Missionaries of the World

Pope Francis has decided to set up a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” which will be celebrated each year on September 01st annually. He made the announcement in a letter he sent to Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The celebration of this day is on the same date as the Orthodox Church which has been observing it now for about two decades. Following the announcement of Pope Francis, Lutheran World Federation and some Anglican Communions have also come forward to join the celebration.

A court in Pakistan has directed jail authorities and Government officials not to restrict the father and other close relatives of Asia Bibi from meeting her in jail, her lawyer said. The Lahore High Court in Pakistan's Punjab province gave the order after the blasphemy victim's father, Soran Masih, filed a petition seeking access to his daughter and complaining that police and prison authorities blocked his entry several times since 2012, according to media reports. Last October, the Lahore High Court upheld the death penalty of Bibi.

The 11-day annual festival of Our Lady of Good Health popularly called “Annai Velankanni Matha Tiruvizha” commenced on Saturday, August 29, 2015 with a Holy procession and hoisting of a flag at the Velankanni Basilica. Velankanni is a Town panchayat situated in Nagapattinam District in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu.

The Indian Government has released the most basic of census figures: the religious composition of the population. Nearly half of the Country’s Christian population lives in South India, shows the Census 2011 released on Tuesday. The five Southern States -Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh including Telangana — account for 1.28 crore (46%) of India's 2.78 crore-strong Christian community. The percentage of Christians in the total population has dipped slightly from 2.34% in 2001 to 2.29% in 2011.

Announcement of Rev. Milton Mejía as new General Secretary of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI), on July 27, 2015 was greeted by the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, as “an expressive gesture of care for the treasure of ecumenical witness.” Before his recent election, Rev. Mejía was working as CLAI’s Programme Executive for Faith, Ecology, Economy and Society and professor of theology at the Reformed University of Barranquilla, Colombia.

An elderly Ukrainian nun found dead in her apartment in Kiev on Wednesday, July 29, 2015. News agency said that 62 year old -Sister Alevtina (62) served as a nun at Kiev's Florivsky Convent. Her body was found on July 29 with her hands tied and showing "traces of torture". Also on Wednesday, Father Roman Nikolayev, 40 of the Church of St Tatiana died after being shot in the head last Sunday. He was found by a neighbour near his house in Kiev's Obolon district.