In India, around 42% Covid-19 cases are in 21-40 years olds and 9% cases are in the 0-20 age group. India is a young country and data from China, US, Italy show that children and teenagers rarely get..
Studio: HT Digital Content
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Is young India at greater risk of coronavirus disease?
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U.S. coronavirus deaths top 14,600, second highest in world behind Italy -Reuters tally
U.S. deaths due to coronavirus topped 14,600 on Wednesday, the second highest reported number in the world behind Italy, according to a Reuters tally.
Reported by Reuters India 23 hours ago.
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Italy 'considering' relaxing coronavirus measures
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said he might begin to relax some measures by the end of this month.
Reported by BBC News 11 hours ago.
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Coronavirus: Italy might relax some measures
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte said he might begin to relax some measures by the end of this month.
Reported by BBC News 11 hours ago.
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Traveling by Ear: 13 Podcasts for Wandering Souls
Close your eyes and be transported to Mexico, Italy, Montana and beyond. All you have to do is listen.
Reported by NYTimes.com 10 hours ago.
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Some gov'ts eye easing coronavirus restrictions despite warnings
US takes small step in easing virus rules while Italy and Spain expected to relax their lockdowns.
Reported by Al Jazeera 12 hours ago.
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California’s coronavirus curve: Fewer deaths but a long stay-at-home period, experts say
California is beginning to see guarded progress in its fight against the coronavirus, with a slower spread in infections and the number of deaths — while rising rapidly — lagging significantly behind hot spots like New York and Italy. But California’s early successes are unlikely to bring a rapid return to normal life. Health officials […]
Reported by Seattle Times 11 hours ago.
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Sport24.co.za | Contador sells bike from Giro, TDF to raise Covid-19 funds
Alberto Contador is auctioning the bike he rode in the 2011 Tour of Italy and Tour de France to raise funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Reported by News24 12 hours ago.
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Vatican thanks Chinese groups for donations to combat coronavirus
Vatican City, Apr 9, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican has thanked Chinese organizations for donating medical supplies to help it combat the coronavirus.
The Holy See press office said April 9 that the Vatican Pharmacy had received donations from Chinese groups including the Red Cross Society of China and the Jinde Charities Foundation of Hebei Province.
The press office hailed the gifts as "an expression of the solidarity of the Chinese people and Catholic communities with those involved in the relief of those affected by COVID-19 and the prevention of the current coronavirus epidemic."
It continued: "The Holy See appreciates this generous gesture and expresses its gratitude to the bishops, the Catholic faithful, the institutions and all other Chinese citizens for this humanitarian initiative, assuring them of the esteem and prayers of the Holy Father."
In February, the Vatican announced that it had sent thousands of face masks to China to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. It had donated between 600,000 to 700,000 masks to the Chinese provinces of Hubei, Zhejiang, and Fujian since Jan. 27, the Global Times, a Chinese state-run news outlet, reported Feb. 3.
The medical supplies were donated as part of a joint initiative of the Office of Papal Charities and the Missionary Center of the Chinese Church in Italy, in partnership with the Vatican Pharmacy.
China broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1951, two years after the communist revolution resulted in the creation of the People's Republic of China.
The Vatican signed a provisional agreement with China in 2018 concerning the appointment of Catholic bishops. The text of the agreement has never been published.
On Feb. 14 this year, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States, met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Munich, Germany. The encounter was the highest level meeting between officials from the two states since 1949.
The Red Cross Society of China, founded in Shanghai in 1904, is the national Red Cross Society in the People's Republic of China.
The Jinde Charities Foundation is a Catholic organization registered in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.
Reported by CNA 12 hours ago.
The Holy See press office said April 9 that the Vatican Pharmacy had received donations from Chinese groups including the Red Cross Society of China and the Jinde Charities Foundation of Hebei Province.
The press office hailed the gifts as "an expression of the solidarity of the Chinese people and Catholic communities with those involved in the relief of those affected by COVID-19 and the prevention of the current coronavirus epidemic."
It continued: "The Holy See appreciates this generous gesture and expresses its gratitude to the bishops, the Catholic faithful, the institutions and all other Chinese citizens for this humanitarian initiative, assuring them of the esteem and prayers of the Holy Father."
In February, the Vatican announced that it had sent thousands of face masks to China to help limit the spread of the coronavirus. It had donated between 600,000 to 700,000 masks to the Chinese provinces of Hubei, Zhejiang, and Fujian since Jan. 27, the Global Times, a Chinese state-run news outlet, reported Feb. 3.
The medical supplies were donated as part of a joint initiative of the Office of Papal Charities and the Missionary Center of the Chinese Church in Italy, in partnership with the Vatican Pharmacy.
China broke off diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1951, two years after the communist revolution resulted in the creation of the People's Republic of China.
The Vatican signed a provisional agreement with China in 2018 concerning the appointment of Catholic bishops. The text of the agreement has never been published.
On Feb. 14 this year, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States, met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Munich, Germany. The encounter was the highest level meeting between officials from the two states since 1949.
The Red Cross Society of China, founded in Shanghai in 1904, is the national Red Cross Society in the People's Republic of China.
The Jinde Charities Foundation is a Catholic organization registered in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province.
Reported by CNA 12 hours ago.
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Italian civil protection leader hails Kuwait's support
(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) ROME, April 9 (KUNA) -- Director General of Italy's National Service for Civil Protection Agostino Miozzo praised...
Reported by MENAFN.com 12 hours ago.
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103-year-old Italian says ‘courage, faith’ helped beat virus
Italy, along with neighboring France, has Europe’s largest population of what has been dubbed the 'super old' — people who are at least 100
Reported by Haaretz 12 hours ago.
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Disney Plus already has 50 million subscribers around the world, even though it only launched 5 months ago (DIS)
· Disney Plus already has 50 million subscribers, the company announced on Wednesday.· The milestone comes as the company has expanded into new markets in Europe and India, and just after it reported 28.6 million new subscribers in February.
· Disney Plus is particularly important right now as the company's parks and resorts remain closed because of the COVID-19 crisis.
· Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Disney's popular streaming entertainment service has already hit 50 million subscribers, the company announced on Wednesday. That's roughly double the number of paid subscriptions it added in February.
The milestone comes five months after Disney Plus' November launch in the United States, and just as the service began rolling out in regions such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, and India. The company noted that even though Disney Plus only became available in India last week, that country already accounts for roughly 8 million of the service's 50 million global subscribers. But that's likely because Disney+ is offered through Hotstar, a Disney-owned video service that's already popular in India.
Disney Plus still has a ways to go to catch up to Netflix, which had 167 million global subscribers as of January 2020. But it's already surpassed Hulu, the popular streaming service that Disney also controls, which has roughly 30 million subscribers.
Regardless, it's a notable jump from the numbers Disney reported in February, when it said it had gained 28.6 million subscribers. That came in above the 20 to 25 million new subscribers many analysts estimated, as Deadline reported at the time.
The increase to 50 million subscribers suggests Disney Plus is continuing to see healthy growth. The achievement comes as many people are turning to digital entertainment as states across the US and countries around the world have implemented stay-at-home orders in the wake of COVID-19. HBO and Netflix both saw surges in viewership throughout March, The Verge reported.
Disney Plus is especially important for the company right now, as its parks and resorts remain closed until further notice because of the COVID-19 crisis. Disney recently said it would be furloughing some employees whose "jobs aren't necessary at this time." The furlough process will begin on April 19, and workers affected will remain full-time employees with health benefits. Bog Iger, Walt Disney executive chairman, will also give up his entire salary for the year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Inside the US government's top-secret bioweapons lab Reported by Business Insider 11 hours ago.
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Italy and the UK: two approaches to closing churches
A few weeks back, the Italian bishops floated the idea that they might just decide to close all of Italy’s churches during the coronavirus lockdown. “Not because the state imposes …
The post Italy and the UK: two approaches to closing churches appeared first on Catholic Herald. Reported by Catholic Herald 10 hours ago.
The post Italy and the UK: two approaches to closing churches appeared first on Catholic Herald. Reported by Catholic Herald 10 hours ago.
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Driving a Ferrari 308 GTB Group B rally car
This unique rally-prepared Ferrari 308 packs 450bhp and weighs just 970kg, so can it be tamed?
That there are Ferrari racing cars is a surprise to no one. That Ferrari makes road cars is equally unshocking. A Ferrari rally car, though? That’s a different matter.
This Ferrari 308 GTB is not any old rally car, either, but one built to Group B regulations – the early 1980s fire-breathing formula that led to rally cars becoming so fast and so dangerous that it changed the face of the sport for ever.
Officially, this was never a Ferrari project. Italian race team Michelotto built around a dozen 308s to Group 4 regs in the late 1970s. When Group B arrived, Michelotto figured any rules that spawned a Lancia Stratos would suit a contemporary mid-engined Ferrari, too, so the team built four 308s to compete in the European and Italian rally championships, with one of the cars winning the latter in 1982.
In the UK, engineering company owner, race car preparer and Ferrari specialist Tony Worswick had the same idea, and this 308 here is the result: the only right-hand-drive Group B 308 GTB in existence.
*Watch us drive the 308 GTB Group B rally car*
As with the Italian cars, Ferrari was officially uninterested, but the UK distributor, Maranello Concessionaires, was compliant and the factory was quietly supportive. “Maranello would ring and say, ‘Some stuff has arrived from Italy; it must be yours’,” says Worswick.
The UK car’s development and success, however, was down to Worswick. The base engine is the 308’s 3.0-litre flat-plane-crank V8, but the heads are Worswick’s, with the top end designed to be as close as possible to a Cosworth DFV’s. It revs to 7500rpm and makes 450bhp, driving the rear wheels through a five-speed gearbox with dog-leg first.
That much power would be ample in a regular 308 GTB, which made less than 300bhp as standard, but this car weighs just 970kg. A comprehensive roll cage keeps things rigid, but the panels are carbonfibre at the front and kevlar-carbon – whose application Worswick says Ferrari spotted and adopted for the F40 – at the rear. The fuel tanks are in sponsons either side of the motor.
Bodywork aside, virtually all that’s in the front is a spare wheel and radiator, while all that’s behind the rear wheels is a small oil tank. This means that the majority of the 308’s weight is situated within the wheelbase, which is longer than that of a Stratos but compact by any other standards. It’s no wonder people thought it would make a good rally car.
It does. Worswick remembers this with a smile, not just because the 308 was competitive, but also because campaigning it around Europe and coming home with trophies gives him great memories of the days when rallies, often sponsored by local tourist boards, brought decent start money and big crowds keen to see a Ferrari rallying, for obvious reasons.
The truth is that this 308 isn’t just a good car to drive; it’s a sensational one, even today. The engine is brilliant, pulling cleanly from less than 2000rpm with power then building linearly all the way to the limiter. It sounds better on the throttle than almost anything competing today and makes a more fantastic noise on the overrun than just about any car on the planet.
The gearbox is fabulously crisp – although it rewards rev matching and positivity – while the brakes and steering do what a competition car’s should do: feel better the faster you drive. It’s exceptionally agile and grips well, and Worswick says it’ll even slide benignly – although I’m disinclined to explore that on the sprint course at Cholmondeley Castle, home of the Cholmondeley Power and Speed event. It’s a lovely event, with diverse cars, a relaxed atmosphere and a really entertaining sprint course around the grounds, with several places to watch cars being driven hard. It’s pretty easy to get to, too.
If the 308 feels fast today, it must have felt spectacular in its time. You can see why Group B was both so popular and so short-lived, and why opportunities to race the car, or at least demonstrate it, dried up. Until, that is, events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Cholmondeley started to become annual fixtures.
They give this 308 – and many other old competition cars like it – a new lease of life. The opportunity to see them – and, crucially, hear them – in action, is back. I recommend taking it.
This article was originally published on 8 July 2016. We're revisiting some of Autocar's most popular features to provide engaging content in these challenging times.
*Read more*
*Revisiting the legendary Ferrari F40*
*An alternative day out for the motoring enthusiast*
*Ferrari-fest: when we got GTO, F40, F50 & Enzo all together* Reported by Autocar 11 hours ago.
That there are Ferrari racing cars is a surprise to no one. That Ferrari makes road cars is equally unshocking. A Ferrari rally car, though? That’s a different matter.
This Ferrari 308 GTB is not any old rally car, either, but one built to Group B regulations – the early 1980s fire-breathing formula that led to rally cars becoming so fast and so dangerous that it changed the face of the sport for ever.
Officially, this was never a Ferrari project. Italian race team Michelotto built around a dozen 308s to Group 4 regs in the late 1970s. When Group B arrived, Michelotto figured any rules that spawned a Lancia Stratos would suit a contemporary mid-engined Ferrari, too, so the team built four 308s to compete in the European and Italian rally championships, with one of the cars winning the latter in 1982.
In the UK, engineering company owner, race car preparer and Ferrari specialist Tony Worswick had the same idea, and this 308 here is the result: the only right-hand-drive Group B 308 GTB in existence.
*Watch us drive the 308 GTB Group B rally car*
As with the Italian cars, Ferrari was officially uninterested, but the UK distributor, Maranello Concessionaires, was compliant and the factory was quietly supportive. “Maranello would ring and say, ‘Some stuff has arrived from Italy; it must be yours’,” says Worswick.
The UK car’s development and success, however, was down to Worswick. The base engine is the 308’s 3.0-litre flat-plane-crank V8, but the heads are Worswick’s, with the top end designed to be as close as possible to a Cosworth DFV’s. It revs to 7500rpm and makes 450bhp, driving the rear wheels through a five-speed gearbox with dog-leg first.
That much power would be ample in a regular 308 GTB, which made less than 300bhp as standard, but this car weighs just 970kg. A comprehensive roll cage keeps things rigid, but the panels are carbonfibre at the front and kevlar-carbon – whose application Worswick says Ferrari spotted and adopted for the F40 – at the rear. The fuel tanks are in sponsons either side of the motor.
Bodywork aside, virtually all that’s in the front is a spare wheel and radiator, while all that’s behind the rear wheels is a small oil tank. This means that the majority of the 308’s weight is situated within the wheelbase, which is longer than that of a Stratos but compact by any other standards. It’s no wonder people thought it would make a good rally car.
It does. Worswick remembers this with a smile, not just because the 308 was competitive, but also because campaigning it around Europe and coming home with trophies gives him great memories of the days when rallies, often sponsored by local tourist boards, brought decent start money and big crowds keen to see a Ferrari rallying, for obvious reasons.
The truth is that this 308 isn’t just a good car to drive; it’s a sensational one, even today. The engine is brilliant, pulling cleanly from less than 2000rpm with power then building linearly all the way to the limiter. It sounds better on the throttle than almost anything competing today and makes a more fantastic noise on the overrun than just about any car on the planet.
The gearbox is fabulously crisp – although it rewards rev matching and positivity – while the brakes and steering do what a competition car’s should do: feel better the faster you drive. It’s exceptionally agile and grips well, and Worswick says it’ll even slide benignly – although I’m disinclined to explore that on the sprint course at Cholmondeley Castle, home of the Cholmondeley Power and Speed event. It’s a lovely event, with diverse cars, a relaxed atmosphere and a really entertaining sprint course around the grounds, with several places to watch cars being driven hard. It’s pretty easy to get to, too.
If the 308 feels fast today, it must have felt spectacular in its time. You can see why Group B was both so popular and so short-lived, and why opportunities to race the car, or at least demonstrate it, dried up. Until, that is, events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Cholmondeley started to become annual fixtures.
They give this 308 – and many other old competition cars like it – a new lease of life. The opportunity to see them – and, crucially, hear them – in action, is back. I recommend taking it.
This article was originally published on 8 July 2016. We're revisiting some of Autocar's most popular features to provide engaging content in these challenging times.
*Read more*
*Revisiting the legendary Ferrari F40*
*An alternative day out for the motoring enthusiast*
*Ferrari-fest: when we got GTO, F40, F50 & Enzo all together* Reported by Autocar 11 hours ago.
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China’s first saint was martyred on a cross in Wuhan
Vatican City, Apr 9, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- China’s first canonized saint was martyred by suffocation on a cross in Wuhan, the epicenter of today’s coronavirus pandemic.
St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, a Vincentian missionary priest from France, was betrayed by one of his catechumens for money, bound in chains, tortured, tied to a wooden cross and strangled to death in Wuhan in 1840.
Dr. Anthony Clark, a professor of Chinese history, spent time in Wuhan researching the life of Perboyre and St. Francis Regis Clet, another 19th-century Vincentian priest martyred in Wuhan.
Clark told CNA that Wuhan’s martyr saints are particularly suitable intercessors for those suffering from COVID-19 today.
“Sts. Perboyre and Clet were both killed by strangulation; they died because they could not breathe,” he said. “How could they not be appropriate intercessors for this particular illness?”
“Among the torments against Perboyre were continued beatings on his lower back and he was forced to kneel on broken glass. He certainly knew the agonies of physical suffering, and would be a good comfort for those who now suffer from this virus.”
Wuhan, now infamous as the origin of the coronavirus, was once an outpost for Catholic missionaries who founded Catholic hospitals in the city.
Outside of Wuhan Central Hospital, where coronavirus whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang died, is a statue of Italian missionary, Msgr. Eustachius Zanoli, photographed by New York Times correspondent, Chris Buckley.
The plaque beneath the bust reads in Chinese and English: “Monsignor Eustachius Zanoli, from Italy, was the first Bishop of Roman Catholic Church in Eastern Hubei. In 1886 he invited the Canossian Daughters of Charity to Wuhan to provide social service and in 1880 established the Hankou Catholic Hospital, which laid the foundation for the development of the Wuhan No. 2 Hospital (1955) and subsequently the Central Hospital of Wuhan (1999).”
Another nearby coronavirus facility, Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, can trace its roots back to an infectious diseases hospital founded by Franciscan missionaries in 1926, the Father Mei Memorial Catholic Hospital of Hankou.
It was named for Fr. Pascal Angelicus Melotto (1864-1923), a Franciscan missionary friar from Italy martyred in Wuhan, who took Fr. Mei Zhanchun as his Chinese name. He was kidnapped for ransom and then shot in the stomach with a poisoned bullet in 1923.
“I am happy to die for the Chinese,” the missionary priest said at his death, according to the Franciscan Order’s website. “I lived in China for the Chinese and now I am happy to die for them.”
The Father Mei Memorial Catholic Hospital of Hankou was staffed by Franciscan Sisters of Christian Doctrine until missionaries were expelled from China in 1952 after the Chinese Communist Revolution.
“The Catholic community of Wuhan has suffered greatly during the era of Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution, and through that time they hid the tombstones of Saints Perboyre and Clet to protect them, because of their deep devotion to those martyrs,” Clark said.
“While I was there I visited the seminary where the two tombstones are now displayed for veneration; the Catholics of Wuhan have a great devotion to the Eucharist and to the Vincentians, such as Perboyre and Clet, who died for them, and shed their blood on the soil of that city,” he added.
Many missionaries left for China in the 19th century with the knowledge that they would never return.
“I don't know what awaits me on the path that opens before me: without a doubt the cross, which is the daily bread of the missionary. What can we hope for better, going to preach a crucified God?" St. Perboyre wrote in a letter during his journey to China.
Perboyre’s remains were eventually moved to Paris to the Vincentian motherhouse. Today his tomb is located in a side chapel in the same church where St. Vincent de Paul’s incorrupt body is located. He was beatified in 1889 by Pope Leo XIII.
“St. Thérèse of Lisieux had a special devotion to Perboyre and kept a holy card dedicated to him in her personal prayerbook,” Dr. Clark pointed out.
At Perboyre’s canonization in 1996, St. John Paul II said: “Along the streets where he had been sent he found the Cross of Christ. Through the daily imitation of his Lord, with humility and gentleness, he fully identified with him. … After being tortured and condemned, reproducing the Passion of Jesus with extraordinary similarity, he came like him to death and death on a cross.”
St. John Paul II canonized St. Francis Regis Clet in October 2000, along with 33 other missionaries and 87 Chinese Catholics martyred under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Michael Fu Tieshan, a bishop of China’s state-run church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, called the canonization a “public humiliation” in an interview with state-run television, AP reported at the time.
The first “patriotic bishop” named by the Communist government in China in 1958 was from Wuhan. Dong Guangqing, who died in 2007, was president of Patriotic Catholic Association of Wuhan and vice president of the National Administrative Committee of the Chinese Catholic Church.
Today, Catholics in Wuhan have a particular devotion to St. Francis and the Sacrament of Penance, Clark observed.
Catholics in Wuhan are “known to make long lines near the confessionals of priests who are most faithful to the authentic teachings of the Church; they are a beautiful witness,” he said.
“It is rare to find a church without a statue of St. Francis, and sometimes a devotion to St. Vincent de Paul. The faith there is strong, and has even flourished especially during times of persecution,” Clark added.
“I have indeed heard from some Catholics during this time, and they are, like all of us, turning to the Lord and his mercy as we all confront our own frailty,” he said. “I recently heard from a Wuhan Protestant who remarked on the sadness of witnessing elderly members of their church passing away. The trauma within Wuhan's Christian community has been greatly aided through the powerful faith of Christians in that area.” Reported by CNA 11 hours ago.
St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, a Vincentian missionary priest from France, was betrayed by one of his catechumens for money, bound in chains, tortured, tied to a wooden cross and strangled to death in Wuhan in 1840.
Dr. Anthony Clark, a professor of Chinese history, spent time in Wuhan researching the life of Perboyre and St. Francis Regis Clet, another 19th-century Vincentian priest martyred in Wuhan.
Clark told CNA that Wuhan’s martyr saints are particularly suitable intercessors for those suffering from COVID-19 today.
“Sts. Perboyre and Clet were both killed by strangulation; they died because they could not breathe,” he said. “How could they not be appropriate intercessors for this particular illness?”
“Among the torments against Perboyre were continued beatings on his lower back and he was forced to kneel on broken glass. He certainly knew the agonies of physical suffering, and would be a good comfort for those who now suffer from this virus.”
Wuhan, now infamous as the origin of the coronavirus, was once an outpost for Catholic missionaries who founded Catholic hospitals in the city.
Outside of Wuhan Central Hospital, where coronavirus whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang died, is a statue of Italian missionary, Msgr. Eustachius Zanoli, photographed by New York Times correspondent, Chris Buckley.
The plaque beneath the bust reads in Chinese and English: “Monsignor Eustachius Zanoli, from Italy, was the first Bishop of Roman Catholic Church in Eastern Hubei. In 1886 he invited the Canossian Daughters of Charity to Wuhan to provide social service and in 1880 established the Hankou Catholic Hospital, which laid the foundation for the development of the Wuhan No. 2 Hospital (1955) and subsequently the Central Hospital of Wuhan (1999).”
Another nearby coronavirus facility, Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, can trace its roots back to an infectious diseases hospital founded by Franciscan missionaries in 1926, the Father Mei Memorial Catholic Hospital of Hankou.
It was named for Fr. Pascal Angelicus Melotto (1864-1923), a Franciscan missionary friar from Italy martyred in Wuhan, who took Fr. Mei Zhanchun as his Chinese name. He was kidnapped for ransom and then shot in the stomach with a poisoned bullet in 1923.
“I am happy to die for the Chinese,” the missionary priest said at his death, according to the Franciscan Order’s website. “I lived in China for the Chinese and now I am happy to die for them.”
The Father Mei Memorial Catholic Hospital of Hankou was staffed by Franciscan Sisters of Christian Doctrine until missionaries were expelled from China in 1952 after the Chinese Communist Revolution.
“The Catholic community of Wuhan has suffered greatly during the era of Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution, and through that time they hid the tombstones of Saints Perboyre and Clet to protect them, because of their deep devotion to those martyrs,” Clark said.
“While I was there I visited the seminary where the two tombstones are now displayed for veneration; the Catholics of Wuhan have a great devotion to the Eucharist and to the Vincentians, such as Perboyre and Clet, who died for them, and shed their blood on the soil of that city,” he added.
Many missionaries left for China in the 19th century with the knowledge that they would never return.
“I don't know what awaits me on the path that opens before me: without a doubt the cross, which is the daily bread of the missionary. What can we hope for better, going to preach a crucified God?" St. Perboyre wrote in a letter during his journey to China.
Perboyre’s remains were eventually moved to Paris to the Vincentian motherhouse. Today his tomb is located in a side chapel in the same church where St. Vincent de Paul’s incorrupt body is located. He was beatified in 1889 by Pope Leo XIII.
“St. Thérèse of Lisieux had a special devotion to Perboyre and kept a holy card dedicated to him in her personal prayerbook,” Dr. Clark pointed out.
At Perboyre’s canonization in 1996, St. John Paul II said: “Along the streets where he had been sent he found the Cross of Christ. Through the daily imitation of his Lord, with humility and gentleness, he fully identified with him. … After being tortured and condemned, reproducing the Passion of Jesus with extraordinary similarity, he came like him to death and death on a cross.”
St. John Paul II canonized St. Francis Regis Clet in October 2000, along with 33 other missionaries and 87 Chinese Catholics martyred under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Michael Fu Tieshan, a bishop of China’s state-run church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, called the canonization a “public humiliation” in an interview with state-run television, AP reported at the time.
The first “patriotic bishop” named by the Communist government in China in 1958 was from Wuhan. Dong Guangqing, who died in 2007, was president of Patriotic Catholic Association of Wuhan and vice president of the National Administrative Committee of the Chinese Catholic Church.
Today, Catholics in Wuhan have a particular devotion to St. Francis and the Sacrament of Penance, Clark observed.
Catholics in Wuhan are “known to make long lines near the confessionals of priests who are most faithful to the authentic teachings of the Church; they are a beautiful witness,” he said.
“It is rare to find a church without a statue of St. Francis, and sometimes a devotion to St. Vincent de Paul. The faith there is strong, and has even flourished especially during times of persecution,” Clark added.
“I have indeed heard from some Catholics during this time, and they are, like all of us, turning to the Lord and his mercy as we all confront our own frailty,” he said. “I recently heard from a Wuhan Protestant who remarked on the sadness of witnessing elderly members of their church passing away. The trauma within Wuhan's Christian community has been greatly aided through the powerful faith of Christians in that area.” Reported by CNA 11 hours ago.
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Coronavirus | 100 Italian doctors have died of virus: medics
Rome's ISS public health institute estimates that 10% of those infected with the novel coronavirus in Italy work in health care.
Reported by Hindu 11 hours ago.
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Italy says number of doctors killed by coronavirus passes 100
One hundred Italian doctors have died of the novel coronavirus since the pandemic reached the country in February, Italy's FNOMCeO health association said on Thursday, with analysts estimating that 10 percent of those infected in Italy work in healthcare.
Reported by France 24 11 hours ago.
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George & Amal Clooney Donate Over $1 Million to Coronavirus Relief Efforts
George and Amal Clooney have donated more than $1 million in Coronavirus relief efforts. Deadline reports that they donated $250,000 each to The Motion Picture and Television, the SAG-AFTRA FUND, and Los Angeles Mayors Fund. They also donated $300,000 to the Lebanese Food Bank, the Lombardo Italy Region and the NHS. George is a member [...]
Reported by Just Jared 10 hours ago.
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Europe could fall, Italy warns as divided EU seeks coronavirus rescue deal
The European Union faces an existential threat if it cannot come together to combat the coronavirus crisis, Italy said on Thursday as the divided bloc sought to salvage talks on a rescue package to aid battered economies.
Reported by Reuters India 10 hours ago.
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Italy government wins Senate confidence vote on decree to help virus-hit economy
The Italian government on Thursday won a confidence vote in the Senate on an emergency decree that lays out measures worth 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to support the economy battered by a severe COVID-19 outbreak.
Reported by Reuters 10 hours ago.
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