Every Sunday on AsiaNews, we tell the story of someone from the Catholic Church in Asia: a person, a community, or an initiative that shows how the Gospel of Jesus is alive across this vast continent.
Just days after the death of Pope Francis and during the conclave that elected Leo XIV, a statue of the Virgin Mary — who appeared in support of persecuted Vietnamese Catholics — was placed just a short distance from the Dome of St Peter’s. The Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City said: “May she intercede for the Pope and for all our communities around the world.”
Yesterday the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation addressed the conference in Milan that marked the 175th anniversary of PIME’s foundation. The door of a house, sitting together at the table, songs of lament and joy, cultural and human intelligence are the four faces of a Church walking on the “ground prepared by the Holy Spirit of the Risen Jesus.”
In the diocese of Dipolog, in the south of the country, Chrisma Bangaoil and a group of volunteers have already built 12 small churches in the most isolated mountain areas. ‘We are not just building buildings; we are building faith in these outlying areas’.
The prelate released a message on behalf of the Bishops' Conference while hundreds are still under the rubble. Despite the natural calamity, Myanmar’s air force conducted air strikes yesterday. Twinned with Myanmar for many years, the Archdiocese of Tokyo expressed its closeness. Showing its resilience, St Michael's Church in Mandalay will rise out of the rubble for a third time.
Born in German-speaking countries, today more than half of the missionaries belonging to the institute founded by Arnold Janssen are from Asia, and are also on the frontline in the existential peripheries of Europe today. Now the institute is being called to reflect on mission in today's world at an international conference In Rome from 27 to 29 March.
By opening a nunciature in the Southeast Asian country in 1950, the Holy See made a great contribution to the development of the post-colonial world, and unity among the country’s many religious communities. For the Indonesian ambassador to the Holy See, the two parties “share a common perspective on many global issues,” as Pope Francis’s trip showed.
A few days ago, Archbishop Travas presided over the consecration of the parish dedicated to St. Andrew. A sign of hope for the Catholic community in an area of the city marked by serious problems.
Youth from around the country travelled to Birishiri, Diocese of Mymensingh, for the gathering promoted by the Bishops' Conference in the Jubilee Year. Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze of Dhaka urges youth “to be more actively engaged in the Church, making it more vibrant and beautiful.”
Card Ranjith led a Mass in Tewatta to celebrate Verbum TV, a Catholic broadcaster founded in 2015 by a lay couple that today has a viewership of around 200,000.
AsiaNews in conversation with Patras Paul, a Muslim cleric who suddenly - more than twenty years ago - reading the Gospel found in it the answers he could no longer find in the Koran. He tells of the persecution he suffered for this choice and of his difficult life today. His battle to have his new religious identity recognised on his identity card.
Ten years after the canonisation of Sri Lanka’s saint, pilgrims from India travelled to his shrine on his feast day. Bishop Emeritus Vianney Fernando of Kandy expressed gratitude for his gift, urging seminarians to learn to “be zealous missionaries” like him.
From Mainland China the appeal for the Holy Year by Archbishop Shen Bin: "Let us give hope to those in difficulty: to the poor, the sick, the young, migrants and the elderly alone". The Archbishop of Hanoi: in 2025 more possibilities for Vietnamese to go on pilgrimage to Rome. Fifteen jubilee churches in the metropolis. Philippine Cardinal David's appeal to the government: "Let the political prisoners be freed for the Jubilee".
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