VATICAN (CNS): A culture of peace “calls for unremitting efforts in favour of disarmament and the reduction of recourse to the use of armed force in the handling of international affairs,” Pope Francis said in his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican on January 8. 
 

VATICAN (SE): “All indicators available to the international community suggest that global migration will continue into the future. For my part, I ask you to view it with confidence as an opportunity to build peace,” Pope Francis says in his Message for the 51st World Day of Peace, which is marked on 1 January 2108.
 

HONG KONG (SE): The knee-jerk reaction of the president of the United States of America (US), Donald Trump, to the attack in the streets of New York on October 31 to put in place what he termed extreme vetting on all migrants coming into the country appears to be a choice to demonise an unseen enemy rather than face the reality of what has happened.
 

MANILA (UCAN): Bishop Ruperto Santos is encouraging Filipinos abroad to vote for candidates who promote the welfare of migrants, as the absentee voting for this year’s presidential election got underway on April 9.

More than a million Filipinos—1,326,728 land-based and 49,339 sea-based—have registered for the overseas absentee vote in this year’s election.

WASHINGTON (SE): An age of derivative journalism has ensured that even the craziest kites flown by the Republican presidential candidate in the United States of America, Donald Trump, receive wide exposure in the skies of the whole world.

The latest tells how Pope Francis has got right up the nose of the flamboyant demagogue.

VATICAN CITY (CNS): Cold indifference to migrants, the poor, the hungry and the persecuted must be overcome through the warmth of mercy, which can transform people into artisans of peace, Pope Francis said in a January 11 speech to ambassadors to the Holy See. 

HONG KONG (SE): What do migrants and elephants have in common? Well, apart from sharing December 18 as a day to draw attention to their situation, both are regarded as beasts of burden and both are threatened species, as they face constant hazards.