Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P.

I find this very sad… Serbian football team Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) has been fined €95,500 after fans made a motif of Jesus Christ! UEFA fined them for "displaying a message not fit for a sporting event and bringing the reputation of football and UEFA itself into disrepute". The text underneath read: “May our faith lead you to victory".

During Passiontide, the final fortnight of Lent, I post each day one Station of the Cross, with reflections by the Venerable Fulton Sheen, from different churches around the world. flic.kr/p/2s4okCT 📷 Today's station is from the Dominican church in Brno, Czech Republic.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the publication of the book "Road of Hope" by Vietnamese Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận, Auxiliary Bishop Thanh Nguyen of Orange County, California, stressed that the cardinal's life remains an example of preaching "the Good News in a very loving and joyful and dedicated way", even in the midst of trials.

Thirty years ago today: March 26, 1996: seven Trappist monks from the Abbey of Our Lady of the Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria were kidnapped by the Islamist GIA, bodies never found, their heads would be found six weeks later. The monks were beatified in 2018.

On behalf of the Christians of the #MiddleEast, and of all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict: cease fire! May paths of dialogue be reopened! Violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace for which the peoples are waiting.

🚨 THE DOMINOES ARE FALLING. IN DAYS, NOT WEEKS. Here is the global oil crisis — country by country — as of today: 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka — RATIONING. 4-day work week. Schools closed. 🇵🇰 Pakistan — CRISIS. Overnight price surge. Long queues. 4-day work week. 🇮🇳 India — 9 DAYS of reserves left. Emergency suppliers being hunted. 🇰🇷 South Korea — 50 DAYS left. Clock ticking. 🇯🇵 Japan — LIED. Said 254 days. Actual usable reserves: 95. 🇬🇧 UK — Shell CEO warning: SHORTAGE STARTS IN APRIL. 🇩🇪 Germany — Gas up 30%. EU emergency plan launched. 🇫🇷 France — Paying 30% more at pumps than 8 weeks ago. 🇿🇦 South Africa — Government says "stable." Citizens photograph empty pumps. 🇹🇷 Turkey — Stocks crashed. Inflation exploding. Currency under pressure. 🇧🇷 Brazil — Watching nervously. Own oil helps but supply chains hurting. 🇦🇺 Australia — Tanker delays. Import dependent. Hoping IEA coordination holds. 🇺🇸 USA — Gas taxes suspended in states. SPR drawn down. Iran sanctions quietly paused. 🇨🇳 China — 1.4 BILLION barrels stockpiled. Banned exports. Still getting Iranian oil. This is DAY 26 of the Hormuz blockade. 20% of global oil — GONE. 8 million barrels per day — GONE. OPEC's response: +206,000 barrels. That is 2% of the hole. Here is what nobody is telling you: They're showing you "reserves are sufficient." They're NOT showing you Japan overstated reserves by 3x, South Africa has empty pumps, and India has 9 days. The real energy crisis hasn't even started yet. RT so this doesn't get buried by the algorithm.

Imagine having such a steady hand. Every time I see work like this, I’m blown away by the sheer precision. From Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital of the world. China

الكاردينال بييرباتيستا بيتسابالا، بطريرك القدس للاتين، يدعو المؤمنين إلى تخصيص يوم السبت 28 آذار، يوم صلاة المسبحة الوردية من أجل السلام في زمن الحرب 🙏 His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, calls the faithful to pray the Rosary for Peace on Saturday, March 28 🙏

The Latin parish priest of the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank appealed for the solidarity of Christians worldwide in the face of new attacks by “fanatical Israeli settlers” seeking to displace the local population. Father Bashar Fawadleh issued an appeal on Saturday, March 21, telling ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, that the lands seized this week by Israeli settlers “belonged to the people of Taybeh and were, moreover, our private property.” These incursions, he continued, in addition to constituting “a violation of international law and of the rights of the local community,” represent an affront that, for the village’s inhabitants, goes far beyond a mere legal or political matter. “This story is about the life of a Christian community that has been present in this land for more than 2,000 years,” Fawadleh said. Taybeh is the modern name of the biblical village of Ephraim, where Jesus went to rest shortly before his passion (cf. John 11:54). In addition to being the only entirely Christian village in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza, it is also renowned for its beer. In recent days, Israeli settlers have seized areas near the village’s quarry and cement factory. These encroachments have been ongoing for some time. In July 2025, settlers set fire in the area near the ruins of St. George Church, built in the historic Byzantine style and dating back to the fifth century, where the local community typically holds religious celebrations. Several vehicles were also set ablaze, and the attackers “painted hateful graffiti,” according to sources in Taybeh. Christian leaders have demanded immediate action from Israeli authorities and called upon the international community to halt the escalating violence. When asked what message he would like to send to Pope Leo XIV and to all Christians around the world, he said: “We ask not only for compassion, but for solidarity.” Fawadleh, whose mother was born in Venezuela but returned to the West Bank at the age of 16, told ACI Prensa: “As a church, our mission is to help people remain in their land, to live with dignity, and to keep the Christian presence alive in the Holy Land. Our presence here is a living testament to the roots of Christianity — where it all began.” According to the parish priest, “when the land is threatened, people become fearful.” The local community simply wants “to live in peace, with dignity, and on our own land,” he said, noting that the farmers of Taybeh are even afraid to go out to their fields. “This is a matter that concerns the entire Church. We ask for your prayers, and for your visits to the Holy Land and to the ‘living stones’ in Taybeh and throughout the Holy Land,” he said. “And your support, so that Christians may remain here through education, housing, and employment opportunities. For the Christian presence in the Holy Land is not merely a local matter,” he pointed out. “For the truth is one; it is not a matter of distorting it. Thank you; we will remain in contact and united in prayer,” the priest said. ewtnnews.com/world/middle-e…

During Passiontide, the final fortnight of Lent, I post each day one Station of the Cross from different churches around the world, with reflections by the Venerable Fulton Sheen who will be Beatified this September. flic.kr/p/2s4cHSp 📷 Today's #viacrucis station is a wonderful example of inculturated art, from the church of the Holy Trinity in Yanshui, Taiwan.

BREAKING: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency on March 24 2026, effective for one year. The Philippines has 53 days of gasoline, 46 days of diesel, and 39 days of jet fuel remaining. Gasoline prices have risen 35 to 45 percent in a single week. The government has shifted to a four-day workweek to conserve fuel. Flights may be grounded. The country is switching to dirtier Euro-II fuel standards because cleaner fuel is no longer available in sufficient quantities. People in Manila are walking to work. The Philippines does not produce meaningful quantities of oil. It imports over 90 percent of its crude from the Gulf. The pipeline runs from the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz, across the Indian Ocean, through the Malacca Strait, and into Philippine refineries. Every link in that chain is now under stress. The Hormuz gate has collapsed traffic 70 to 80 percent. The IRGC’s permissioned toll system accepts yuan and USDT, not dollars. The tankers that do transit carry cargo for China, India, and the shadow fleet. The Philippines is not on the guest list. This is what a chokepoint war looks like 7,000 kilometres from the chokepoint. GDP contraction is projected at 1.8 to 2.5 percent for Q2 2026. Inflation has spiked to 6.8 to 7.2 percent, driven by fuel transmission into transport, food, and electricity. The stock exchange has fallen 11.4 percent year to date. Remittances, 10 percent of GDP, are at risk as overseas workers face rising costs. The worst energy shock since 1973. The viral videos show commuters walking along EDSA and Commonwealth Avenue in Manila. These are not protests. These are people who cannot afford the jeepney fare because diesel costs have doubled. The walking is not a political statement. It is an economic fact. The fuel that powered the jeepney came from a refinery that processed crude that transited Hormuz that is now a permissioned gate operated by the IRGC that charges tolls in yuan to tankers approved by a vetting process that the Philippines has no access to and no leverage over. The Philippines did not start this war. It has no position on Iran’s nuclear programme, no opinion on zero enrichment, no seat in the Abraham Accords, no mention in any backchannel communique. But it imports 90 percent of its oil from the region where those negotiations are failing, and the failure is measured in walking commuters and a four-day workweek for a nation of 115 million. This is the second-order cost of the Nitrogen Trap. The first order is energy prices, insurance premiums, and Hormuz tolls. The second order is the Filipino nurse who walks two hours to her hospital shift because the jeepney cannot run. The third order, arriving in April, is the rice farmer who cannot afford the diesel to pump irrigation water because the fertiliser that fed the soil came from natural gas that transited a strait that is now a toll booth collecting yuan. The molecules are trapped at the source. The consequences arrive at the periphery. The Philippines is the canary. It will not be the last. Thirty-nine days of jet fuel. Forty-six days of diesel. Fifty-three days of gasoline. The countdown runs whether or not the pause expires Saturday, whether or not the 15-point plan finds a taker, whether or not MBS calls Trump again. The molecules do not know where Manila is. They know they cannot get there. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

Prayer of Entrustment to Mary - Annunciation Feast 2026 (English, French, Italian, Spanish)

The First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary

Despite the rain, 84,000 people participated in the anti-war demonstration in Tokyo, including online. Rare for Japanese people to protest like this. Many are expressing a strong sense of crisis over the Iran war and Takaichi's constitutional amendment.

2026 marks the 450th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Macau. At its foundation, the extent of the diocese's ecclesiastical jurisdiction included all of China, Japan, and Vietnam.

During Passiontide, the final fortnight of Lent, I post each day one Station of the Cross from different churches around the world. flic.kr/p/2s45oGd Aptly on this Solemnity of the Annunciation, today's station – The Fourth Station: Jesus meets His Sorrowful Mother – shows the extent of Our Lady's Fiat. It is from the church of St Thomas Aquinas in Glendale (Phoenix), AZ. #viacrucis

@philipgporter @ArysPan I agree. I was mesmerised by it.

I cannot stress enough how wonderful this painting is in person. It alone is worth the trip to Madrid. Blessed Feast of the Annunciation!