Pope Francis

The visit was designed to forge Muslim-Christian brotherhood and show solidarity with the country's persecuted Coptic Christian minority.

The pontiff suggested that Norway, for example, was "always ready to help".

He warned the crisis risked sparking a devastating war in which "a good part of humanity" would be destroyed.

His comments come hours after North Korea test-fired another ballistic missile, which the US and South Korea say exploded shortly after take-off.

The missile was fired from a site in South Pyeongan province, north of Pyongyang, South Korea said.

US President Donald Trump accused Pyongyang of showing "disrespect" towards China and its president.

The group Work of Love has rented a portion of the Little Madonna beach since 2012 and outfitted it with boardwalks, ramps and water vehicles to provide access to people in wheelchairs and those with other issues that make a day at the beach difficult.

Monseigneur Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, told CNN that Francis gave the charity an undisclosed sum to "support the project that helps disabled youth and in particular to cover the cost of the annual rent for the beach known as the Little Madonna."

"I don't know if he was able to get out of that concentration camp, because the refugee camps -- many -- are concentration (camps), because they are so crowded with people," the Pope said in Italian.

The AJC issued a statement asking the pontiff to reconsider his "regrettable" choice of words.

"The conditions in which migrants are currently living in some European countries may well be difficult, and deserve still greater international attention, but concentration camps they certainly are not," said AJC CEO David Harris.

“During these days, days of love, let us be enveloped by the mystery of Jesus who, like a grain of wheat, in dying gives us life. He is the seed of our hope,” the Pope said April 12.

“Let us contemplate the Crucified Christ, the source of hope. Little by little we realize that hope with Jesus is learning to see, indeed right now, the plant in the seed, Easter in the cross, life in death.”

In an interview with German newspaper Die Zeit, Pope Francis said the lack of Catholic priests was an "enormous problem" for the Church, and indicated he would be open to a change in the rules governing eligibility for the priesthood.

"We need to consider if 'viri probati' could be a possibility," he said. "If so, we would need to determine what duties they could undertake, for example, in remote communities."

Viri probati is the Latin term for "tested men" or married men of outstanding faith and virtue.

"So many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others," Francis said during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, according to Vatican Radio. "How many times have we heard -- all of us, around the neighborhood and elsewhere -- 'But to be a Catholic like that, it's better to be an atheist.' It is that: scandal."

Agencies instructed to provide land acquisition reports

http://www.looppng.com/png-news/agencies-instructed-provide-land-acquisition-reports-51755

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has instructed all relevant Government agencies to provide full reports on how the Manumanu land in the Central Province has been acquired.

Govt set record with national healthcare plan

Written in local Roman dialect, the posters lamented that the Pope had "removed priests; decapitated the Knights of Malta" and "ignored Cardinals," echoing some of the major complaints some conservative Catholics have about Pope Francis' recent decisions. The posters were not signed by any group.

On the day the posters appeared the Pope finalized a months-long battle with the Knights of Malta by appointing a Special Delegate from the Vatican and giving him "all necessary powers" to help renew the traditional Catholic Order.

Fr. Peter Baquero was born in Manila (Philippines) on September 15, 1970, and made perpetual profession in 1998 and was ordained in 1999 in Parañaque.

From the period of his practical training in PNG he followed the missionary vocation ad gentes.