Catholic News 2

Pakistan's Railways and Human Rights ministries plan to run a special train over Christmas to express solidarity with the minority Christian community and promote inter-faith harmony. State-run APP news agency quoted unnamed officials saying that the special "human rights train" would be the first rail service run to celebrate a minority festival. It will depart from Islamabad on Dec. 22.

Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and Federal Minister for Human Rights Kamran Michael, who is the only non-Muslim minister in the cabinet, will see the train off. It will reach Peshawar the same day before leaving for Rawalpindi on Dec. 23. It will travel to Lahore on the final leg of its journey, on Dec. 24. The train will consist of five carriages decorated with messages of religious tolerance, brotherhood and love.

Minister Kamran Michael told the Daily Times that the Christian community was an equal partner in the struggle for ensuring sustained development, stability, security and solidarity in Pakistan. He said the special train would highlight the role of Christians in the creation of the country. He added that the Constitution of Pakistan grants non-Muslims the freedom to observe their religions.

Father Qaiser Feroz, executive secretary of the Pakistani bishops' social communications commission, welcomed the first Christmas train in Pakistan. "It is a unique initiative to boost the campaign for harmony and peace. We only had such trains on Eid and other special occasions in the past. It is a powerful message to extremists who do not tolerate followers of other religions. The government should think of more ways to endorse religious harmony," he told ucanews.com.

Father James Channan, regional coordinator of the United Religions Initiative Pakistan, said it was an admirable gesture. "I congratulate the ministers who have doubled Christian joy. The messages they plan to display on the train are the teachings of Jesus Christ. I just hope they give discounts to passengers who want to spend these holidays with their loved ones," said the Dominican priest who is organizing an interfaith celebration in Lahore this Sunday. "There is a great need to promote the message of religious harmony at present: when terrorism and hate prevail," he added.

(Source: UCANews)

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Vatican City, Dec 17, 2016 / 03:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis will receive thousands of gifts for his 80th birthday Saturday, from heads of state and the ordinary faithful.

Among these gifts are a wood-framed pair of glasses made from part of a 1,600-year-old olive tree. That gift is from Viktor and Sand Jeromil of Croatia, the newspaper Croatia Week reports.
 
Gifts like these from the faithful are often presented to the Pope in the form of pictures. Gifts from heads of state, however, are officially delivered.
 
By tradition, the most precious gifts are given to the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Library, or the Sacristy and Treasury Museum. The other gifts are handled by the Floreria Apostolica, an institution within the Vatican walls that provides for furniture and decorations of the Holy Palaces and for the setting of St. Peter’s Square during the general audiences.
 
The Floreria runs the Pope’s so-called “private warehouse.” Gifts are generally stored there and sometimes re-gifted. Under Pope Francis, some of the presents are sold in the store within the Vatican walls where only Vatican employees can shop.
 
The store is located at the historic Vatican train station. It displays the presents behind a glass at its entrance, where any shopper can buy a gift by making a “minimum offer,” or more than the set price. All the proceeds go to the Pope’s charity.

Some papal gifts have included perishable foods, which are put to good use.
 
In 2010, Benedict XVI received an expensive and rare white truffle of Alba. He gave it to the refectory of Caritas Italy. It was able to provide the homeless with a precious menu of rice and meat flavored with the white truffle. That day, the homeless ate like kings.
 
Some of the presents are chosen as prizes for the Christmas lottery the Vatican has launched under Pope Francis. Lottery tickets cost 10 euros ($10.40each, with some 40 prizes available. This is the fourth year the lottery takes place, and most lottery proceeds will go to relief efforts for those stricken by the Aug. 24 earthquake in central Italy.

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