Asian

Catholic nuns empower distressed Nepali women

On a spring afternoon in early March, Usha Rokka took a break from sewing ladies’ handbags ordered by a customer to give snacks to her seven-year-old son who just returned from school. The 25-year-old single mother has been living in a tiny, rented one-room house in Pokhara, the tourist city in western Nepal since leaving […]

Police rescue woman from blasphemy mob in Pakistan

A police officer who saved a woman accused of blasphemy from a mob of 200 men in eastern Pakistan has described how she had to negotiate with the crowd to lead her to safety. The woman, who has not been named for security reasons, was surrounded in a Lahore restaurant by men who wrongly claimed […]

Pakistani Christians ‘fasting and praying’ against unrest and violence

In a world often divided by global conflicts and tensions, Pakistan’s current situation is a distressing practical representation of the negative impact that wars have on international peace and harmony. This South Asian country, embroiled in global wars, has had its share of difficulties in maintaining stability and finding comfort in the face of hardship. […]

Asia is no more on the margins of global Catholicism

As the Catholic Church witnesses the constant emergence of new spiritual movements, devotional networks, and religious initiatives, their recognition and institutionalization are complex processes. The Church as a whole needs time to carefully discern their spiritual value, orthodoxy, and contribution to the body of Christ. But these processes of growth and regulation, renewal and discernment, […]

Hong Kong’s ‘Article 23’ is an implicit threat to the Sacrament of Penance

Hong Kong is on the verge of enacting a new domestic security law which is even more repressive than the National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 — and may well strike at the very heart of the Church’s conscience, with a potential assault on the confidentiality of the Sacrament of Penance. One of […]

Pakistani bishop hails court rejection of anti-Christian pogrom whitewash

The president of Pakistan’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference has welcomed a Supreme Court decision to reject a government report into the authorities’ response to attacks described by Church leaders as the “worst incident against Christians” in the nation’s history. Bishop Samson Shukardin praised Pakistan’s highest court which threw out the government report on the attacks in […]

Harmonising Sharia and Malaysia’s constitution by the end of the year

The Malaysian government has set 31 December as the dead-line for individual states to harmonise Sharia (Syariah, Islamic law) with the constitution to iron out the differences between Quranic rules and the country’s constitutional framework. For many observers, the deadline is too short, but it has reignited a debate over the place of secular and […]

Inauguration of the new St Joseph major seminary in Hanoi

The Archdiocese of Hanoi held the inauguration ceremony of its new major seminary named after St Joseph in Hoàng Nguyên parish, on February 26. Built in just one year, the five-storey building covers a total area of 10,000 square metres and is home to some 40 seminarians who moved in after the start of the […]

Eviction-facing Indian Catholics to fight Muslim charity’s claims

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica