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Herald Malaysia
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Pakistan passes landmark Minority Rights Law
Pakistan's parliament passed the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025 on May 13, creating a long-awaited independent body to protect the rights of religious minorities. May 23, 2025 Activists hold placards as they march to mark National Minorities Day in Lahore, Pakistan, on Aug. 11, 2021. (Photo: AFP) ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's parliament passed the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025 on May 13, creating a long-awaited independent body to protect the rights of religious minorities. The commission will have the authority to conduct inquiries, inspect detention facilities, summon witnesses, and issue binding recommendations. It will operate with its own budget and report directly to parliament, signalling a shift toward rights-based governance. Christian leaders and rights activists, who campaigned for over a decade for such a body, welcomed the move as historic but cautioned against complacency. 'This is the beginning of a long journey toward justice and equality,' said Peter Jacob of the Centre for Social Justice. Concerns remain about the commission's ability to function independently and avoid political interference, a challenge that plagued earlier government-appointed minority panels. --
Herald Malaysia
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Pope Leo warns against exploitation at inaugural mass
Pope Leo XIV, wearing his fisherman's ring, waves at the end of a Mass for the formal inauguration of his pontificate in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on May 18. (Photo: AFP) By AFP, Vatican CityPope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalizing the poor at his inaugural mass on May 18, attended by dignitaries including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice President JD days after he became the first US head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, some 200,000 people gathered to see his inaugural mass in St Peter's Square, according to the it started, the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost delighted the crowds by taking to the popemobile for the first time, smiling, waving and blessing those he his homily, the soft-spoken 69-year-old returned to the themes of peace, reconciliation and social justice that have marked his first few days as pope.'In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth's resources and marginalizes the poorest,' he a prayer afterwards, he noted the ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine, before holding a private audience with Zelensky and his wife.'The martyred Ukraine is waiting for negotiations for a just and lasting peace to finally happen,' Leo two decades spent as missionary in Peru, the new pope — who was only made a cardinal in 2023 — is unknown to many many of those gathered in St Peter's Square said they liked what they had heard so Grazia La Barbera, 56, a pilgrim from Palermo in Sicily, said Leo was 'the right person at the right time' to lead the Church.'He will certainly do what he promised: knocking down walls and building bridges,' she said. Vance 'very proud' Leo's elevation has sparked huge enthusiasm in the United States, which was represented by Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019. 'Fear and trembling' Security was tight for the event, which included politicians from Germany to Peru — where the pope holds citizenship — the Gulf and Canada, as well as faith leaders and European royals. He will wear the ring on his finger until he dies, when it will be
Herald Malaysia
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Vatican to cut phone signal during papal conclave
The deactivation will not cover St Peter's Square, where thousands are expected to gather May 06, 2025 A cardinal takes a picture with his mobile phone upon arrival to attend late Pope Francis' funeral ceremony at St Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 26. (Photo: AFP) By AFP, Vatican City The Vatican said on May 5 it would cut the phone signal within the tiny city-state during the conclave to elect a new pope -- but this would not affect St Peter's Square. The office of the presidency of the Governorate of the Vatican City State said that "starting from 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on May 7, all the transmission systems of the telecommunications signal for mobile telephones present in the territory of the Vatican City State... will be deactivated". "The signal will be restored after the announcement of the election of the supreme pontiff," it said in a statement. But the deactivation will not cover St Peter's Square, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters. Thousands of faithful are expected to gather in the square in front of St Peter's Basilica to await the announcement of a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21. A total of 133 cardinals from across the globe will gather in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to begin voting for a new head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. The election is carried out in utmost secrecy and the cardinals will be required to leave their mobile phones behind when they enter the conclave, Bruni
Herald Malaysia
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Whose outfit will new pope wear?
Italian ecclesiastical tailor, Raniero Mancinelli, 86, poses at the door of his shop in Borgo Pio, a neighborhood close to the Vatican, on Nov. 19, 2024. (Photo: AFP) For decades, one Rome tailor has been making the white cassock new popes wear immediately after election, but this time, he has a Gammarelli tailors traditionally prepare three outfits — short, medium, and tall — to fit new pontiffs, whatever their size, but say the Vatican has asked them not to offer anything this just hours to go before cardinals are locked into the Sistine Chapel to elect Pope Francis' successor, rival tailor Raniero Mancinelli is offering his own set, although the Vatican has not asked him to."I have to deliver them today or tomorrow... They have to be ready before the conclave to be used if needed," 86-year-old Mancinelli said on May made clothes for several popes in the past, but never had the honor of making the first outfit worn when the pope addressed the public from the balcony of St Peter's is hand-making the lightweight wool cassocks, sashes and white zucchettos -- or skullcaps -- to be delivered to the Vatican before the conclave, which starts on May is also making three sizes to cover all his are "small, medium or large", to fit different girths rather than heights, as the length will not be visible when the pontiff first Gammarelli told last week his family-run tailors had been readying to make the three virgin cassocks, as per tradition, but was "told by the Vatican that they have taken care of it."He said he assumed the vestments for the new pope would "be those of the previous conclaves, because each time we made three robes and they used only one."But Mancinelli, who has been a tailor for 70 years in his historic shop on the Borgo Pio, a stone's throw from the Vatican, hopes otherwise. An offering Mancinelli has the necessary skills, having worked under seven popes. "With so many priests, bishops, and cardinals coming and going, it's hard to remember them all," he
Herald Malaysia
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Ukrainian president says may not go to pope's funeral
Zelensky earlier said he would attend the Vatican funeral, but now has to attend 'military meetings' Apr 26, 2025 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky talks to the press as diplomats stand behind him near a destroyed residential building following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv on April 25, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo: AFP) By AFP, KyivUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday he might miss Pope Francis's funeral on April 26, which US President Donald Trump is also to attend, due to important "military meetings."Zelensky had earlier said he would attend the Vatican funeral, where he wanted to meet Trump -- who is pressuring both Kyiv and Moscow to reach a deal on the three-year war in Ukraine."If I am not [there] in time, Ukraine will be represented at a proper level," Zelensky said as he visited the site of a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv. "The foreign minister and the first lady will be there. As for me, it was important for me to be here. There are several military meetings in Ukraine today," he added. Zelensky said he would have a "number of meetings," including on the strike on Kyiv that had killed 12 people a day earlier. "There are several closed questions about this strike. And about Ukraine's corresponding steps. I don't know how long it will take. So if I have time, I will definitely be present [at the funeral]," he said. Zelensky earlier said that a missile fired by Russia on Kyiv on April 24 had been supplied by North Korea and had dozens of components from US
