January 19, 2015 Edition

Pope Francis concludes his 5-day visit to the Philippines Monday. He is the third pope to visit the Philippines, where 80% of the population are Catholic. Throngs of Filipinos lined the streets over the past few days to get a glimpse of the Pope everywhere he went, even braving winds and rain. Sunday saw one of the highlights of his journey, with an estimated 6 million people turning out in Manila’s Luneta where he celebrated mass – a world record for a papal gathering.Crowds again waited for the Pope Monday morning on his route from the Apostolic Nunciature to Villamor, this time, to say goodbye.

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Recap of the 4th day.

Full text and video of Masses and homilies.

A young girl who asked, “Why God allows drugs and prostitution to happen” to children last Sunday sees a future in social work. 12-year-old Glyzelle Iris Palomar broke down while narrating her life story as a street child. Palomar suffered physical abuse and neglect in the hands of her biological mother. She eventually found a haven at the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation, an institution for street children.

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Watch the video.

Asked about whether the Pope is conservative or progressive, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said Sunday, a person goes beyond those labels, especially a person who works in the area of faith and pastoral life.” He added that the Pope, as leader of an institution steeped in history and tradition, “has no liberty to invent his own teaching so there’s an element of receiving from the past” but added that Francis is “attentive to society.” The Pope has been called a liberal by many western media. Rollingstone called his openness to gays and divorcees and moves to reform the Church hierarchy a “gentle revolution.”The Manila archbishop also narrated that a foreign correspondent once asked him point-blank: “Is he conservative or a liberal?” “He is what he is.”

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Pope Francis met with the father of social worker Kristel Padasas who died Saturday, after a scaffolding collapsed shortly after Pope Francis’ mass in Tacloban, Leyte. Paulino, in pain, had asked why his only child had been taken away from him. But despite Padasas’ grief, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said the Pope was awed by the strength of Padasas’ spirit. “I have accepted. I have resigned to the fact that my daughter is no longer with me. I rejoice she died serving the people… and she was instrumental in my meeting the Pope,” Tagle quoted Padasas. At this point, Tagle said the only words that came out of the Pope’s mouth were, “What faith, What faith!”

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Pope Francis traveled to Luneta Park to say Mass before millions of Filipinos, Sunday, on board a “popemobile” styled after the nation’s iconic, flamboyant and much-loved “jeepney”. Cardinal Antonio Luis Tagle said the Pope loved it, after he explained what the jeepney symbolizes – a vehicle used by common people. The open, non-bulletproof vehicle made many stops after Luneta, allowing the Pope to reach out to the cheering public and kiss and bless babies.

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The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an alliance of 57 Muslim nation states, accused Charlie Hebdo of “ridiculing the most revered personality” of Islam.  The group, which sees itself as the “collective voice of Muslims,” urged the world’s more than 1.5 billion Muslims “to continue to exercise restraint.” The appeal came after thousands around the world demonstrated against a new cartoon published by the French weekly last week. The OIC said the new cartoon is an “intolerant, disrespectful and manifest expression of hatred as well as insensitivity” toward Muslims. The most violent reaction to the cartoon has been in the African nation of Niger, where 10 people were killed and at least 8 churches torched.

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The Paris attacks and the dismantled Islamist cells in Brussels challenge the idea of the “lone wolf” terrorist who works alone. Experts said every terrorist that attempted or carried out attacks in the West has had some level of ties to extremist groups. Professor Jean-Pierre Filiu from the Sciences Po university in Paris says the idea was politically useful for governments to justify draconian policies like the Patriot Act in the United States. Case in point are the the Kouachi brothers who carried out the Paris massacre. Although they may have acted without direct instructions from above, they had training from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and struck a top target on Al-Qaeda’s “most-wanted” list.The confusion comes from the fact that many jihadists in the West have only very loose bonds to known jihadist groups. Filiu said, “Behind Islamist attacks, there is always someone giving the orders.”

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Fox News took time out of four broadcasts on Saturday to apologize for four separate instances of incorrect information about Muslims in Europe. Most involve stories about “no-go zones” in Europe, where Islamic law supposedly supersedes local law and where non-Muslims fear to go. Many media groups and personalities, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, accuse Fox of exaggerations and falsehoods. “No-go zones” has been a recurring theme on Fox. In one segment, the American network aired the comments of a supposed terrorism expert who said that Birmingham, a city in England, was “totally Muslim”. Census data from 2011 indicated only 22% of the population of Birmingham identified themselves as Muslim. After 3 separate apologies, Anchor Julie Banderas delivered a blanket apology to “the people of France and England.”

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Thailand, which is drafting a new constitution, may soon recognize a third gender category. In a CNN report, spokesperson of Constitution Drafting Committee Kamnoon Sittisamarn said, “It is a human right if you were born a male or female and you want to have a sex change or lead a life of a different gender.” Third gender means an individual does not have to identify as either male or female, and gives their right to self-identify. If enacted, Thailand would join India, Pakistan and Nepal, that recently moved to recognize a third gender. Gender reassignment surgery is widely available in Thailand.

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The UK Space Agency said a British-built space probe that disappeared without trace more than a decade ago has been spotted on the surface of Mars. The discovery ends the mystery of what happened to the mission. The lost lander was found through satellite images taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). European Space Agency director general Jean-Jacques Dordain said that “what was viewed as a failure 11 years ago in fact turns out not to be a total failure… At least there was a landing on Mars.” The probe detached from Mars Express on December 26, and was never heard from again.

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