The global nature of the Catholic Church means that a billion Catholics worldwide will be praying in the same way as us, and, if they are free enough to do so, worshipping at Mass in a way we find familiar – even if we don’t share the same mother tongue.
Languages, cultures – not to mention the realities of daily life – will vary hugely but we can walk into almost any Catholic church in the world and feel as one under Christ – that’s pretty awe-inspiring.
Today’s Catholic News podcast looks east to Bangladesh, a country of 160 million people – 360,000 of whom are Catholics. That’s a mere 0.2% of the population.
But the Church is vibrant and thriving despite its minority status in a majority Muslim country. So much so, Pope Francis recognised the fact by appointing Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario the country’s first Catholic cardinal in November 2016.
Cardinal D’Rozario joins us to talk about:
Nation building and the Church’s contribution to society
Religious freedom in Bangladesh
Relations between religions
Helping the poor
The likelihood of a visit from Pope Francis after the monsoon season
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