Pino Cazzaniga

On November 24, the martyrs will be beatified whom Cardinal Peter Seichi Shirayanagi calls ordinary people, "exemplary in their observance of social order, who did not hesitate to refuse submission to the decrees of the shogun and of the daimyos when these were opposed to the faith and the dignity of the human person."

Former Japanese prime minister talks about the risks the crisis poses to humankind, points finger at the United States. He proposes US hegemony be replaced by G20 with Japan playing role of mediator between Asia and the West.

Fr Vincenzo Bordo has built a home for the homeless and the downtrodden and one for the lost kids of the street. In either they can get a hot meal as well as assistance. A new type of mission is in the making in a modern Asian setting.

Two years of pilgrimages, martyr worship and fund raising for the poor went into preparing the anniversary. Now the diocese is sending missionaries to Mongolia and is helping other dioceses in South Korea.

The new prime minister, a Catholic, received 70% of the votes from his party, and leads the country's politicians in popular approval. The foundation of his program, bringing out "the energy" of the Japanese.

People in the street react negatively to PM Fukuda’s sudden resignation. Premier quit because of deadlock in parliament and a drop in popularity as New Komeito plays maverick role.

In this year’s ceremonies marking the end of World War Two visits to controversial Yasukuni Shrine have been downplayed as Japanese leaders call for stronger ties to China. Like Henry Kissinger more and more Japanese are against nuclear weapons.

The two Asian nations dictate the rate of global warming by removing targets from the final statement. No pledge appears in document to reduce green house gases by 50 per cent within 2050. The next major meeting on climate is set for Copenhagen.

The request comes in a statement written at a summit of representatives from various faiths, held in Osaka and Kyoto. Major global institutions are increasingly turning to religion to understand the world's problems.

The obstacle to a successful conclusion of the summit to be held on the 7th and 8th is not so much the presentation of different proposals as the division between China and the United States. Fukuda will present mediation projects.

The first inhabitants of the archipelago, the Ainu were driven off their land, stripped of legal recognition, and forced to abandon their language and even their names.

In a society now in fear and seeking solutions, there are some who want to give greater power to the police, and some who are pondering the psychological or social causes that might favour the tendency to brutality. The role that religion can play should be explored more deeply, but here the Church is "timid".