South Asia

The Archdiocese of Dhaka organised a seminar during Lent to boost the spirituality of Catholic doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. "Our God-given vocation" is to treat patients with love.

Francis expresses appreciation and encouragement for the Neocatechumenal Way. "Even before words, your witness of life manifests the heart of Christ’s revelation”. "How much loneliness, how much suffering, how much distance from God in many suburbs of Europe and America, and in many cities of Asia."

Focus on the importance of negotiations in conflict resolution and education to promote the conditions for a peaceful coexistence between peoples and the different religious groups

"With a worldly heart you can go to church, you can pray, you can do so many things. But Jesus, at the Last Supper, in the prayer to the Father, what did He pray? 'But please, Father, keep these disciples from falling into the world".

When life becomes very fragile and is approaching its earthly end, "we feel the responsibility to assist and accompany the person in the best way" to relieve the suffering. This is what families and palliative care provide. For the pontiff, "all medical knowledge is truly science, in its most noble sense, only if it finds its place as a help in view of the good of man, a good that is never achieved by going 'against' his life and dignity."

Christian and Buddhist leaders and clerics, as well environmentalists protest a Chinese project to build a port city in Colombo, which they deem illegal. A day after the crackdown, the government put the project on hold.

The law on the slaughter, consumption and sale of cows, bulls and steers approved after 19 years. 80% of the country's population is Hindu, a religion that worships the cow. Major consequences for the Muslim community, responsible for beef trade. Christian Association: "Religion is something personal, and the government should not mix it with their norms".

"A culture of profit insists on painting the elderly as a burden, a 'dead weight'. It thinks that the elderly don’t produce anything and therefore are a burden". "There is something vile in this addiction we have to this throw away culture. We have become used to discarding people." "The Church cannot and does not want to comply with a mentality of impatience, and even less that of indifference and contempt towards old age".

In Rajasthan, police beat 20 Christians for handing out leaflets. In Madhya Pradesh, a group of rightwing Hindus disrupted a local Pentecostal prayer service. For the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), "India is a secular democracy, not a theocracy."

Health, agriculture, education, land and fishing were the main issues discussed with provincial authorities. "The task of bringing together the minds of the people cannot be achieved only through physical development," the president said.

Pakistani authorities have arrested and imprisoned at least 470 parents and issued arrest warrants for hundreds of others. It is the first mass arrest to take place in the country. They are charged with "endangering" public health by refusing to vaccinate children. Pakistan is one of three countries in the world where the disease is still endemic.

"In the second week of Lent we have these three words to think about, to ponder: the invitation to conversion; the gift that the Lord will give us, which is great forgiveness, a great forgiveness; and the trap, that is, pretending to convert, while choosing the path of hypocrisy. "