Thousands of Thais welcomed Francis as he travelled to St Peter’s Parish, a Catholic community outside Bangkok, to pray at the sanctuary of Thailand’s first martyred priest.

There, he told a few hundred priests and nuns that he read “with some pain” that for many Thais, Christianity is “a religion for foreigners”.

He said: “This should spur us to find ways to talk about the faith in dialect, like a mother who sings lullabies to her child.

“With that same intimacy, let us give faith a Thai face and flesh, which involves much more than making translations.”

Children dressed as monks and nuns, as well as real-life religious and ordinary Catholics, cheered him as he passed through the crowd outside the church in his Popemobile and later on foot.

It is the first time in a generation that Thais have seen a Pope up close, after John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Thailand in 1984.

Pornnutcha Kruprasert, a 14-year-old training to be a nun from southern Prachuap Khiri Khan province, said she was “excited and delighted” to see the Pope.

“The Pope always has good thoughts for all youths,” she said cheerfully. “We can bring his teachings into real life.”

After meeting with clergy and nuns, Francis met with members of his own Jesuit order and bishops from across Asia to encourage them to spread the faith as their…

The man was filmed reading anti-Jewish bible passages to two young boys in skullcaps while they were travelling with their family on the Northern Line.

Chris Atkins took the video after catching the Tube heading south on the Charing Cross branch of the line at midday on Friday.

“I’ve lived in London for 20 years and you’re used to people ranting on the Tube – it was only after a minute I realised, ‘hang on this is really, really antisemitic’,” the 43-year-old journalist told the PA news agency.

“It was the children that really got me and everyone else, he was just screaming at these children. It was horrific in every sense.

“He seemed to be a very committed Christian and believed this was the word of God – that it said in the bible Jews killed Jesus and they are all slave masters.

“It’s the kind of stuff you see on Twitter a lot… but to hear someone actually say it unashamedly was shocking.”

Wearing a cap and hoody, the man is seen in the video threatening a man off-camera after he tries to intervene and a woman in a hijab also confronts him.

“The Muslim woman didn’t take any s*** from him and really, really took him to task, very firmly and persistently,” Mr Atkins said.

“In this day and age we are told how intolerant everyone is and all religions hate each other and there you had a Muslim woman sticking up…

Posting on Twitter, the rapper shared the artwork for the event – which featured a golden engraving of the eponymous Babylonian king.

The opera, which is directed by Italian performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, will take place at The Hollywood Bowl on November 24. The event will also feature music by Kanye’s Sunday Service performers, alongside Peter Colins & Infinities Song.

During a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Kanye also likened himself to Nebuchadnezzar while discussing his past Yeezus tour.

“[God] is saying, Let me take this Nebuchadnezzar-type character—Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, and he looked at his entire kingdom and said, I did this,” he said.

He added: “I stood on the top of the mountain talking about Yeezus, saying, ‘I’m a God’—I had a guy dressed as Jesus.”

Invite artwork by Nick Knight pic.twitter.com/U7IBqe1Gxk

— ye (@kanyewest) November 17, 2019

Meanwhile, Kanye performed for prison inmates as he brought his Sunday Service show to a Houston jail over the weekend.

The rap star visited the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas ahead of his appearance at Joel Osteen’s church in the city.

According to TMZ, Kanye and his choir turned up to the prison by surprise on Friday 15^th November. The rapper stayed for a couple of hours to play to a select group of inmates and staff members.

A professionally-shot…

Prosecutors in Argentina have issued an international arrest warrant for Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who is accused of sexually abusing young trainee priests, known as seminarians. He denies the charges.

Bishop Zanchetta, 55, who is close to his fellow Argentine Pope Francis, lives in the Vatican.

He reportedly resides in Casa Santa Marta, an accommodation block in the shadow of St Peter’s Basilica where Francis has lived ever since his election six years ago.

Argentinian prosecutors have complained that the bishop has failed to respond to repeated emails and telephone calls about the abuse allegations, which were made last year by two young seminarians. The trainee priests also accused him of mismanagement of the diocese’s finances and abuse of power.

If convicted, the bishop would face up to 10 years in prison, but there is no extradition treaty between Argentina and the Vatican and for now he seems to be safely ensconced in Rome.

The stand-off emerged as Pope Francis made an impassioned speech in Bangkok on behalf of victims of sex trafficking, prompting accusations of a double standard in the Catholic Church’s stance on sex crimes.

“Despite being suspended from ministry, the Vatican has argued that Zanchetta’s ‘daily work’ requires him to be in Rome instead of facing trial in Argentina. This decision is at best questionable and at worst a…

She told People magazine: “I’ve done so many things,” Parton says. “And I see that I am in a position to help. People look at me like someone they’ve always known, like a mother or sister. If I say something good, people might listen.”

“I’ve just felt like God was calling me into that,” she adds. “I’ve always felt like my music was more my ministry than a job. I just feel that this day and time, we need more people that are in a position to help to try to do something, if they can, to brighten the world a little bit. That’s what I’m hoping to do now.”

Along with her for King & Country collaboration, Parton has also released two other faith-centric singles in the past several months, including ‘There was Jesus’ with Christian rock singer Zach Williams and ‘Faith’ with DJ duo Galantis. The latter, she says, “came to me out of the heavens.”

“[Galantis] sent the song to see if I’d be interested, and I just loved it,” she says. “So I did it. Now it’s out and people are really responding to it. It’s more of a dance song, as you know. But it’s a very spiritual message. It’s like God saying, ‘Have a little faith in me.’ So I was proud to be part of that whole thing.”

“I felt really blessed because I had decided just in the last few months that I was going to try to do more faith-based things or at least more uplifting music,” she continues. “Then right out of the blue came King and Country and their…