Ecclesia in Asia

Some two thousand children took part in the initiative promoted by the vicariate. The camps provided an opportunity to play, learn and grow in faith. Sharing experiences in a migrant reality is fundamental, building a Church on the move and synodal. For Archbishop Martinelli, participants “experienced the freedom of life”.

The nun of the Servants of the Eucharist to whom in 1973 Our Lady entrusted a message calling the world to conversion, penance and prayer passed away on the Feast of the Assumption. In 1984 the local bishop wrote that “the supernatural character could not be denied.” Since 2002, the wooden statue has been kept in the shrine of the Mother of the Redeemer.^

The bishop-elect of Thanjavur, the diocese in Tamil Nadu where the "Lourdes of the East" is located, comments for AsiaNews the letter in which Card Fernández, on behalf of Pope Francis, encourages pilgrimages that welcome the faithful of all confessions. “Christ is the way,” but “not all religions are the same.” Yet Mary “welcomes everyone.”

Christian Churches take the same stand after a video that could be used to create new tensions went viral. For interfaith council, “religious groups should be ethical when propagating their faith,” and respect the house of worship of others.

The testimony of Fr Elbert Balbastro, a young Filipino priest of the St Columba missionaries in the province of Sindh. ‘Meeting generous and authentic people who, despite having little, share what they have with all their heart, has revealed to me the joy of serving the Lord’.

Heir to the first seminary opened in 1665 to train the local clergy in Ayuthia in present-day Thailand, the College General has seen more than 50 graduates give their lives for the Gospel, including the martyrs of the Vietnamese persecution in the 18th century and those who perished in Pol Pot’s Cambodia. For Card Francis, “May the exemplary and courageous spirit of these martyrs continue to inspire” today’s priests in Malaysia.

The Archbishop of Mumbai, who represents Asia in the Council of Cardinals wanted by Pope Francis, comments on the Instrumentum laboris in view of the October Assembly released these days. "We need to discuss how to give women their rightful role, involving them more in decision-making processes in the Church. Being inclusive, welcoming everyone, does not mean changing what the Gospel teaches."

By the end of the year, two priests and three nuns from Italy, India and Myanmar will set up a new outpost in the Diocese of Tanjung Selor, Indonesian Borneo, together with other congregations established elsewhere in the world inspired by PIME’s charism. For the Institute’s Superior General, Fr Brambillasca, this is “a project to renew in everyone the desire to leave for the mission.”

A Creole people descended from the Portuguese, the Kristang celebrate their patron saint every year with four days of celebrations that attract tourists and visitors from all over Malaysia and other countries. "Today there are no more shrimps on our shores and this creates problems for the future. But we strive to maintain our faith and our traditions."

Tharman Shanmugaratnam was received in audience at the Vatican, during which the two underscored the importance of this crossroads in Asia as a place of interfaith harmony. Meanwhile, a diocesan app will be up and running tomorrow to apply for tickets to the Mass scheduled for 12 September at the National Stadium. Groups of faithful are also expected from the dioceses of neighbouring Malaysia.

Three years now since the death of his apostolic vicar Fr. Sim that Pope Francis had wanted to create cardinal, the small local Church continues its journey keeping the faith alive in this Muslim state of Borneo. The contribution of the lively community of Filipino migrants in the life of the three parishes.

A community in Jiangxi wanted images of the Irish priests who served it between the 1920s and 1950s to appear on the stained glass windows in the renovation of its parish restored after long being a kindergarten. Including a martyr killed by Communist militias, whose grave is still a place revered by local Catholics.