A Catholic Church relief worker who recently returned from Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley said the 1.5 million civilians displaced by a government crackdown on militants are facing "horrible conditions." "They are without proper shelter and cannot stand the extreme heat," said Eric Dayal, of Caritas Pakistan. • As the government of Sri Lanka declared victory over Tamil separatists engaged in a 26-year battle for independence, Pope Benedict XVI appealed to both sides to protect civilians and asked the international community to provide aid to tens of thousands of refugees. • Disarmament advocates have called upon the Canadian government to endorse U.S. President Barack Obama's commitment to rid the world of nuclear weapons. "The complete elimination of nuclear weapons is the only lasting solution to the grave dangers that threaten our world," said Bruce Blair, president of the Washington-based World Security Institute. • The Vatican is launching iPhone and Facebook applications as part of a brand new Vatican Web site—www.pope2you.net—that is to go live on May 24.
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The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.