South Korean Catholics joined a memorial program including Mass in the national capital Seoul ahead of the third anniversary of the Halloween stampede tragedy that claimed 159 lives, mostly young people. The event at Seoul’s Itaewon Square drew about 400 people, mostly Catholics, including family members of the victims, on Oct. 27.

The memorial was organized by the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, and the mass was presided over by Father Andrew Choi Jae-cheol, parish priest of St. Mark’s Church. During the program, participants laid flowers and lit 159 candles in memory of 159 victims who died in the stampede on Oct. 29, 2022, reportedly due to a crush caused by overcrowding in Itaewon district, a popular hangout site.

Names of all the victims were called out one by one as a mark of tribute to their memories. Father Choi termed the tragedy a “social disaster” and prayed for the souls lost and their families. He urged the authorities to “reveal the truth, ensure a thorough investigation, bring those responsible to justice, and help us build a safe nation where such a tragedy never happens again.” Father Leo Ha Chun-soo, who delivered the homily at the Mass, said that precious lives have been lost because “the state failed to fulfill its role.” 

Teresa Kim Nam-hee, mother of a victim, Gabriella Shin Ae-jin, said she has been appalled by the apathy of some people and the negligence of the government in ensuring justice for the victims. She alleged that some people played music on high-volume speakers to disrupt the memorial mass, which revealed “how cruel people can be.” “At the time, when uncontrollable anger and resentment threatened to consume me, I was able to endure that day because there were priests and nuns who kept the line in order and celebrated the mass with me without wavering,” she added. She hoped that the pain and suffering of the Itaewon tragedy would end “when our society empathizes with each other’s pain, holds hands, and puts life first.” Rose Lee Jeong-mi, who joined the memorial, said that the tragedy is a wake-up call to build a country safe for the next generations to live. “I will remember the pain of the bereaved families who carry painful memories and pray that I can share in their pain,” she added.

President Donald Trump on Sunday co-signed a ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, alongside leaders from Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joined Trump for the signing ceremony, which formalized a deal aimed at preventing further conflict along the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia.

The agreement builds on a truce brokered in July, when Trump threatened to impose higher tariffs on both countries unless they ended five days of border fighting that left dozens dead and displaced hundreds of thousands. Under the first phase of the deal, Thailand will release 18 Cambodian soldiers and begin removing heavy weapons and landmines from the border region. Malaysian troops will be deployed to monitor the area and help prevent renewed hostilities.

The 500-mile  frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been a source of tension for decades, stemming from a vaguely defined French colonial-era treaty signed in 1907. The latest flare-up centered on territory near the Laotian border and a region that includes several 1,000-year-old temples from the Angkor Empire.

A conference highlighting the Church’s mission to protect minors and vulnerable persons has taken place in the Philippines, marking an important step in strengthening safeguarding efforts in the country. It was the first national conference of its kind in the Southeast Asian island nation – a country that stands as a stronghold of the Catholic Church in the region. Experts from across the Philippines and neighbouring Southeast Asian nations took part. More than 300 delegates – including bishops, religious superiors, members of religious orders, and lay experts – gathered for four days in Angeles City, Pampanga Province, under the theme “Our Mission of Safeguarding: A Journey of Hope and Compassion.” The event was jointly organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), the Conference of Major Superiors of the Philippines (CMSP), and the Manila-based Catholic Safeguarding Institute (CSI).

Coleen Rae Ramirez-Panahon is the Director for Safeguarding Research and Reflection at the Catholic Safeguarding Institute (CSI) in the Philippines. She told Vatican Radio that the country’s first national safeguarding conference brought new visibility to the idea that safeguarding is a mission shared by all. “In the past, the issue might have remained in the shadows and been seen as the responsibility of only a few,” the Philippine expert explained. “Now, the most immediate step we can take is to share what we’ve gained from the conference – above all, the conversion and commitment of our wider communities to safeguarding. We must bring everyone on board and open up the conversation, so that fears and apprehensions begin to fade. It’s equally important to get to know the vulnerable people in our midst, to understand their situations, their barriers, and their hopes. Only then can we shape the protective measures that pastors must adopt in their own parishes.”

A Bangladeshi court jailed an ethnic tribal leader for eight years for an alleged charge of extortion, about a year after he was released from nearly five years in secret detention.

A court in Rangamati district of Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) region in southeast Bangladesh sentenced Michael Chakma and two others to eight years rigorous imprisonment on Oct. 8. The case was filed in 2007 during the tenure of the military-backed caretaker government.

Chakma, 46, an ethnic Chakma and Buddhist, is a leader of the CHT-based political organization, the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), which seeks autonomy for the hilly, forested, and restive region.

He disappeared while visiting the national capital, Dhaka, in 2019. Chakma told the media that the state forces kept him in secret locations until he was dropped off at the door of his home on Aug. 7, 2024, two days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India following a massive student-led public uprising.

He is among about 700 victims of enforced disappearance during the 15-year authoritarian regime of Hasina’s Awami League government.

The interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, which replaced the ousted regime, formed the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances to probe into hundreds of people who were either killed or secretly detained. Chakma was convicted in absentia in 2023 for alleged illegal possession of arms, which he termed “yet another false case.”

Leaders from Christian and Hindu communities have criticized Pakistani authorities for their failure to form a commission to protect the rights of religious minorities despite nearly five months after the parliament passed a related law. Pakistan’s parliament passed the National Commission for Minorities’ Rights Bill 2025 on May 12. The law was hailed as a landmark move to safeguard the rights of minorities in a country criticized for violations of religious freedom.

The criticism came as media reports suggest the bill has been in limbo after being returned by President Asif Ali Zardari to the Ministry of Human Rights for review. In a report released on Oct. 10, the Catholic bishops’ National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) expressed disappointment over the limbo.

The report titled “Thousands of Slips Stand Guard” cited administrative hurdles and political apathy as major causes for the delay in forming the proposed 30-member minorities commission. The NCJP urged the government to ensure the commission enjoys independence.

It further urged the government to re-table the bill, ensure amendments comply with the Paris Principles, the standards for the credibility and effectiveness of National Human Rights Institutions adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993.

The founder of a prominent Chinese underground church has been detained along with more than 20 of its members in a sweeping national crackdown, according to his daughter and one of its pastors. Police arrested Jin Mingri, who founded the unregistered Zion Church, at his home in the southern region of Guangxi on Oct. 10, along with several pastors in other cities, including Beijing, who were taken into custody overnight.

Jin was detained on “suspicion of the illegal use of information networks,” a detention notice stated. At least seven pastors, including Jin, who also goes by the name Ezra, may face criminal charges for “illegal dissemination of religious information via the internet,” according to a church statement.

Police searched their homes and confiscated their computers and cell phones. “It is just a blatant attack on religious freedom,” Jin’s daughter Grace said. Since Oct. 9, police have apprehended church leaders and members in Shanghai, Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Shandong, Sichuan and Henan, according to a list compiled by church members.

Four people have since been released following interrogation. Police barred lawyers from meeting detained church members in the Guangxi city of Beihai on Oct. 13 morning, according to Grace.

It was not immediately clear if those detained have been able to speak with lawyers since then. “We are not criminals, we are just Christians,” said Sean Long, a Zion pastor based in the United States who has been in touch with family members of those detained in China. “We pray for the best, but we have to prepare for the worst.”

The Daughters of St Paul, a member of the Pauline Family, on October 1 elected Sister Mari Lucia Kim as their superior general during their 12th general chapter in Rome. Sister Kim is the first Asian to head the 110-year-old congregation founded by Blessed James Alberione along with Mother Thecla Merlo. She is the eighth successor of Mother Merlo.

The Korean nun, who will turn 60 on November 1, has been a member of the congregation since 1995. She is currently the Korean provincial. She had served as a member of the general council during 2013-2019. Sister Kim replaces Sister Anna Caiazza, who led the congregation for the past six years. She will head the congregation until 2031.

The Daughters of St Paul, who entered South Korea in 1960, are known as the “Media Nuns” in the Southeast Asian nation. The sisters spread the Gospel through various forms of media and literature, supporting Catholic culture among young people.

The sisters operate 15 bookshops throughout Korea and manage 12 communities. In 2020, they opened a new apostolic centre in Seoul called Hyehwa Namu, which includes a bookstore, snack bar, event spaces, and a small theatre. Their primary focus is on forming young people through new media and establishing a website for their mission in Asia. They are involved in training and motivational programs for young people in schools and universities. The Daughters of St Paul has 1,815 members in 11 provinces and 14 delegations. As many as five houses are directly under the generalate.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said politicians in the Philippines must remember that they are “not God” following a major corruption scandal. “Please, you are human beings. You are created in God’s image. Can you please look at yourself and, with humility, say, ‘I am not God. I should not pretend to be God. I am a creature with many other creatures, and so my responsibility is to take care of what God has given to us for the good of all,’” Cardinal Tagle told the ABS-CBN News Channel.

Tagle, pro-prefect at the Dicastery for Evangelisation, was the Archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2019. The 68-year-old theologian, who finished his doctorate at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, remains an influential voice in the Filipino Church.

Speaking in an interview published on 4 October, Tagle expressed disbelief at the corruption controversy involving billions of pesos for flood control projects. He said it demonstrates “the mystery of the capacity of human beings to destroy each other through corruption”.

Acknowledging that this was partly a failure of formation by the Church, the cardinal challenged Filipinos to go beyond the massive protests that have rocked the country in recent weeks. “After the rallies, we should now look for lasting change, because we cannot effect change simply by expressing our anger,” he said.

Other Church leaders have condemned the corruption scandal, even joining protests in different parts of the country. A Church-led protest on 21 September drew thousands of people, and a bigger one is being prepared for 30 November, a public holiday in honour of the nineteenth-century Filipino revolutionary Andres Bonifacio. The Bishop of Kidapawan Jose Colin Bagaforo, 71, said a group of clergy had joined a new movement to fight the “systemic corruption” and “excessive greed” that have led to poverty in the country. Their “Trillion Peso March Movement” is named after the successful “Trillion Peso March” protest on 21 September.

Towards the end of the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists, and before reciting the noonday Angelus prayer on 28 September, Pope Leo addressed the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square. His thoughts turned in particular to Asia, where, he said, “a very powerful typhoon” has struck several regions, “in particular the Philippines, the island of Taiwan, the city of Hong Kong, the Guangdong region and Vietnam”

“I assure the affected populations,” the Pope continued, “especially the poorest, of my closeness and my prayers for the victims, the missing, the many displaced families, the countless people who have suffered hardship, as well as the rescue workers and civil authorities.” “I invite everyone to put their trust in God and to show solidarity with others. May the Lord give strength and courage to overcome every adversity.” Typhoon Ragasa, which said to be the strongest so far this year, has forced the evacuation of over two million people in Guangdong alone. In addition to extensive damage, flooding, power outages and landslides, it has caused at least 25 deaths in the Philippines and 14 in Taiwan.

The FABC Bishops Seminar on Synodality, held at Baan Phuwan, opened with Mass on September 23 presided over by Archbishop Anthony Weradet Chaiseri, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand, ahead of the 2026 Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) Plenary Assembly in Bali. “The purpose was to study and understand the Final Document of the Synod together, reflect on our dioceses, and consider how the Church in Asia can put it into practice,” Archbishop Chaiseri told LiCAS News. The prelate also noted that the gathering revisited the Bangkok Document, issued during the FABC’s 50th anniversary in 2022, which is deeply connected to the global synodal process.

Participants used a process modeled after the Synod of Bishops in Rome—combining lectures, prayerful reflection, and small-group sharing. 

Nine group discussions focused on three themes: the link between the Synod’s Final Document and the FABC’s Bangkok Document of 2022; the reception of the synodal pathway across Asia; and the need for transparency and accountability in a synodal Church.

Archbishop Chaiseri noted that Asia’s contemplative approach to discernment—marked by silence, listening, and consensus—aligns closely with the global synodal method of Conversation in the Spirit.  The seminar comes as the global Church enters the implementation phase of the Synod, following the release of the Final Document in November 2024 and a framework introduced by Cardinal Mario Grech in March 2025.

Running until 2028, the process calls for bishops to set clear goals and timelines while ensuring broad participation across all sectors of the Church. This includes not only clergy and parishioners but also young people, marginalized communities, and those sceptical of the synodal process. Catholic schools, hospitals, prisons, and digital platforms are also expected to play a role, alongside religious communities and lay movements.

“These meetings reflect the growing desire among Churches in Asia to deepen synodality, strengthen communion, embrace the path of synodality within the Church, and walk in closer unity with the Universal Church under the guidance of Pope Leo XIV,” Archbishop Chaiseri said.