Brunei

Yesterday, Dili officially became the 11th nation in the Southeast Asian bloc. The end of a 14-year journey was marked by a highly symbolic ceremony attended by all regional leaders. Prime Minister Rala Xanana Gusmao was the last to add his signature. Challenges and responsibilities related to inclusion remain.

Southeast Asia expert Bridget Welsh analyses Kuala Lumpur's first steps at the helm of the bloc: the leadership will be successful if it puts ‘the interests of those who live in the region above those of its leaders’. ‘Calling for “inclusive elections” in Myanmar contradicts the real situation on the ground’.

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 study conducted by the Kuala Lumpur government warns the country that 3 out of 4 Malaysians with high qualifications work in Singapore where they earn much more on average than in Malaysia.

Today's news: Thai officials investigated for corruption, accused of sending migrants to Finland for payment; Clashes again Manipur, where the longest internet blockade of 2023 was recorded; North Korea is stepping up military cooperation with Russia, Seoul says; UN Security Council asks Houthis to stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea, China and Russia abstain.

The 43rd summit of South East Asian countries closes today in Jakarta. The decision a response to the Burmese military coup and violence since February 2021. The US Vice-President and the Chinese Premier also attended, as well as state and government leaders. By 2045, the region will contribute 5.4% to global GDP. Jokowi: trust and cooperation.

Today's headlines: dozens of priests and deacons from the Moscow Patriarchate sign an appeal for an end to the "fratricidal war"; Chinese companies operating in Russia have started asking for advance payments; Pyongyang hid the invasion of Ukraine for days and blamed the imperialist West; Hong Kong activist convicted under anti-sedition law; in India four Christians arrested on false conversion charges.

“We can hardly fail to see that these days, in addition to the pandemic, an ‘infodemic’ is spreading: a distortion of reality based on fear, which in our global society leads to an explosion of commentary on falsified if not invented news,” Francis said. “Fake news has to be refuted, but individual persons must always be respected, for they believe it often without full awareness or responsibility,” he added. “[T]ruth is never merely a concept having to do with judgment about things; no, that is only a part of what truth is. Truth regards life as a whole”.

Humility is “the one way to come to worship God in the same house, around the same altar.” The “great band of martyrs’ around Jesus, indicates “to us here below a clear way, the way of unity!”

"Our sins, our mistakes, our falls, do not frighten God, let's get that straight in our heads, but he is frightened by the closure of our hearts, by our lack of faith in His love". "It is right that those who have erred should pay for their error, but it is just as right that those who have erred should be able to redeem themselves from their error. There can be no condemnation without a window of hope." "We pray that all disciples of Christ may persevere on the path of unity."

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be celebrated from 18 to 25 January, centred this year on the theme: “We saw the star in the East, and we came to worship him”. In Cana, “the first sign Jesus accomplished was not an extraordinary healing or something prodigious in the temple of Jerusalem, but an action that responded to a simple and concrete need of common people, a domestic gesture. Let us put it this way – a miracle done on tip toes”.

In his address to the diplomats representing 183 States accredited to the Holy See, Francis stressed the need to tackle issues such as vaccines for all and openness to those who are forced to leave their country, as well as the main crisis hotspots, from Syria and Afghanistan to the Ukraine and Myanmar.