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Indian court tells Church-run schools to ensure fair appointments

A top court has asked a Protestant diocese in southern India to appoint teachers irrespective of their caste, religious, and denominational backgrounds since their salaries are paid from the state exchequer. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court in Tamil Nadu state declared unconstitutional a list of prospective teachers prepared by the Tirunelveli diocese […]

Church backs quota protest by India’s indigenous people

Church leaders have warned the government against diluting India’s affirmative action policy that gives job and education quotas to the country’s marginalized people following a top court order on Aug. 1. They have backed a day-long nationwide protest on Aug. 21 by former untouchables (Dalits) and tribal people under the aegis of the National Confe-deration of […]

Indian Christians seek repeal of new anti-conversion bill

A delegation of Christian leaders has urged the governor of a northern Indian state to repeal a proposed law saying it can be misused to target religious mino-rities under the pretext of preventing fraudulent conversions. The Uttar Pradesh state government passed the bill restricting religious conversions on July 30. The northern state is ruled by the right-wing Hindu Bharatiya […]

Pakistan honours cardinal with Indian roots

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has awarded Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Archbishop emeritus of Karachi who was born in India’s Amritsar, on the country’s 78th Independence Day. The 79-year-old cardinal is among 104 people awarded for their contributions to the nation. Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day on August 14, a day before India’s Independence Day. The […]

Cardinal Jaime Sin Museum set to open in central Philippines

The Cardinal Jaime Sin Museum will open on September 1, 2024, as announced by the local government of New Washington and the Diocese of Kalibo in the central Philippines.  This museum, the first ecclesiastical museum in Western Visayas, will showcase the life and legacy of Cardinal Sin, who played a key role during the 1986 […]

China officially recognizes formerly ‘underground’ bishop, Vatican says

The Vatican announced on August 27 its “satisfaction” that China has officially recognized Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen as bishop of Tianjin. “This provision is a positive fruit of the dialogue established over the years between the Holy See and the Chinese government,” reads a Holy See statement released Aug. 27. According to Reuters, 95-year-old Shi […]

Jesuit priest urges global action as Rohingya crisis deepens in Bangladesh

Seven years after over 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to escape violence, escalating tensions and dwindling aid in overcrowded camps threaten their survival.  In an AsiaNews report, Father Jerry Gomes, a Jesuit priest and head of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) programs in Bangladesh,warned that Bangladesh cannot continue to bear the burden alone, urging the international community […]

Singaporean nuns bring hope to conflict-ridden Myanmar

In 2021, a military junta seized power in Myanmar, plunging the country into a state of civil conflict, substantially worsening what was already a difficult humanitarian situation. For several decades, the Canossian Daughters of Charity, a religious congregation with a strong presence in Singapore, have been at work in the country, aiming to build a […]