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Pope Francis plans to visit Kazakhstan in September for an interreligious meeting. The pope intends to visit the Central Asian country for the seventh edition of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, taking place in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan in mid-September. Kazakhstan has also been proposed as a potential country that could serve as a location for a meeting between Pope Francis and Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, who is thought to have some influence on Vladimir Putin.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250949/pope-francis-plans-to-visit-kazakhstan-in-september
Seven people were killed when a tank fired on a Caritas office in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. The Catholic charitable organization Caritas-Spes announced April 11 that among the seven people killed by the Russian attack were two women staff members of Caritas Mariupol. Mariupol, a port city in southeastern Ukraine, was attacked by Russian forces on February 24, the first day of the full-scale invasion of the country. Ukrainian fighters have continued to resist the Russian advance on the city despite relentless bombing, which has destroyed many buildings and killed thousands of people.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250941/seven-people-killed-at-caritas-office-in-beseiged-city-of-mariupol
After almost a decade of death and destruction, and one year after the historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, more than 25,000 Assyrian Christians celebrated Palm Sunday in northern Iraq over the weekend. The town of Qaraqosh became the Christian epicenter of Iraq during a procession and a Mass on April 10. Qaraqosh has been only partially rebuilt after years of assaults by ISIS, and it is estimated that only half of its original Christian population has returned. The Palm Sunday procession was decorated with palm fronds, roses, bright colors, and folkloric costumes characteristic of Holy Week and Easter.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250940/iraqi-christians-return-nineveh-holy-week
A jury has convicted Ali Harbi Ali for the murder of British politician Sir David Amess, a pro-life Catholic. Ali stabbed Amess more than 20 times during an October 2021 attack at a Methodist Church in Essex, England. Amess had served in Parliament since 1983 and was a champion of pro-life causes. He also was instrumental in arranging Pope Benedict the sixteenth’s visit to the UK Parliament in September 2010.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250944/guilty-verdict-for-murderer-of-catholic-mp-david-amess
Today the Church celebrates Saint Giuseppe Moscati, the first modern medical doctor to be canonized. The Catholic understanding of body and soul informed his understanding of illness and medicine, as he saw Confession and Communion as the “first medicine.” To help the poor, he often donated his medical services or paid for his patients' prescriptions. He lived out the Gospel through his position as a teacher and physician.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-joseph-moscati-55