By opening a nunciature in the Southeast Asian country in 1950, the Holy See made a great contribution to the development of the post-colonial world, and unity among the country’s many religious communities. For the Indonesian ambassador to the Holy See, the two parties “share a common perspective on many global issues,” as Pope Francis’s trip showed.
A few days ago, Archbishop Travas presided over the consecration of the parish dedicated to St. Andrew. A sign of hope for the Catholic community in an area of the city marked by serious problems.
Youth from around the country travelled to Birishiri, Diocese of Mymensingh, for the gathering promoted by the Bishops' Conference in the Jubilee Year. Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze of Dhaka urges youth “to be more actively engaged in the Church, making it more vibrant and beautiful.”
The story of Mei Li, who was contemplating suicide: ‘The thing that attracts me most about God is hope’. The story of the little girl who tells her parents tshe is going to the mall but instead takes part in activities in a church and chooses Joan of Arc as her baptismal name. The desire for unity with the whole world. In the Holy Year of the Chinese Catholic communities, the hope that offers a way out from the social, political and existential void that generates only infinite pressures.
Card Ranjith led a Mass in Tewatta to celebrate Verbum TV, a Catholic broadcaster founded in 2015 by a lay couple that today has a viewership of around 200,000.
AsiaNews in conversation with Patras Paul, a Muslim cleric who suddenly - more than twenty years ago - reading the Gospel found in it the answers he could no longer find in the Koran. He tells of the persecution he suffered for this choice and of his difficult life today. His battle to have his new religious identity recognised on his identity card.
Ten years after the canonisation of Sri Lanka’s saint, pilgrims from India travelled to his shrine on his feast day. Bishop Emeritus Vianney Fernando of Kandy expressed gratitude for his gift, urging seminarians to learn to “be zealous missionaries” like him.
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the apostolic administrator he appointed and the appointment of a new vicar, Archbishop Pamplany, for the community at the heart of the lengthy and bitter liturgical clash that has divided this Eastern-rite Catholic Church. In his speech to the Synod, the newly appointed Cardinal Koovakkad pointed out the primacy of charity to his fellow Syro-Malabar bishops.
Two signs marked Christmas and Jubilee celebrations in Seoul’s Catholic community. Seoul Ajit’s new facility aims to boost an initiative that has helped more than 6,000 troubled youth in five years. For Archbishop Chung, the cross made with iron wires from the DMZ is a “powerful testament to our collective yearning for peace”.
From Mainland China the appeal for the Holy Year by Archbishop Shen Bin: "Let us give hope to those in difficulty: to the poor, the sick, the young, migrants and the elderly alone". The Archbishop of Hanoi: in 2025 more possibilities for Vietnamese to go on pilgrimage to Rome. Fifteen jubilee churches in the metropolis. Philippine Cardinal David's appeal to the government: "Let the political prisoners be freed for the Jubilee".
In the mountains of Indonesian Papua, new military operations against separatists have forced hundreds of people to flee into the forest. Bishop Matopai You has appealed to the authorities to ensure the refugees go home, and is also mobilising parishes to help those who fled.
Msgr. Linus Neli's Christmas message to the faithful in the Indian state rocked by violence. Let us bring flashes of God's peace to the world around us. Yesterday, meanwhile, interreligious prayers were held in Imphal and many other cities in India for the suffrage of the dead and for reconciliation
During today’s consistory in the Vatican basilica, the pontiff placed the biretta on 21 new cardinals. The College of Cardinals includes 37 from Asia, 25 electors. Archbishop Kikuchi of Tokyo, who chairs Caritas Internationalis, received the title of a suburban Roman church. Indian PM Modi sent an official delegation for the new Cardinal Koovakad. Francis will travel to India only after 2025, says Minister Kurian.
Sree Narayana Guru already a hundred years ago in India brought together representatives of all religions in his ashram to experience fraternal relations. The Pontiff: "Our religious traditions are ways to defeat the culture of individualism, exclusion, indifference and violence".
The Japanese artist who has been working on the great cathedral in Barcelona for more than 40 years following in the footsteps of the master, Antonio Gaudì, has been awarded the 2024 Ratzinger Prize, the first Asian to receive this recognition. "As long as God and destiny allow it, I will stay here, sculpting, dreaming and working so that every corner of this temple reflects the divine light,” he said.
The request made to the local government by John Ilus during a parliamentary debate. Sarawak is a state in Borneo where Christians are in the majority and where missionaries have historically played an important role in the growth of the education system. ‘Knowledge of Scripture is a unifying force and an essential component in educating young people in pluralism’.
The testimony to AsiaNews of the priest who teaches at the department of religions at the public university in a country with an overwhelming Muslim majority: ‘For many here it is the first opportunity in their lives to deal with a Christian. I never enter the classroom without wearing my collar and cross. Education has a fundamental role in dispelling ignorance and promoting empathy and dialogue’.
The archbishop of Bombay reflects upon Pope Francis’s new encyclical for AsiaNews. “In India we are very proud that many of our homes are dedicated to the Enthronement of the Sacred heart of Jesus. It is very important for us to once again understand the meaning” of this act. “Our country will benefit much from this whole attitude.”
The collaborative body relaunches its mission with first meeting in years. Christian and Muslim leaders together call for the reinclusion of Sulu in the Bangsamoro autonomous region, to safeguard the achievements of the peace process. The satisfaction of the Silsilah movement: ‘Important step at this historic moment when divisions and conflicts emerge in the Philippines and in the world’.
The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong participates as papal legate in the Fifth National Eucharistic Congress, which has as its theme of “Fraternity heals everything”.
A conference in the hometown of the friar martyred in India in 1321 while he was on his way to Beijing focused on the contribution to evangelisation of the Franciscan spiritualist current linked to the theology of Joachim of Fiore. For Father Criveller, these movements “were the most attentive to missionary openings because they believed that history is guided by God” and “had anticipated what the magisterium and theologians teach today”.
Blessed on the feast day of St Andrew Kim in the presence of Korean bishops on an ad limina visit. The Virgin wears a hanbok, the traditional Korean dress, and is depicted as Our Lady of Peace. ‘Intercede for reconciliation on the Korean peninsula’.
Some two thousand children took part in the initiative promoted by the vicariate. The camps provided an opportunity to play, learn and grow in faith. Sharing experiences in a migrant reality is fundamental, building a Church on the move and synodal. For Archbishop Martinelli, participants “experienced the freedom of life”.
An Italian Salesian nun who has been in the country for more than 30 years tells AsiaNews about the expectations of a people that has not yet fully emerged from the ordeal that led to independence. Education and health unresolved problems, the urgent need to train young people in politics. The desire to ‘touch’ and receive a blessing from Francis.
The pandemic and the outbreak of dramatic conflicts have changed many things, in the world as well as in China. The generation of boys and girls born after the turn of the millennium, are among those most affected by these events. Young Chinese, believers or not, resemble more their peers from other nations with whom they share the digital and social media worlds, rather than their compatriots from the generations that preceded them.
The nun of the Servants of the Eucharist to whom in 1973 Our Lady entrusted a message calling the world to conversion, penance and prayer passed away on the Feast of the Assumption. In 1984 the local bishop wrote that “the supernatural character could not be denied.” Since 2002, the wooden statue has been kept in the shrine of the Mother of the Redeemer.^
The bishop-elect of Thanjavur, the diocese in Tamil Nadu where the "Lourdes of the East" is located, comments for AsiaNews the letter in which Card Fernández, on behalf of Pope Francis, encourages pilgrimages that welcome the faithful of all confessions. “Christ is the way,” but “not all religions are the same.” Yet Mary “welcomes everyone.”
Christian Churches take the same stand after a video that could be used to create new tensions went viral. For interfaith council, “religious groups should be ethical when propagating their faith,” and respect the house of worship of others.
The testimony of Fr Elbert Balbastro, a young Filipino priest of the St Columba missionaries in the province of Sindh. ‘Meeting generous and authentic people who, despite having little, share what they have with all their heart, has revealed to me the joy of serving the Lord’.
Heir to the first seminary opened in 1665 to train the local clergy in Ayuthia in present-day Thailand, the College General has seen more than 50 graduates give their lives for the Gospel, including the martyrs of the Vietnamese persecution in the 18th century and those who perished in Pol Pot’s Cambodia. For Card Francis, “May the exemplary and courageous spirit of these martyrs continue to inspire” today’s priests in Malaysia.
