In an interview with the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus, Pope Francis says China is a “great people” that “must not waste its heritage”, and repeats his desire to make an apostolic journey to the country. The heart of the interview given by Pope Francis to Father Pedro Chia, director of the press office of the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus, is “a message of hope” and a blessing for the entire Chinese people. It is an interview with a strong spiritual focus, punctuated by the Pope’s personal memories and his reflections on the future of the Church.
The Pope does not hide his desire to visit China, particularly the Shrine of Sheshan in the Songjiang District, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians. In the Asian country, he says, he would like to meet with local bishops and “the people of God who are so faithful”. “It is a faithful people”, he continues. “They have gone through many things and remained faithful”. To young Chinese Catholics, in particular, the Pope emphasizes the concept of hope, even though—he notes— “it seems tautological to me to give a message of hope to a people who are masters of hope” and “of patience in waiting”. And this, he highlights, “is a very beautiful thing”. The people of China are “a great people” who “must not waste their heritage”, Francis adds; on the contrary, “they must patiently carry forward their legacy”.

The National Catholic Social Communications Convention 2024, held in Batangas, Philippines, brought together social communicators, media professionals, and Church leaders to discuss the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their work. The keynote address by Dr. Peter Monthienvichienchai, Secretary General of SIGNIS – the World Catholic Association for Communication, underscored the need to assess if and how AI can enhance authentic human encounters in the missions of social communicators.
Dr. Monthienvichienchai posed a pivotal question: “In deciding when and how we use AI in our ministries, we must ask, will this take us closer or further away from our readers, from our parishes?” He emphasized that while AI offers speed and efficiency, for missions, the processes and taking the synodal journeys with those we are writing about and writing for are crucial. “In many cases, truly listening is not only the process, but also the solution,” he stated, echoing a previous speech by Sr. Nina Krapic from the Dicastery for Communication.
The concept of synodality, which involves walking together and truly listening to one another, was central to Dr. Monthienvichienchai’s message. He urged social communicators to ensure AI fosters community and solidarity, rather than creating distance. Dr. Monthienvichienchai also advocated for solutions journalism, which focuses on reporting potential solutions alongside problems. He suggested AI could aid in analyzing data and identifying trends, but stressed the need for keeping in mind the purpose of social communications.
He urged social communications professionals to not only tell the story of the final successful mission, but to also equally cover the challenges and failures that happened along the way.
This, he pointed out, will allow those who are not part of the mission and perhaps also those who are not Catholics, to fully appreciate what the Church is doing to support those on the fringe of society.
Workshops and panel discussions at the convention explored AI’s practical applications in social communications. Industry leaders shared best practices, noting AI’s potential to enhance storytelling and audience engagement. However, there was a consensus on the necessity of human oversight and ethical use of AI. The convention’s theme, “Authentic Influencers (AI) for an Empowered Church”, highlighted AI’s transformative potential in social communications.

Bangladesh Supreme Court reversed its earlier decision to reintroduce quota system in civil service jobs, following weeklong deadly violence that left nearly 200 killed, thousands injured, and state properties worth millions of dollars vandalized and gutted. The full bench of the Appellate Division said the government should reserve only a seven percent quota for public service jobs against the 56 percent quota policy previously. The next day, the ruling Awami League government issued a gazette to implement the court order.
The peaceful movement led by university students in the capital Dhaka and other major cities turned violent after police along with pro-government students attacked protesters last week. The attacks intensified the protests which later spread across the country. The government imposed a nationwide curfew, deployed the military, and cut off the internet for five days to restore law and order. Student activists welcomed the court verdict and urged the government to fulfill their demands including justice for the violence and killings.

Pakistan’s National Assembly unanimously approved the raising of the minimum legal age for marriage to 18, amending a 19th-century law allowing the marriage of Christian children.
The Christian Marriage Act of 2024 amended an 1872 British rule allowing marriage at 13 for girls and 16 for boys, raising the age to 18 for both genders. The law was approved amid incidents of child marriage, kidnapping, and forced conversion in Pakistan, where about 19 million Pakistani women are victims of child ma-rriage, according to 2018 data.
The act was first introduced to the Senate last year by Sen. Kamran Michael as an update to the 1872 law and was approved on July 9 of this year after Na-veed Aamir Jeeva, a Christian from Punjab province, introduced it to Pakistan’s sovereign legisla-tive body, the National Assem-bly.
The act applies to Christians in the Islamabad Capital Terri-tory, a territory in the north-western area of the Punjab region surrounding Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Local Catholic lead-ers including the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, Bishop Samson Shukar-din, and the National Commission for Justice and Peace have since hailed the act for protecting girls from forced conversions and child marriages, which is very common in Pakistan.
The new amendment may help prevent the practice of abducting young girls from the minority population of Christians and the forcing of them to convert to Islam and marry an older man. Fewer than 2% of Pakistanis are Chri-stian and Hindu, respectively. Sunni Islam is the majority reli-gion, at about 83% of the popu-lation, while Shia Islam is about 12% of the population.

The Vatican has approved the sainthood process for first Korean Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, known for his love for the poor, efforts for lay participation in the Church, and support for demo-cracy.
The Vatican has allowed the launch of the sainthood process for Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, the first Korean cardinal known for his initiatives in interfaith dia-logue, lay participation and pro-democracy stance.
In a statement, the Archdio-cese of Seoul said it has received the “no objection” letter from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints to start the process. Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul received the letter on June 18, allowing the archdiocese to venerate Cardinal Kim as a “Servant of God.”
Kim was born in 1922 and ordained a priest in 1951. He was ordained as the bishop of Masan diocese in 1966 and the archbishop of Seoul in 1968. In 1969, Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal.
He is credited for working to implement the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. He is hailed for strengthening the Korean Church amid various trials and tribula-tions, including political turmoil under a series of military regi-mes.

Pope Francis has expressed his condolences for the death of Nguyen Phú Trong, and the Ge-neral Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the country’s former President.
In a telegram sent on his behalf by the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Card. Pietro Parolin, to the country’s current President, Gene-ral Tô Lâm, the Holy Father ex-pressed his closeness to all who mourn the long-serving leader of the Asian country, who died at age 80 last week, after battling an illness.
“Having learned of the death of His Excellency Nguyen Phú Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party and former President of the Socialist Re-public of Vietnam,” the telegram began, “His Holiness Pope Fran-cis sends condolences to all who mourn his loss, especially his fa-mily, together with the assurance of his prayers for their consolation and peace.”
In the text, the Holy Father expressed “particular apprecia-tion” for the late President’s role “in fostering and promoting the positive development of the relations between Vietnam and the Holy See.”
Pope Francis concluded his message by affirming his spiritual closeness to President Tô Lâm and to all his fellow citizens at this time of sorrow for the nation.

Some 733 million people suffered from hunger last year, that is one person in 11,152 million more than in the pre-pandemic period (2019). This is the third consecutive year that the number is not decreasing, remaining “stu-bbornly unchanged,” this according to a report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Na-tions (FAO) and four other agencies. The document, presented in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – the country that holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year – underscores the fact that the fight against hunger has suffered a 15-year setback.
Undernourishment levels are comparable to those of 2008-09 and the Sustainable De-velopment Goal of Zero Hunger appears un-achievable by 2030, despite some improve-ments in specific areas, like breastfeeding or stunted children. Instead, if current trends continue, 582 million people will be chronically undernourished by the end of the decade, 130 million more than in the pre-COVID-19 period. At the regional level, there are wide variations. In Asia, the percentage of people afflicted by food insecurity and malnutrition has stabilised at 8.1%. But hunger is still a huge problem for the region, home to more than half of the world’s hungry people, or 385 million people.
South Asia has the highest percentage, with 13.9% undernourished (almost 281 million), while in East Asia the figure is less than 2.5% and it is just over 6% in Southeast Asia. Food insecurity (defined as the situation in which an individual is without food for one or more consecutive days) also continues at record levels in South Asia, but the worst data come from Africa, where 58% of the population is in this condition. In South Asia, 2023 saw a drop to 41.1% (compared to 24.8% in the region), equal to 833.4 million people.
Only Central Asia has seen improvements over 2021, with 2.4 million fewer people suffering from severe or moderate food in-security, even though 16.6% of the population is still affected.
Compared to the past, hunger today affects men and women almost equally, the United Nations points out, thanks mainly to improve-ments in the conditions of women around the world. Asia, on the other hand, has the highest number in absolute terms, with over 1.65 billion people who cannot afford a healthy diet.

As the nation prepares for its first papal visit in nearly four decades, the dialogue about the interplay between faith and public policy is intensifying. The visit by Pope Francis on September 11–13 is eagerly anticipated, not only by the local Catholic community but also by the broader society, given its potential to influence discussions on a range of pressing issues, including social justice, family values, and education.
Catholic parliamentarian Alex Yam, known for integrating religious values into his political work, emphasized the importance of upholding the dignity of every individual. ”As Catholics, we are called to uphold the dignity of every person, no matter their circumstances in life, outlook, or sexual orientation, since we are all created in the image and likeness of God,” he said.
This message resonates as Singapore grapples with societal shifts such as rising divorce rates and declining birth rates, challenging traditional family structures. 
Yam referenced the Church’s position as articulated by Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortations, Evangelii Gaudium and Amoris Laetitia. ”The sanctity of marriage and human sexuality is an area where the Holy Father has upheld traditional Catholic teaching,” he remarked. Yam stressed the need for policies that strengthen families, promote healthy relationships, and provide support for those in difficulty. He highlighted the Pope’s endorsement of an educational approach that emphasizes human values, solidarity, and respect for diversity, advocating for a holistic system that nurtures intellectual, emotional, and spiritual development. ”This allows for more diversity and creativity in our society and economy, which, in turn, builds a more resilient workforce,” he said.
On economic disparities, Yam emphasized the Church’s commitment to the preferential ‘Option for the Poor’, a principle underpinning policies aimed at fostering a more equitable society. ”

Persecution of ethnic and religious minorities in Bangladesh continues unabated amid a lack of justice and impunity for perpetrators, a Bangladeshi minority forum says. The Muslim-majority Asian nation witnessed some 1,045 cases of human rights violations against minorities, according to the latest annual report of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC).
The interreligious forum’s findings are based on media reports from July 2023 to June 2024.  During this period, 45 members of minority communities were murdered and there were 10 attempted murders and 36 death threats.
A total of 479 people were attacked, physically abused or injured, and 11  were victims of extorsion. The violence included 25 gang rapes, while 12 people were abducted, went missing or forced to convert. Eight  were arrested on false charges of blasphemy.
The report also recorded 102 attacks, acts of vandalism, looting and arson against homes and businesses belonging to minority communities. According to the BHBCUC, 70-75 per cent of the violence is centred on land grabbing, often under the influence of political parties and with the complicity of government agencies. The findings reported 47 incidents of land and homestead encroachment and 45 cases of land occupation, eviction activities, and threats, as well as 11 threats or attempts of expulsion.
The parliamentary elections in January this year saw 32 incidents of communal violence while local elections reported five incidents of this kind. At the press conference presenting the report, BHBCUC secretary general Rana Dasgupta, a Supreme Court lawyer, affirmed that these incidents are part of organised violence. He noted that the influence of extremist groups is growing in all areas, including the government administration, politics, and society, making minority communities more insecure and distrustful, forcing many of their members leave the country.

Eleven Vietnamese Christians, including five Catholics, are reportedly missing from detention, according to a recent report from International Christian Concern (ICC), a U.S.-based advocacy group. The ICC report, released on July 5, claims the missing individuals were sentenced between 2011 and 2016 to a combined total of 90 years and eight months in prison for their religious activities. Their current whereabouts are unknown. According to the report, the five missing Catholics — identified by the names of Runh, A Kuin, A Tik, Run, and Dinh Kuh — were allegedly accused of “undermining national unity policy” for their participation in the Ha Mon Catholic Church, which lacks government approval. The report also mentions six Protestant detainees among the missing, including four who were allegedly accused of involvement with Degar Protestantism, a movement not recognized by Vietnam’s government.
Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wisconsin, commented on religious persecution in Vietnam in 2022, stating: “The United States has a role as a leader to promote and defend religious liberty on the world stage, and that starts with denouncing the Vietnamese government for its track record of religious persecution.”
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)has consistently raised concerns about religious freedom in Vietnam. In its 2024 report, USCIRF recommended that Vietnam be designated a “country of particular concern” for its violations of religious freedom. A 2019 USCIRF report noted that Vietnam’s Law on Belief and Religion, which went into effect in 2018, has been problematic in its implementation.