Dear friends,
AsiaNews web site and its revamped magazine is celebrating its seventh birthday. On 1 November 2003 we launched the first few pages in Italian and on December 3rd - Feast of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of missions - we began publishing pages in English and Chinese.
Seven years later, we are deeply satisfied with the fruits our work has borne right up to the present day. The number of annual visitors to our little site stand at an estimated 3 to 4 million, while the hits on individual pages revolve around 30 million.
Giving space to Asia, dialoguing with it and supporting the Christian presence in this vast continent is the intuition that brought AsiaNews into existence. Over time it has proved a prophetic one, and still today reveals its importance. Seven years ago Asia was only seen as an exotic travel destination, today it is the benchmark in economy and geopolitics. For this reason, an increasing number of media outlets are closely following events in Asia. At AsiaNews we do more: we not pay attention to banks, gross domestic products, disasters and violence, but also the destiny and daily lives of the Asian people, almost two-thirds of humanity, who are striving to affirm their dignity within the international community.
We would like to recall just some of the points on which AsiaNews has helped global public opinion to move towards a greater understanding and engagement with Asia.
The Synod of Churches for Middle East has just concluded. It has helped these communities to enhance their mission often marked by persecution, forcing the Church and the world to greater solidarity with their plight. We like to remember that these churches request for a Synod appeared for the first time on these pages, from the mouth of Bishop. Louis Sako, archbishop of Kirkuk in Iraq (see AsiaNews.it, 23/01/2009 I asked the Pope for a Mideast Synod to renew the Christian presence, says Mgr Sako).
The testimony of Chinese dissidents - especially Christian ones - is a long standing presence on our web pages: Our readers knew of Liu Xiaobo long before this pacifist writer who has drawn close to Christianity received the Nobel Prize for Peace. Our support for him, Hu Jia, Gao Zhisheng, Bao Tong, Ding Zilin, as well as for Chinese bishops and priests in prison is not in a gesture of opposition to China, but one of love for this great country so it may have the courage to combine economic development with respect for the dignity and freedom of all.
The theme of religious freedom as a key point for human rights, which is a long standing subject of debate on the pages of AsiaNews, is being increasingly picked up by many organizations and movements, and has even become a subject for reflection and discussion in national and European parliaments, the UN and international community.
We say this not out of pride, but with joy because we see the fruitfulness of our daily work in continuous liaison with the churches and peoples of Asia. We are also encouraged by the fact that our mission to inform not only comes in the form of denouncing and reporting but also takes on one of compassion, solidarity and commitment to the mission to aid earthquake victims in Haiti, floods in Pakistan, prayers for martyrs, and support for the persecuted churches as well as the decision of many young people to take the missionary vocation.
With the coming year we would like to strengthen this aspect of knowledge sharing and launch a new sector in our commitment: the organization of trips to encounter the peoples and churches of Asia, to create more stable and fraternal relationships with them, a measure of the catholicity of our faith and a modern way of being citizens of the world.
All this work depends on Divine Providence, our humble efforts and your support. This year, as every year, we ask you to help us with your friendship and your financial contribution. Become part of the mission of AsiaNews, which is that of the Church in Asia and the world.
