(Vatican Radio) A planned evacuation of rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo has been delayed. Opposition officials said they had expected a first group of wounded people to leave on Tuesday evening.The evacuations which were brokered by Turkey and Russia, had been due to start a 5 am local time.On Tuesday the United Nations said Syrian pro-government forces had been shooting civilians in Aleppo "on the spot", describing the situation there as a "complete meltdown of humanity".Forces loyal to Syria's leader Bashar al Assad, backed by Russia, have recaptured large areas on the besieged city of Aleppo in recent days.It's understood thousands of civilians are trapped inside buildings in the last remaining rebel-held areas .Despite the announcement of a ceasefire witnesses heard explosions ring out on Wednesday morning.Middle East Manager of Catholic relief agency Malteser International, Janine Lietmeyer spoke to Lydia O’Kane about the dire situat...
(Vatican Radio) A planned evacuation of rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo has been delayed. Opposition officials said they had expected a first group of wounded people to leave on Tuesday evening.
The evacuations which were brokered by Turkey and Russia, had been due to start a 5 am local time.
On Tuesday the United Nations said Syrian pro-government forces had been shooting civilians in Aleppo "on the spot", describing the situation there as a "complete meltdown of humanity".
Forces loyal to Syria's leader Bashar al Assad, backed by Russia, have recaptured large areas on the besieged city of Aleppo in recent days.
It's understood thousands of civilians are trapped inside buildings in the last remaining rebel-held areas .
Despite the announcement of a ceasefire witnesses heard explosions ring out on Wednesday morning.
Middle East Manager of Catholic relief agency Malteser International, Janine Lietmeyer spoke to Lydia O’Kane about the dire situation in the city.
Listen:
Asked what the most urgent need is, she said, “really, it’s a safe passage out; I mean if you imagine those people have been under besiegement since the middle of last year.”
Ms Lietmeyer added that “fundamentally it’s desperation, I mean their sitting there, there’s nothing really to do, people can’t move on the streets because there’s constant shelling and bombardment, there’s people dying all over the place for many different reasons and they just feel so helpless…”
She said that, they have been hearing reports that, “men face detention even execution, there are rumours about people being shot on the spot, families get torn apart because they separate men and women.”
For those who can’t get that safe passage out, “nothing is getting in” in the way of aid, she said, adding that “the level of destruction is incredible”.
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. "Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God's love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid," the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark's Square. Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: "Remaining ...
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...