The Hong Kong government has harshly rejected a petition with which ten Catholic bishops from all continents this week had asked the government of the special administrative region of Hong Kong to release the well-known pro-activist democracy – and Catholic – Jimmy Lai, who at 75 has been in prison for over 1000 days.
Lai was arrested in August 2020 thanks to the controversial “national security law”, which drastically limits freedom of speech in an attempt to suppress the pro-democracy movement. Among the harshest sanctions provided by law there is also life imprisonment for what the government considers sedi-tion, terrorism, but also damage to public transport vehicles.
The petition of the 10 Catholic bishops – Card. Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York (United States), Card. Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum (India) and others asked “the government of the special administrative region of Hong Kong to immediately and unconditionally release Jimmy Lai, prosecuted.
The Hong Kong government has harshly rejected a petition.

Malaysia’s new cardinal, Sebastian Francis of Penang, has said the upcoming Synod of Bishops on Synodality ought to be an open process in which all issues are discussed without fear, and warned against using labels that cause division. Speaking to Crux, Francis said of the synod, “as long as we don’t get into la-bels, and we don’t get into trying to divide,” things will be fine.
“We are not looking for easy, simple solutions to whatever issues might be out there in the Church, but we are looking for a way of being Church itself…a Church that is open to welcome anyone, everyone, and deal with all the issues without feeling threatened by any issues,” he said.
It is the culmination of a multi-year process that began with a broad consultation and the dio-cesan level in October 2021 and continued with discussion at the continental stage, and it marks the first of two universal gather-ings based in Rome to conclude the process. The final discussion will take place next year, in October 2024, following a year of reflection and discussion on the results of this year’s meeting.
In his conversation with Crux, Francis discussed the October synod as well as the Church in Malaysia, Pope Francis’s atten-tion to the continent, the upcom-ing World Youth Day in Seoul, and a potential papal visit to India next year.
“I’d just like to tell him that I affirm the three things he men-tioned to me in (his) letter: That universality is not unifor-mity, and uniformity is a tempta-tion, it’s a weakness and may even be a sin; and telling us what he would want from us, from me, is both the enculturation of faith of the universal Church and the evangelization of cultures. I am one with him, one with the Holy Spirit who has inspired him to remind us of these essentials. For the rest, well, come what may.”

In the heart of Asia, where diversity thrives and traditions abound, the intersection of faith and family is a place where love and understanding must find a way to coexist peacefully.
Interfaith marriages are on the rise. In Singapore, one in three marriages is an interfaith union. Whether we approve of it or not, many individuals choose to embark on interfaith relation-ships.
Therefore, it becomes essen-tial to explore ways to support these couples in overcoming the challenges they may encounter.
Some issues faced by inter-faith families can be very practi-cal and finding support can be challenging.
Consider the case of Mary, a Catholic who married a Hindu man. He died many years ago but she was well accepted and taken care of by her husband’s family. But when Mary died the Hindu family was at a loss about what to do for her funeral rites.
Muslim woman Fadhilah and Catholic man Ronald have been married for many years. How-ever, their union faces resistance from her Muslim family, who hesitate to visit their home due to the presence of alcohol, which conflicts with their Islamic be-liefs.
The Centre for Interfaith Understanding (CIFU), an inter-faith organization in Singapore works to find ways to help inter-faith families in their daily stru-ggles. The organization is curre-ntly collecting stories from inter-faith couples, documenting their trials, triumphs, and the unique tapestry of love that they create.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has begun a hunger strike in her Iranian prison in protest at limits on medical care for her and other inmates, as well as the obligation for wo-men to wear the hijab in the Islamic republic, her family said on Monday.
Veteran rights activist Moha-mmadi, 51, currently held in Te-hran’s Evin prison, was awarded the Nobel prize in October “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran.”
“Narges Mohammadi, today, through a message from Evin Prison, has informed her family that she started a hunger strike several hours ago. We are con-cerned about Narges Mohamma-di’s physical condition and heal-th,” her family said in a state-ment.
Mohammadi is refusing under any circumstances to wear a hijab, the head covering that has been obligatory for women in public spaces since shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
Prison authorities in response have refused to transfer Moha-mmadi, who suffers from heart and lung conditions, to a hospital outside Evin for treatment.
The family said in the state-ment that she was in “urgent” need of medical treatment outside prison.
“Narges went on a hunger strike today in protesting two things: The Islamic Republic’s policy of delaying and neglecting medical care for sick inmates… (and) the policy of ‘mandatory hijab’ for Iranian women,” the statement said.

China passed a “Patriotic Education Law,” further consolidating the Chinese Communist Party’s control over education, including religious education, state-controlled media outlet Xinhua announced last month.
The new law, which was passed during a session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, would require churches and religious groups to adapt their educational activities to promote the party’s official ideology.
“The state is to guide and support religious groups, religious institutes, and religious activity sites in carrying out patriotic edu-cation activities, enhancing religious profe-ssionals’ and believers’ identification with the great motherland, the Chinese people, Chinese culture, the Chinese Communist Party, and socialism with Chinese characte-ristics,” the new law reads.
The law goes on to say that “all levels and types of school shall have patriotic edu-cation permeate the entire course of school education” and that even “the parents or other guardians of minors shall include love of the motherland in family education.”
Patriotic education has been an imperative of the CCP since the Maoist Revolution to inculcate the party’s official ideology. It has been reimagined during periods of social upheaval, namely during the Cultural Revolution and in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Xi Jinping has put his twist on patriotic education, underpinning it with the ideological doctrine of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese people.” This mantra is in part centred on the revival of Chinese culture, but it is also predicated on “upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and socialism with Chinese characteristics.”