BEIRUT (CNS): Catholics from around the world living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are waiting with great anticipation for Pope Francis’ February 3 to 5 visit, the first papal trip to the Arabian Peninsula.
 

LIMA (CNS): A weeklong pastoral visit to Chile and Peru saw Pope Francis tackling many a politically charged issue. Addressing large audiences that included political leaders, he denounced human trafficking, decried environmental destruction, corruption and organised crime.
 

HONG KONG (SE): “The presence of God today is also called Rohingya,” Pope Francis said on December 1. The BBC reported that the pope’s unscripted comment was made during an interfaith meeting in Dhaka during his visit to Bangladesh when he also met with a group of Rohingya refugees and listened to their stories.
 
“In the name of all of those who have persecuted you, hurt you, I ask forgiveness,” the pope asked the refugees. “I appeal to your large hearts to give us the forgiveness that we are asking.”

Hong Kong (SE): At end of his four-day visit to Myanmar on November 30, Pope Francis had met with the country’s president, Htin Kyaw; state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi; its senior military general and army chief, Min Aung Hlaing; as well as leaders of the Buddhist, Muslim, Baptist and Jewish faiths.
 
To the dismay of some observers and rights advocates, not once while in Myanmar did he publicly use the word, Rohingya.
 

HOng Kong (SE): When Pope Francis flew Myanmar to Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the afternoon of November 30, he was welcomed by the president, Abdul Hamid, eight local bishops and a number of government leaders. The Dhaka Tribune reported that he was also accorded a 21-gun salute. 
 

HAVANA (Agencies): While all may have seemed calm as pope Francis sat peacefully with the Cuban revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, those who represent the people who suffered under his rule were being prevented by Cuban police from attending public events, even though some of them had been invited by Vatican diplomats to attend a papal function.

HAVANA (SE): Pope Francis took a swipe at the ideology of the revolutionary Cuban government when he addressed an estimated crowd of half a million people gathered for a papal Mass in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolucion on September 20.

In addressing the congregation, he pointed out that serving the people is the cornerstone of the Code of Ethics for the leaders of the Cuban state.