Cardinal Zen attends trial of democracy activist

THE 92-year-old former Roman Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, was current in courtroom for the trial of the democracy activist Jimmy Lai, this week. A newspaper writer who launched Apple Daily, a pro-democracy paper, Mr Lai was arrested in 2020 below the Chinese National Security Law (News, 18 December 2020), on costs together with international collusion. Cardinal Zen was arrested below the identical regulation, however launched on bail. He baptised and obtained Mr Lai into the RC Church in 1997. “If I go away, I not only give up my destiny, I give up God, I give up my religion, I give up what I believe in,” Mr Lai mentioned in 2020 in an interview with the University of Notre Dame within the United States.

Becciu discovered responsible of embezzlement by Vatican

THE Vatican legal courtroom has sentenced Cardinal Angel Becciu to 5 years’ and 6 months’ imprisonment, perpetual disqualification from public workplace, and a tremendous of €8000, after discovering him responsible on three counts of embezzlement. He will attraction. The trial, which ended on Saturday, involved the administration of funds of the Secretariat of State and, particularly, the acquisition and sale of a constructing: 60 Sloane Avenue, London (News, 9 October 2020). The courtroom mentioned that Becciu had been irresponsible and “highly speculative” to take a position greater than $200 million with a fund run by the Italian financier Raffaele Mincione, who was given the identical sentence. Several different defendants additionally obtained sentences, amounting to 37 years in complete.

Nigerian girl accused of blasphemy bailed

A NIGERIAN Christian well being employee, Rhoda Jatau, who was accused of blasphemy and jailed in 2022, was granted bail and freed on 8 December, Christian Solidarity International experiences. The costs towards her haven’t been dropped, and a courtroom listening to is scheduled for 19 December. She was arrested in Bauchi State after she shared a video condemning the latest homicide of Deborah Yakubu, a Christian college scholar in Nigeria who had herself been accused of blasphemy (News, 23 December 2022, News 20 May 2022).