People in financial difficulty were taken to a clinic in Tehran to sell a kidney for a few thousand euros. It is suspected that some of them died during the operations, which brought proceeds of up to ten times more to the pimps. Iran is one of the crossroads of these criminal deals because of the high incidence of kidney disease.
The 67-year-old Bishop of Shamshabad was elected yesterday by the local Synod in Kochi and confirmed by Pope Francis. In his first words to the faithful, he said that “we should stand together and work together.” The Eastern rite community of six million members has been shaken in recent years by a major row over the liturgy centred in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
Card George Alencherry and the Apostolic Administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, have resigned. In January, the Synod will pick a new leader. The pontiff issued a tough warning to those who continue to reject the uniform rite of the Eucharistic celebration. “Do not force the competent ecclesiastical authority to acknowledge that you have left the Church,” Francis said.
The clergy of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly contest Pope Francis' envoy who does not want to reopen the discussion on the unified liturgy. He was only allowed to enter the cathedral escorted by the police. Vasil:
The pontiff picked Archbishop Cyril Vasil’ in order to end the crisis that has unfolded in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, which has so far refused to adopt the