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Priest who left India to build links in Chinese Church dies

Initially placed in charge of vocations and youth movements, in 1969 he obtained a license in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University following a period of study of the English language in London. He was then sent to India where he was assigned an assistant in the parish in Mumbai and attended the theological faculty […]

Mamata Banerjee attends midnight Mass at Portuguese cathedral

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the Christmas night services on December 24 at the Cathedral Church in Kolkata. On her first visit to the cathedral for Christmas, Banerjee inaugurated the crib – traditional nativity scene of Jesus birth. Banerjee has served as the eighth and current chief minister of West Bengal since 2011, […]

Peace, not strife, on our mind for Christmas

Prayers for peace and understanding marked Christmas this year in the midst of subdued celebrations in light of the prevailing situation in the country and state. A Christmas message from the Assam Christian Forum said it all: “We humbly pray that peace returns to our land, and every tear is wiped from the eyes of […]

Foreigners vacate Brunei, where Christmas is banned

Foreign workers are gathering their families, packing their bags and leaving Brunei, where a ban on celebrating Christmas has been enforced since 2014 by an authoritarian regime happy to impose stiff penalties for any breaches of the law. Fearing Muslims would be led astray and convert to Christianity, the sultan of Brunei imposed full Sharia […]

Malaysian state declares extra holiday for Christmas

The Muslim chief minister of Sabah in Malaysia has ramped up the celebratory mood among Christians in the state by adding Dec. 24 or Christmas Eve as a new public holiday. The neighbouring state of Sarawak is also thinking of declaring Christmas Eve a holiday, local reports said. “The additional public holiday will enable those […]

Sri Lanka dragged into global conflict with Islamic extremism

The sudden deterioration of the security situation in Sri Lanka has come as a shock to its people. Five days after a series of suicide bombings on Easter Sunday killed more than 250 people, injured over 500, wrecked three Christian churches and caused substantial damage to three five-star hotels, Sri Lanka continues to be in […]

Funding restrictions cripple Church agencies in Pakistan

Christian groups in Pakistan are trying to stop the government closing their bank accounts as part of a process it says is in-tended to throttle foreign funding to terrorist organizations. The government has revoked the licenses of thousands of non-governmental agencies and thus prevented them receiving foreign funding, including from Christian non-governmental agencies. “The future […]

The secret lives of Vietnam’s Catholic mothers

Mary Nguyen closes the door carefully and says evening prayers with her two children in her room whenever her husband comes home late from work. And Nguyen, who lives in the house of her Buddhist parents-in-law, quietly takes them to weekend Masses once or twice a month at a church near her own parents’ home […]