Nepal to Issue “Third Gender” Passports, The 50 Worst Countries for Christians and More…

 

VATICAN CITY

“Homicidal violence is abominable and never justifiable” — Pope Francis 
VIS

 

"Love leads to God" — Pope Francis 
RADIO VATICANA

 

Vatican to become more politically active — The Vatican is to become more involved in international politics, its most senior diplomat has said 
THE TABLET

 

Want to see Pope Francis’ vision for the church? Look at his new cardinals 
Breaking with tradition and at the same time bending a few Vatican rules, Pope Francis on Sunday named 20 new cardinals coming from various far-flung corners of the world. It is the second time he made such major appointments
RNS

 

Yazidi leaders tell Pope Francis “5,000 Yazidi women reduced to slavery by ISIS” 
ZENIT

 

Francis will deliver all 11 of his major addresses in English in Sri Lanka and the Philippines next week 
YN

 

Pope appoints new secretary of Congregation for the Clergy 
CATHOLIC CULTURE

 

Vatican’s smartest kid in the class keeps making waves — Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is an intellectual who’s become a star through a combination of brain power and media savvy, not to mention a remarkably entrepreneurial spirit 
CRUX

 

NORTH AMERICA

25% of all prisoners worldwide held in US 
GLOBAL POST

 

NBC omits “God” from Pledge of Allegiance, again (Here’s the thing, you keep telling God to "go away" and  guess what .. He will! Europe and America (in my opinion) are beginning to find out what its like to live in a godless society) 
FN

 

"I was fired because of my Christian faith" — How an American Fire Chief was sacked for possessing Christian values 
FN

 

The New America: 12-year-old Missouri boy told to stop reading his Bible in free time at school
 CHRISTIAN TODAY  GOSPEL HERALD

 

Feminism to blame for men’s crisis of confidence, says cardinal — Cardinal Raymond Burke has blamed radical feminism for leaving men "marginalized" in the Church since the 1960’s 
EMANGELIZATION

 

Federal agent imprisoned for falsifying investigation on Texas border 
BB

 

Is Paris a warning? — "I have repeatedly warned that the ongoing Islamization of Europe will change everything that Europeans hold dear. Free expression is already under attack. Who will write honestly about Islam if it means death to the writer or his loved ones?" 
HLR

 

CNN anchor shamelessly drags Israel into Paris shooting debate 
ISRAEL TODAY

 

Father throws 5 year old daughter off Florida bridge 
CNN

 

Will the world wake up to ISIS’s demonic ambitions? — Author Joel Rosenberg is sounding the alarm that radical Islam is spreading and if world leaders don’t deal decisively with it, we’re all in danger 
CBN

 

Warning: Islamic attack on French paper could be just the beginning (Some have been predicting such attacks and saying this, but, there are those who rather not hear about the approaching storm!)
 CHARISMA

 

"Piss Christ" photo removed by AP after journalist points out double standard for not publishing offensive Charlie Hebdo Islam cartoon — The Associated Press removed a photo of an "art piece" called 
"Piss Christ" from its website Wednesday after a journalist pointed out the company’s double standard. AP has refused to publish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons mocking Muhammad that led to Hebdo’s murder due to its policy of not publishing "deliberately provocative images" (The Associated Press has harbored a covertly anti-Christian agenda for decades) 
CHRISTIAN POST

 

British Muslim cleric asks critical American interviewer "Are you Jewish?"
 
BB

 

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "Western liberals are too afraid of offending Muslims" (Ain’t that the truth! One might also say "too afraid period!") 
BB

 

What you never knew about Nordstrom 
FAITH HUB

 

LATIN AMERICA

Our New World: Drug cartel forced members to eat human hearts — A vicious Mexican drug gang forced members to eat the hearts of murder victims as part of a gruesome initiation rite to root out infiltrators 
HUFFINGTON POST

 

Head of drug-war-torn Mexican diocese to become a cardinal 
CNA

 

RECOMMENDED ON ALETEIA

The spirit of our times is the spirit of the anti-Christ

 

After Charlie Hebdo, Could European Churches Be Next? "It doesn’t take a prophet to foresee the threat to Christian Europe" (Err .. yep! But you’d be surprised how many slammed doors you get when trying to speak about this!) 

 

How Catholics caved in to LBJ on birth control .. and what this says about the fight with Obamacare

 

Who Wants Good Men? Satan Does—And the World Doesn’t  How modern culture has declared war on masculinity

 

BRITAIN & IRELAND

The New Britain: Cathedral verger hospitalized with head injuries after vicious attack 
LANCASHIRE TELEGRAPH

 

Armed police patrol Eurostar station in London as MI5 chief warns of threats from "those who wish us harm" 
DAILY MAIL

 

Cardinal Nichols says he is praying "with the people of France" — Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster has said his “thoughts and prayers are with the people of France” following the Paris terror attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo 
CATHOLIC HERALD

 

 

Terror attacks on UK "likely," warns MI5 boss 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

Dublin priest says 
during Mass
 that he is gay – and receives standing ovation 
IRISH CENTRAL

 

EUROPE

ISIS praises Charlie Hebdo attack — A fighter of the "Islamic State" insurgent group praised Wednesday’s attack on a French satirical magazine that killed 12 people, telling Reuters the raid was revenge for insults against Islam 
JERUSALEM POST

 

Al-Qaida praises gunmen for Charlie Hebdo attack — Al-Qaida’s North African branch has praised the gunmen behind this week’s killings at Charlie Hebdo hailing them as "knights of truth" (Those men may be many things, but knights isn’t one of them) 
JERUSALEM POST

 

Qatar expels Hamas leader to Turkey — Turkey is fast becoming the preferred "safe haven" for terrorists of every possible description! 
HAARETZ

 

Suicide bomber hits police station in Istanbul’s historic center — A female suicide bomber blew herself up at a police station in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet district on Tuesday, killing one officer and wounding another 
CHRISTIAN DAILY

 

The pen is mightier than the sword — How the world’s cartoonists responded to the cowardly attack on Charlie Hebdo 
DAILY MAIL

 

Was Charlie Hebdo massacre Al-Qaeda’s bid to re-establish itself as global terror force after being "eclipsed by ISIS" 
DAILY MAIL

 

"We cannot let them win:" Slain police officer’s brother calls on France to show solidarity against the horror of extremist-inspired violence 
DAILY MAIL

 

Our New World: Nurse admits to killing 30 patients because he was bored and wanted to show off his ‘excellent’ resuscitation skills 
DAILY MAIL

 

World’s oldest bishop has died — Retired Bishop Gery Leuliet, the oldest Catholic bishop in the world, passed away New Year’s Day at the age of 104 in his home country of France 
NCR

 

Europe’s Euthananasia craze — The case of Frank Van Den Bleeken, the Belgian murderer and rapist who requested to be euthanized rather than spend life in prison, has provoked its fair share of comment. And rightly so, for the facts of this case are shocking 
FIRST THINGS

 

Man jailed for nine months for leaving a sarcastic comment on his ex-girlfriend’s Facebook photo in Spain 
DAILY MAIL

 

AFRICA

Police officers shot while guarding Coptic church — Two Egyptian policemen were shot dead on Tuesday morning as they stood guard at a Coptic Christian church in Minya, south of Cairo 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

Muslim Egyptian president in groundbreaking visit to Christian church — Egypt’s president has become the first of the country’s leaders to attend a Coptic liturgy (I pray this gesture sends some sort of message of tolerance to some of Egypt’s less-than-tolerant Muslims) 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

 

Hundreds of refugees evicted from Johannesburg church 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

Radical Islam a growing threat to sub-Saharan Christians — Radical Islamists were the main persecutors of Christians around the world last year, not only in the Middle East but increasingly in sub-Saharan Africa 
CHRISTIAN DAILY

 

MIDDLE EAST


Powerful new Iraqi militia has deep ties to Tehran
 
THE TOWER

 

Islam is the most violent religion in the world, but let’s keep calling it "peaceful" anyway 
THE BLAZE

 

You dare to write against Islam? You will be flogged! — A liberal activist sentenced to prison and flogging in Saudi Arabia will face a first round of lashes on Friday, rights watchdog Amnesty International has said (This is par for the course in Islam. We should not be surprised) 
TOWNHALL

 

Islamic militants killed twice as many Christians in 2014 than 2013 (Watch out for an increase in attacks against Christians throughout 2015) 
CHL

 

Islam’s war on Christians: Worst yet to come? 
CBN

 

Christians in the Middle East are losing hope, warns Coptic bishop 
CHRISTIAN DAILY

 

Snow leads to cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians — Palestinian Authority asked the IDF to help clear the main road leading the Palestinian capital of Ramallah amid heavy snow fall 
YNET

 

ASIA & FAR EAST

Indian men kidnap and rape Japanese tourist then lock her in basement for a month 
DAILY MAIL

 

Christians jailed in India for celebrating Christmas 
CHRISTIAN DAILY 

 

Christians being persecuted in India as Hindus file complaints over "spreading Christianity" 
CHRISTIAN NEWS

 

Pakistani Muslim beats Christian mother with bat after she prevented him from abducting and raping her daughter 
CHRISTIAN POST

 

Embattled Sri Lankan Anglican bishop steps down over financial scandal 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

"Third gender" passports to be issued in Nepal — Nepal has joined several countries that recognize a "third gender" for gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens 
CHRISTIAN TIMES

 

Buddhist nationalist attacks on Muslims could spark extremist backlash, warns new cardinal — Religious extremism could derail the much-vaunted reform process in Myanmar (Burma), said the Buddhist-majority country’s first Catholic cardinal, Charles Maung Bo 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

Man dies in Catholic parade in Manila ahead of Pope’s visit 
ABC

 

Newborn baby girl thrown to her death in China from 17-storey building with her umbilical cord still attached  
DAILY MAIL

 

2014 saw worst persecution of Chinese Christians in a generation 
CHL

 

How Christianity is helping to power the Chinese economy 
CHRISTIAN TODAY

 

FAMILY MATTERS

LGBT Warriors: Satan’s little soldiers — "While no one knows every detail concerning Joshua Alcorn’s upbringing, this much is certain; this confused child is just one more in a growing number of victims of the LGBT war on anything and everything that even hints at the existence of objective truth, in particular, as it concerns human sexuality"  
RENEW AMERICA

 

Canadian Mennonites officiate first same-sex "wedding" — Two Mennonite ministers in Canada have officiated the denomination’s first same-sex “wedding,” holding the service in a church building in Saskatchewan 
CHRISTIAN NEWS

 

The devilishly clever way that abortionists confuse just about everybody .. and get away with murder 
LIFE SITE

 

Wichita church to host celebration of abortion for Planned Parenthood — St. James Episcopal Church will celebrate 42 years of abortion with Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri on January 22, 2015 for their Chili for Choice (Any wonder we are on the precipice of social meltdown? When the "church" compromises, what is left?)
 LIFE SITE

 

Is there hope for those born with deformities?
 ELLEN

 

41 quotes from medical textbooks stating human life begins at conception 
LIFE NEWS

 

ADDITIONAL

Super-antibiotic that could wipe out diseases from MRSA to TB is hailed as a "game-changer" by scientists 
DAILY MAIL

 

 

The 50 countries where it is most difficult to live for Christians 
CHRISTIANITY TODAY

 

100 million reasons to be concerned about anti-Christian persecution — The number of persecuted Christians in the world has topped 100 million, according to a new report that says even non-violent persecution of Christians has increased, amid continuing violence (Some of us have been predicting this now verified increase in persecution against Christians. The bad news is .. the worst is yet to come) 
CNA

 

The Synod’s shocking omissions — The first shocking omission is that the Synod completely ignored the essential importance of men in the faith lives of the family and the broader Catholic “man-crisis” 
LIFE SITE

 

The Regensburg speech and the Paris attack In light of the horrific attack on Charlie Hebdo: Many are quoting Benedict XVI’s lecture against violence committed in the name of the faith — but they forget that the speech was a critique of modern reason, which dismisses religion as a subculture, from within 
VATICAN INSIDER

 

The Vatican’s "Life of Women" video project: The bad, the ugly and the good — The Pontifical Council for Culture, which is one of the "dicasteries" or departments of the Roman Curia, announced that its February assembly would be dedicated to the theme of "Women’s Cultures" 
NCR

 

Oil heads for seventh weekly loss as supply glut drags (Don’t be fooled. Oil prices will begin to rise again soon enough) 
REUTERS

 

Russia bans transsexuals, "exhibitionists" and "fetishists" from driving as they are deemed mental disorders which leave them more likely to crash 
DAILY MAIL