Giorgio Bernardelli

Christmas in Ulan Bator, described by Card. Giorgio Marengo - chosen by Pope Francis in the last consistory. The prelate leads a Church that was born just 30 years ago in the steppe and counts a total of 1,400 faithful. "The coal scandal has exasperated people at an already difficult time. Christmas wish from Mongolia: to discover that this Child is born to take ever deeper roots among us as well."

Religious Zionists want to legalise even those small settlements that Israeli law itself deems illegal. Administrative authority in the West Bank’s Area C, which is under Israeli control but largely inhabited by Palestinians, is now in settlers’ hand. The first goal is to rebuild Homesh, one of the settlements Sharon evicted in 2005.

Consecrated by the Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, Fr Enrique Figaredo Alvargonzales, the church dedicated to Saint Teresa of Avila, was built in a Christian village thanks to the work among the poor of a French missionary before the Khmer Rouge. For Fr Kristofia Todjro, a PIME missionary from Togo, the elderly have guarded the faith; the challenge now is not to lose young people.

Official Vatican communiqué on the "installation" reported by AsiaNews: "The event is not in accordance with stipulations and was preceded by heavy pressure from local authorities." Rome does not recognize the diocese of Jiangxi. The issue of jurisdiction over the clergy of the Yujiang diocese.

The network brings together various experiences in order to raise awareness that the two continents face the same environmental challenges together. Its message to the COP27 that opens today in Sharm el Sheik is to heed “small local communities” since “negotiations between governments” have failed.

Msgr. Peter Chung Soon-taick wants to bring World Youth Day to Asia: "It would be an extraordinary opportunity to revive youth ministry in a country struggling with a demographic winter and an education system dominated by competitiveness." An announcement that in these hours is intertwined with the dramatic news about the hundreds killed and injured in the stampede for the Hallowen festivities in the Itaewon district.

At the General Conference of the Churches of Asia-which concludes tomorrow in Bangkok-the issue of growing conflicts challenges the continent's bishops' conferences. Mumbai Card. Gracias: "Let us not stop at words, let us animate civil society for reconciliation." Pope Francis' envoy Card. Tagle: "The Gospel tells us that God acts through the little ones. Even being a minority is a mission."

Three youth representatives are at the General Conference of Asian Churches, two from India and one from Malaysia. Speaking to AsiaNews, they see the meeting as a great opportunity for an open debate. The emerging challenges in our societies concern them firsthand. For them both present and future count.

The Federation of Asian Bishops is marking its 50th anniversary at a general conference in Bangkok. The meeting will conclude at the end of this week when a final statement will be issued to the people of God. No prelate from mainland China was able to come. “On this occasion we felt their absence,” Card Gracias of Bombay said. “Yet we still feel they are part of our journey.”

The Vatican delegation and Chinese authorities met in a city with no official bishop since 2005. Archbishop Celli was able to meet 92-year-old underground Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen. Meanwhile, a report to the National Assembly of Chinese Catholic Representatives puts the number of Catholic churches in the country at 4,202 with 110,000 new baptisms in the last six years.

After the Zakho massacre that cost the lives of 9 tourists the testimony of a parish priest who lives in the mountains of the region where the raids take place. "Every week there are people dying from these bombings, I too have been in danger of being hit. Ankara must be stopped."

For the Italian missionary, “this is a first for Japan”, yet surprised “to see so many young people in front of maxi-screens to follow the news.” If the gunman acted on his own, it “would raise questions about a society” that “creates people with personalities that can explode.”