(Vatican Radio) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has scored a convincing victory in in the country’s presidential election, despite opposition concerns over his perceived autocratic style. With most votes counted it has become clear that he took around 55 percent of the vote, well above the 50 percent threshold to avoid a run-off. A satirical candidate protesting against widespread corruption and the political establishment also received many votes.Listen to Stefan Bos' report Champagne was flowing and supporters celebrated the Vucic's remarkable victory as it became clear he would become the country's new president. The results of Sunday's poll mark a political humiliation for Serbia’s beleaguered opposition parties. They had accused Vucic of becoming increasingly autocratic.Vucic will take on the largely ceremonial post at the end of May. But critics view him as the resurrected Slobodan Milosevic, thelate Serbian strongman who ruled the c...
(Vatican Radio) Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has scored a convincing victory in in the country’s presidential election, despite opposition concerns over his perceived autocratic style. With most votes counted it has become clear that he took around 55 percent of the vote, well above the 50 percent threshold to avoid a run-off. A satirical candidate protesting against widespread corruption and the political establishment also received many votes.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report
Champagne was flowing and supporters celebrated the Vucic's remarkable victory as it became clear he would become the country's new president. The results of Sunday's poll mark a political humiliation for Serbia’s beleaguered opposition parties. They had accused Vucic of becoming increasingly autocratic.
Vucic will take on the largely ceremonial post at the end of May. But critics view him as the resurrected Slobodan Milosevic, the
late Serbian strongman who ruled the country with an iron fist during the wars of the 1990s.
However Vucic claims to be a pro-Western politician seeking to join the European Union while at the same time keeping close relations with traditional ally Russia to please his mainly Serbian Orthodox voters. “For me it is important this election demonstrated that a large majority of Serbian citizens favour the continuation of the European path while maintaining close ties with China and Russia,” he said.
RETAINING CONTROL
He is expected to retain de facto power through his control of Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party. Vucic’s closest challenger, former rights advocate Sasa Jankovic only scored 16 percent of the vote in this Balkan country of just over 7 million people.
The biggest surprise of the election was the young satirical comedian Luka Maksimovic who polled nearly 10 percent,
picking up votes of disappointed Serbs.
Sporting a white suit and a samurai-style ponytail, the 25-year-old newcomer complete with his oversized jewellery and rallying call
"Hit it Hard" was vying to break through the perceived corrupt political establishment.
While that did not happen, his strong following warned Vucic to keep campaign promises and improve the lives of many
in this Balkan nation, which is still recovering from the wounds of its recent bloodstained history.
Easter Vigil at the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz (Holy Cross) in Austria. / Credit: Stift HeiligenkreuzACI Prensa Staff, May 15, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).The Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz (Holy Cross) in Austria is the oldest in the world, dating back almost 1,000 years, and currently has more than 100 monks living there. It has never had "interruptions" in its history and is now an oasis of the Catholic Church in Europe, with love for God and others at the center of its work and with the beloved Pope Benedict XVI as an "ally."Heiligenkreuz is located about 18 miles from Vienna, the capital of Austria. The monks, explained the Italian newspaper Avvenire, have an average age of 49, which means they are "young" in current Church terms, especially in Europe where there has been a precipitous decline in vocations.Four or five men each year join the historic abbey, founded in 1135, almost a thousand years ago, making it the oldest Cistercian abbey in the world.Among the abbey'...
Gloria Purvis, Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop Daniel Flores, and Bishop Robert Barron discuss polarization in the Catholic Church during a panel discussion hosted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Glenmary Home Missioners, and the Jesuit Conference on May 14, 2024. / Credit: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Live Stream YouTube channelWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 15, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Three Catholic bishops warned of a growing ideological polarization within the Church and the need for civil dialogue among those with disagreements during a livestreamed panel discussion on Tuesday afternoon."Politics is almost a religion and sometimes it's a sport, [but] it's not supposed to be either," Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, said during the discussion. "It's supposed to be a civil conversation … to seek what is good and make the priority how to achieve it and how to avoid what is evil...
Father Eduardo Chávez has been immersed in the study and dissemination of the message of the Virgin of Guadalupe for more than 40 years. / Credit: David Ramos/ACI PrensaACI Prensa Staff, May 14, 2024 / 15:52 pm (CNA).Father Eduardo Chávez, director of the Higher Institute of Guadalupan Studies and postulator of the cause for canonization of St. Juan Diego, was recently confirmed as "master Guadalupan theologian" by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, the primatial archbishop of Mexico.The decision was made May 9 in conjunction with the Chapter of the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, headed by its rector, Father Efraín Hernández.Chávez, who also holds a doctorate in Church history from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, shared with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, his gratitude for this appointment, committing himself to "deepen knowledge of the Guadalupan event, to disseminate it throughout the world."Chávez noted that "the Virgin of Guadalupe places Je...