Father Aloysius Pieris died in Sri Lanka at the age of 92. He was the first non-Buddhist to earn a doctorate from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. A scholar of Eastern religions, he founded the Tulana Research Centre in 1974, also very active in social work. He was the first Asian member of the editorial board of the magazine Concilium.
Even before war broke out again in the Gulf, UN agencies were reporting that more than 20 million Yemenis were experiencing severe food insecurity in the country divided by the conflict with the Houthis that has been raging since 2014. Many families have been forced to eat only one meal a day, mostly watered-down food, while vaccination campaigns are in crisis because of aid cuts. For humanitarian workers, this is the most dangerous phase in recent years.
He was convicted for "inciting subversion of state power" after a trial marked by serious procedural breaches of Chinese and international law. Xie, who has handled several sensitive cases, including religious persecution cases, and has been imprisoned and tortured in the past for his work. The human rights community is calling for his immediate release.
Recently, the state government led by Yumnam Khemchand Singh met with the Kuki-Zo Council for the first time, issuing an appeal to "forgive and forget". The meeting marks a first step towards reconciliation, but tensions and deep mistrust remain between the communities.
In the year that Macao celebrates the 450th anniversary of the founding of its diocese, the local Catholic university is offering an in-depth course on the most significant issues in the history of modern evangelisation in the East. This is a stimulating initiative on a campus that actively promotes creative dialogue between Chinese and European traditions in the fields of culture and science.
In AsiaNews, Fr Ielpo describes the run-up to Easter amidst the war in the Gulf and the closure of the holy sites. He condemns the violence perpetrated by settlers in the West Bank: “Serious acts against people who want to live in peace”. His account of southern Lebanon, which he has just visited. Prayer as an ‘essential’ path to a peace ‘that comes from above’. An appeal to Christians worldwide to ‘carry this yet another cross together’.
