Six years of AsiaNews. Hope in the midst of denunciation

In the first weeks of November, representatives of the Justice and Peace Commission of Pakistan came to Europe to raise awareness among Churches of their suffering. They also visited our office in AsiaNews asking for our support to eliminate the blasphemy law from their country, which imposes imprisonment and capital punishment on all those who insult the Quran or Muhammad.

This demand of Pakistan’s Christians is just the latest of a series of emergency requests that reach us so that this small instrument that is AsiaNews may broadcast news, facts, testimonies of the all that the Churches and people in Asia experience and suffer.

Christians in Orissa have thanked us for the attention focused on them and in turn dragged the attention of global media.  "Without you – wrote a young man from Bhubaneshwar - we would have suffered the indifference of the world”.

Fr. Thomas Chellan is one of the first victims of the violence in Kandhamal. His ordeal was posted months ago on AsiaNews: beaten for hours, stripped naked, doused with gasoline, dragged to be lynched .... A year on from the day of his martyrdom, he called us from India to thank us: "Thank you for your consideration - he said - I understood that the universal Church was close to my suffering. Your solidarity makes me accept what I viewed as a contribution towards the sufferings of Christ and makes me wish even more to proclaim faith in Jesus to the people of Orissa.

These messages - and many others that come from Tibetan, Burmese, Iraqis, Afghans, Russians, Japanese - are very encouraging about the validity of our work which above all is a mission.

Our commitment to the truth highlights the critical points for religious freedom. It is bearing unexpected fruit: several Muslim personalities – in contact with us - rise up to defend freedom for Christians in Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan. Many others are active in promoting the dignity of women in the Islamic world, or rights, justice, freedom for the churches in China.

Our information is also useful to all those who have economic and trade relations with countries of Asia, where religious freedom is threatened, even the freedom of trade is in danger.

Six years after the launch of the website www.asianews.it (in Italian, English, Chinese), I thank the Lord because he enables us to carry out an important mission, that of a dialogue between East and West that has at heart not only the stock markets, but the human person, the people and the churches.

But it is only right to thank all of you who support us with prayer and with the financial help. Albeit with some difficulty, it has not been lacking in this harsh period of global economic crisis. This is a sign that our readers want to share – despite all difficulties – the ideals for which we live.

Dear friends, continue to do so because there is a growing fraternity between Asia and the world in the name of Jesus Christ.