his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, before greeting Iraqi civil authorities and representatives of the various religious groups which, said Pope Francis, “Constitute the richness of the country.” The Iraqi delegation was accompanied by the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Card. Jean-Louis Tauran.

Final preparations are underway for the opening of the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to be held in Busan, Republic of Korea. The welcome bags are prepared by the volunteers of Sansung Presbyterian Church in Busan, for assembly delegates and several thousand other participants who are expected to attend the 10-day assembly. The bags include an array of assembly publications including worship and Bible study materials, programme and resource book and information about the work of the WCC since the last assembly, held in 2006 at Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The Vatican has suspended a German Bishop over his alleged lavish spending. Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-Van Elst is accused of spending more than 31m euros on renovating his official residence. He is under investigation for his spending after his residence in Limburg, Germany. The Vatican said it deemed "appropriate... a period of leave from the diocese" for the bishop. The suspension comes two days after he met the Pope to discuss the matter. The Vatican says Tebartz-Van Elst cannot carry out his ministry as long as the investigation in ongoing and he's been ordered to stay outside his diocese.

The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), Cardinal Oswald Gracias met the Chairperson of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) (UPA is an alliance of political parties in India) Mrs.Sonia Gandhi and discussed with her certain issues of concern for the Catholic Church in India. Cardinal Oswald Gracias is one of the eight Cardinals India Pope Francis chose to advise him on reforming the Governance of the Church.

Pope Francis spoke about the need to pray always, without growing tired and must cry out to the Lord day and night – not because God does not know our needs, or doesn’t listen to us, but because the daily struggle against evil requires patience and resistance. Pope said, “There is a struggle to carry on every day, but God is our ally, faith in Him is our strength and prayer is the expression of this faith”. Pope recalled the words of Jesus at the end of the Gospel: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8). “If the faith goes out, if prayer ends,” the Pope said, we end up waking in darkness, and losing the way on the journey of life.” Pope also celebrated World Mission Sunday, remembering the Italian Afra Martinelli.

The text-books of Pakistani schools pose the killing of Christians as "learning objective" that would help the same members of the minority to seek martyrdom for the faith. This is shown by a report published in late September by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). According to research, the texts are common in most public primary schools and even Pakistani Christians and members of other minorities are forced to read and study them. The authors of the books led by the religious leaders have changed the meaning of the term "minority", which is now perceived with negative meaning.

Rev. Dr, Antje Jackelen, Bishop of Lund won 55.9% of the vote from the ecclesiastical college of the Church of Sweden which has 324 members. She will be the first female Bishop of the Lutheran church that calls about 2/3 of Sweden's population members. Her appointment was announced on Tuesday, October 15, 2013. Bishop Antje Jackelen will replace the current archbishop Anders Wejryd. Rev. Dr. Jackelen born in Herdecke, Germany was ordained a priest in the Church of Sweden in 1980 and became a doctor of theology at Lund University in 1999. She will be formally received during a worship service at Uppsala Cathedral in June 2014.

Thirty million people are enslaved worldwide, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labour, victims of debt bondage or even born into servitude, a global index on modern slavery showed on Thursday. Almost half are in India, where slavery ranges from bonded labour in quarries and kilns to commercial sex exploitation, although the scourge exists in all 162 countries surveyed by Walk Free, an Australian-based Rights Group.

Pope Francis delivered his Angelus message at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday encouraging them to seek God in prayer to increase their faith. The prayer made for the victims of the tragic shipwreck off the coast of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, More than a hundred people are confirmed dead and hundreds more are missing after a ship carrying African migrants sank on Thursday. The Holy Father began his address by acknowledging what a gift it was to make his first visit to Assisi on the feast of Saint Francis on October 4 and gave thanks for the warm welcome he received there.