Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - "Not to be missed! The Pope has called for a day of prayer and fasting for world peace on October 7": Xinde.org, the most visited Catholic information site in Chinese, based in the province of Hebei, has urged all Chinese Catholics to join the Pope's call and to pray and fast with him for peace in the world.
On Sunday, October 6, Pope Francis will go to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome to pray the Holy Rosary and ask for the gift of peace with the participants in the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops that is being held in the Vatican. On Monday, October 7, the first anniversary of the massacres of Israelis perpetrated by Hamas and other Palestinian Islamist groups, the Pontiff has called for a day of prayer and fasting to invoke the miracle of the end of the conflicts that cause suffering to people in so many parts of the planet.
Among the participants in the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops currently underway in Rome are also the two Chinese bishops from mainland China, Joseph Yang Yongqiang (Bishop of Hangzhou) and Vincent Zhan Silu (Bishop of Funing/Mindong). Yesterday, Thursday 3 October, the two bishops spoke with Pope Francis in a moment of conviviality shared also with Cardinal Stephen Chow, Sau yan, Bishop of Hong Kong, Norbert Pu, Bishop of Kiayi (Taiwan) and Cardinal Lazarus Heung-sik You, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy (see photo).
Xinde ("Faith"), in its invitation to join the Pope in prayer and fasting, also recalled the intense previous appeals launched by Pope Francis for peace in Syria (2013), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Lebanon (2020), Afghanistan (2021), Ukraine (2021), the Holy Land (2023). (NZ) (Agenzia Fides, 4/10/2024)