| VATICAN

From the Vatican new call for peace in the Middle East. But also a thought for the ‘tormented Ukraine’ that ‘suffers so much’. Best wishes to the brothers and sisters of the Orthodox Churches for Easter celebrated today, according to the Julian calendar. ‘May the Risen Lord comfort the communities that are in trial’. 

by Melani Manel Perera

A course dedicated to their protection was held at the Caritas Village and attended by 200 women. Significant contribution made by migrant labour to the national economy through remittances recognised.

| 04/05/2024
| SRI LANKA-SINGAPORE
by Stefano Caprio

During the Holy Thursday service, Patriarch Kirill recited a special prayer ‘for the victory of holy Rus’", which intensifies the war litanies imposed on priests, on pain of deprivation of clerical status if they refuse to pronounce them. The Easter celebrations must recompose the people of believers to show that Russia has defeated the evil within, finding the right path to sobornost.

| 04/05/2024
| RUSSIAN WORLD
by Nirmala Carvalho

A year ago, violence broke out between ethnic Meitei and Kuki, tearing apart the northeastern state, with at least 220 deaths. In a situation that remains tense and painful, Archbishop Linus Neli called for three days of fasting and prayer. “[W]e know only too well the present scenario of ethnic segregation,” but we “pray for the day when people of all ethnicities and religious communities can live together”. To this end, we urge “positive action from the State Government and other authorities”.

| 03/05/2024
| INDIAN MANDALA

A year after his first historic visit to Beijing, the cardinal and a group of aides held meetings in local churches in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two metropolises in southern China on, like Hong Kong, the Pearl River Delta. He also encouraged meetings among the laity to feel “that we belong to one family”.

| 03/05/2024
| HONG KONG – CHINA

The "Dambana ng Paghilom" is in the Laloma Cemetery in Caloocan City. Diplomats, men and women religious, as well as victims’ families attended the site’s ceremonial blessing. A woman says she was forced to sign a waiver, saying that her bullet-ridden husband had died of "pneumonia”.

| 03/05/2024
| PHILIPPINES

This move follows the imposition of compulsory military service in February on men up to 35 years and women up to 27. In the last three months, 100,000 men have applied for expatriation and many others have fled to Thailand to avoid the draft.

| 03/05/2024
| MYANMAR
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“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”