Vatican & World News

 - Pope Francis prays for victims of a massive earthquake that struck Myanmar on Friday

 - Christians in South Sudan are expressing deep concern as escalating violence threatens a new civil war

 - Cardinal Pietro Parolin calls for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and Gaza

-   The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom releases its 2025 Annual Report on the global situation of religious freedom.

-   Brazil’s former president Bolsonaro is set to go to trial after allegedly staging a coup in 2022.

-   UNICEF stresses the dire and desperate crisis for 825,000 children trapped in camps for displaced people.

-   Pope Francis continues his convalescence at Casa Santa Marta and concelebrates Mass in one of its little chapels

-   In a message, he encourages the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in its work, noting that its mission goes far beyond the application of protocols

-   Over 270 children are amongst the victims of Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past week

 

-   In the wake of Pope Francis’ words of appreciation for a draft peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia we look at the terms of the draft deal over the disputed northern Karabakh region

-   Egypt proposes a new ceasefire plan for Gaza

-   A Vatican Longevity Summit shines the light on an ageing world population and on the need to find ways to ensure a good quality of life for the elderly that is equally accessible to all

- Pope Francis gives his first 'in-person' greeting and blessing from the balcony of the Gemelli Hospital where he has been treated for pneumonia since mid-February before being discharged and sent back to Casa Santa Marta to recover and fully heal

- He appeals for a stop to the bombing in the Gaza Strip as the death toll surpasses 50,000

-  He also asks for prayers for the suffering people in war-torn countries across the world and for the commitment to undertake the path of dialogue

-    The UN marks World Water Day, which this year focuses on protecting glaciers, which store about 70 per cent of the world's freshwater.

-    Turkish authorities have detained 343 people during overnight protests in several cities.

-    The Pope is scheduled to greet the crowd outside Gemelli hospital on Sunday March 23.

 - The Sudanese army has recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum

 - Christian churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo advocate for reconciliation and regional stability

 - The vast Church in Polynesia celebrates the Jubilee

-   Pope Francis’ recovery continues, with his doctors saying he no longer requires mechanical ventilation at night

-   The Vatican’s central office for Church statistics releases its annual report, which shows that numbers of Catholics worldwide have increased, while the number of pastoral ministers continues to decline

-   As the United States carries out fresh airstrikes in Yemen, the region’s apostolic vicar warns of disastrous consequences for the civilian population

 

In the headlines this Tuesday the 19th of March:

 

-   Six bodies are recovered and forty people are missing after a boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast of Lampedusa,

 

-   We look at the situation of Christians in Syria and their role in achieving peace in the country,

 

but first,

 

-   The United Nations says that two of its workers were killed and others injured after a compound in Gaza was damaged.