Ecclesia in Asia

The pope has approved the election of two new archbishops designated by the Sindo of the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Syrians: Fr. Jacques Mourad in 2015 in Syria was in the hands of jihadists for five months; in Iraq Fr. Qusay Mubarak Abdullah Hano was born and raised in the Nineveh Plain and was an exile among exiles in Erbil. The challenges of reconstruction.

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."

35 year old Fr. Dominic Fung King-ho, will minister in St. Alfred parish. The new priest's homage to Cardinal Zen "who showed me how to love the least". The OMI have been present in the former British colony since 1966 where they are active in educational institutions and in serving the poor. Since 2001 they have also had some form of presence in mainland China.

The Soeurs de Notre Dame celebrated the first 50 years of their orphanage in Central Java province. “We are here and serve the most unfortunate children thanks to the generosity of so many people in this city,” says the Superior for Indonesia. God gave the nuns “the passion to love these unfortunate children and the patience to always listen to them."

Forced to flee Pakistan in 1986, for 15 years bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir Ali chose Catholicism last year. He tells AsiaNews, "The persecuted will renew our Churches. The Synod? We must be on guard against outside pressure groups and listen to yesterday's believers as well."

As politics once again leaves a power vacuum, the Lebanese people are gripped by an unprecedented economic crisis. The Maronite bishop of Batroun points the finger at politicians and corruption. Catholic schools, however, have seen an increase in enrollment. "When the time for change comes, we want to be ready," he tells AsiaNews.

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.

Next Sunday, the Church around the world celebrates the day that focuses on the proclamation of the Gospel to those who have not yet known Jesus. The director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in India offers his reflection on what missionary conversion means today amid the wounds of the Church’s scandals and the hostility of fundamentalists.

After the opening day at the meeting promoted in Bangkok by the Federation of Bishops' Conferences, the Church of each country presents the joys and challenges of its experience. Card. Gracias: "The experience of Latin America with the Aparecida document a model for renewing and revitalising our pastoral experience".

Located in a district that covers Bangkok’s port, Klong Toey is home to 100,000 people, many of them internal migrants. Here, the Sisters recently began providing meals to people further impoverished by the pandemic. With their school “only a few blocks away from the biggest slum,” the Sisters heeded Pope Francis’s call to “serve the poor at the borders of our society”.

His remains transferred to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He was the pastor of the Synod of the local Church and the Bridge to Mainland China .

In the last 15 years , the number of foreigners in the country has grown fourfold. The bishop of Incheon released a message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which is marked today by the Churches of the whole world. “Our hearts and actions are what God wants us to do in order to further build a great future in which no one is left out,” the prelate writes.