South East Asia

The meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill has been eagerly desired for quite some time. Expected under John Paul II; hoped for with Benedict XVI, it has taken time to realize. Catholics and Orthodox face the same challenges of persecution and relativism. Orthodox nationalism, backed by Putin, causes some reticence. The Middle East crisis and risk of Russia’s isolation fosters collaboration.

Good relations until the fifteenth century. The Council of Florence, the Union of Brest and the birth of the Catholic Churches of the Eastern rite. The anti-Christian persecution of the Soviet Union and the conflict between Catholics and Orthodox in Ukraine. The Catholic mission in Russia.

Metropolitan Hilarion told a press conference that despite unresolved issues such like the expansion of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Ukraine, the Moscow Patriarchate hopes that the meeting "will open a new page in the relations between the two Churches”.

Their meeting will take place in Cuba, where Francis will stop before he travels to Mexico. The two are expected to sign a joint statement after a two-hour private talk.

Commenting on the death of John the Baptist, Francis invites us to "ask the Lord for the grace of humility that John had without bestowing us with the merits or glories of others. And above all, the grace that there is always space in our lives for Jesus to grow and that we abase ourselves, to the very end. "

In his message for the lunar New Year, which falls on 8 February, Mgr John Wong says, the family is the “foundation of society. When family units are broken, the order of society and the world will be in chaos”. Materialism and selfishness are the first enemies of the family. According to Chinese tradition, New Year family “reunion dinner was a day not to be missed but to be greatly treasured.”

Thinking of our "final passage" which is "a light which illuminates life", "is a reality that we must always have before us". We must ask God to not fear death.

A dozen members of Islam Defenders Front raided a Jakarta hotel, where the meeting on human rights was taking place. After hours of threats and negotiations with police, participants were evacuated for "security reasons".

In his pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday, the archbishop calls on the faithful to replenish the ‘Pondo ng Pinoy’ programme. Feeding children is a concrete act of charity in the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, and a lot can be done with a little for malnourished children.

From 25 to 28 January, Indonesia hosted an International Conference on Family Planning, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For years, Indonesia’s main religions have worked with the government to educate families about responsible parenthood. For Muslim scholar, in Islam, there is the concept of al-mashalihul Ammah, i.e. the common good. "The number of people in a country or individuals in a family is a crucial point in Islam,” he said.

Over the past three years, the congregation has given support to over 3 thousand former soldiers of South Vietnam, wounded or maimed. "It is not a political choice: we help them because of our faith." Since their arrival in Vietnam in 1921, the Redemptorists work in favor of the poor and marginalized.

About one million Nepalese migrants work in Malaysia. A third of them have asked to return home because of problems related to the currency crisis, insecurity and because they suffer torture. Nepal, however, still "suffers from the earthquake and the Indian embargo" and Kathmandu does not know how to re-employ migrants. Kuala Lumpur will not issue regular contracts, while calling for more women workers "who end up in the sex trade."