L-għaxar pajjiżi bl-iktar Kattoliċi, flimkien jammontaw għal aktar min-nofs il-Kattoliċi mifruxa mad-dinja kollha.

Skont statistika maħruġa mill-Vatikan, dawn il-pajjiżi huma: il-Brażil (172.2 miljun), il-Messiku (110.9), il-Filippini (83.6), l-Istati Uniti (72.3), l-Italja (58.0), Franza (48.3), il-Kolombja (45.3), Spanja (43.3), ir-Repubblika Demokratika tal-Kongo (43.2) u l-Arġentina(40.8).

Sal-aħħar tas-sena 2015, kien hawn madwar 1,285 biljun Kattoliku. 

Mid-dettalji miġbura, ħareġ li żdied in-numru ta’ Kattoliċi madwar id-dinja, minn 1,272 miljun fl-2014 għal 1,285 miljun fl-2015…

Fi ftit jiem oħra, il-Papa Franġisku se jibda t-18-il vjaġġ appostoliku tiegħu, din id-darba fl-Eġittu.

Skont il-kelliem tal-Vatikan, Greg Burke, bħall-vjaġġi l-oħra tiegħu, il-Papa se juża karozza normali, jiġifieri mingħajr protezzjoni. Dan minkejja l-attakki terroristiċi li ġraw jiem ilu fuq il-komunitajiet Insara.

Waqt konferenza tal-aħbarijiet li saret dalgħodu mal-ġurnalisti, Burke stqarr li l-Papa jrid jgħaddi messaġġ pożittiv…

In his Angelus address in a sunny St Peter’s Square, Pope France recalled the Church tradition of calling the first Sunday after Easter “in albis”, an expression he said, meant to recall the rite of those who had received baptism in white on the Easter Vigil.

The Pope went on to say that  in the Jubilee of Year of 2000, St John Paul II established that this particular Sunday was to be dedicated to Divine Mercy…

Il‑festa tal‑Ħniena Divina tniżżlet fil‑kalendarju tal‑Knisja grazzi għall-Papa Ġwanni Pawlu II, li fl‑1992 ddeċieda li dil‑festa tibda tiġi ċċelebrata fl‑ewwel Ħadd ta’ wara l‑Għid, l‑hekk imsejħa “Domenica in albis”.

X’inhu l‑orġini ta’ din il‑festa?

Ġesù, skont id‑dehriet li Suor Fawstina kellha tiegħu fl‑1931 u li kitbthom fid‑djaru tagħha, qasam magħha x‑xewqa li l‑Knisja tfakkar din il‑festa: “Jien nixtieq li jkun hawn il‑festa tal‑Ħniena Divina…

Pope Francis on Saturday paid tribute to modern day martyrs whom he said “are the living blood of the Church”.

The Pope was presiding over a Liturgy of the Word at the Church of St. Bartholomew on the Tiber, a shrine to the martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Speaking during his homily, the Pope had words of closeness for the many Christian communities being persecuted today “because of the hatred of the spirit of this world”…