3 in 5 children in the Middle East and North Africa, 34 million in total, are living with severe food poverty. That’s according to a new report by UNICEF entitled Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood, which analyses the consequences and causes of food deprivation among the world’s youngest children.
The report notes that around 181 million children worldwide under the age of 5 are experiencing severe child food poverty, making them up to 50 per cent more likely to experience a life-threatening form of malnutrition. The report also highlights the compounding effects of inequality, conflict and climate crises. It says that persistent protracted crises, ongoing conflicts and economic instability have a significant impact on children’s access to nutritious and diverse foods. It estimates that about half of the children in severe food poverty receive only starchy pro-ducts along with dairy or breast milk, reflecting a very poor diet.
Fewer than 10% of these children eat fruits and vegetables, according to UNICEF. Less than 5% of people eat nutrient-rich foods such as eggs, fish, poultry, or meat.
“Children living in severe food poverty,” said UNICEF Director-General Catherine Russell in a press release, “are children on the brink. Right now it is a reality for millions of young children and can have an irreversible negative impact on their survival, growth and brain development.” “Children who consume only two food groups a day, for example, rice and some milk, are up to 50 per cent more likely to experience some severe form of malnutrition.”

Indonesia’s Catholic Church has rejected President Joko Wido-do’s plan to allow religious organisations to manage mining deposits whose concessions have been withdrawn from companies. Last week Jokowi – as the president is known at home – signed a decree to make the proposal official, as a gesture of appreciation for the contribution made by religious groups to Indonesia’s struggle for independence, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said.
In 2022, the president, whose term will end in October, had announced that he would revoke a number of mining permits because the concessions were being developed too slowly. Bahlil said that religious organisations are given the opportunity to take over the concessions to improve the welfare of the community. But religious organisations do not have the capacity for exploration and exploitation, nor the funds to propose mining investments.
Criticism has come from the Church and various groups in society, including environmentalists. ‘I don’t know how or who others will respond to this issue presented by the president,’ Card. Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmod- jo, Archbishop of Jakarta, said yesterday.
‘But the Indonesia Bishops’ Conference and the Indonesian Catholic Church will never accept the offer to manage mining projects because it is not the domain of the Church.” ‘Our pastoral work in each archdiocese and within the Bishops’ Conference has always been very clear. And there has never been involvement in mining projects,’ the cardinal added, addressing the media as he left the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
There have often been conflicts with large companies that have appropriated land be-longing to local people. And some children have died after falling into abandoned mine shafts.

Some 300 Christians marched on the legislature in Pakistan’s Punjab province, joining global calls for the repeal of the country’s draconian blasphemy laws days after a Christian lynching victim died in hospital. During the protest on June 8 in Lahore, the provincial capital, the protesters condemned the government for failing to stop recurrent Muslim mob attacks based on false alle-gations of blasphemy.
The demonstrators placed lit candles on a table around a pict-ure of Nazir Masih, the 74 year old Christian who died on June 3 days after a Muslim mob attacked and injured him in  Punjab’s Sar-godha district. “The government should stop patronizing extremist religious outfits. Minorities are now afraid to sleep fearing some-one will drop blasphemous mat-erial in front of their house. The whole community is punished resultantly,” said Samson Sala-mat, chairman of Rawadari Teh-reek, a group promoting peaceful coexistence among all segments of society, at the rally.
Salamat referred to the case of Masih who was attacked after rumours spread that he burned pages of the Quran on May 25. “We demand new legislation against false and fabricated blasphemy allegations and an independent inquiry into all bla-sphemy incidents and mob attacks on the Christian community,” Salamat said. On June 3, UK-based global Christian group, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), issued a strongly worded statement demanding the end of Pakistan’s blasphemy law.

“Climate change hits hardest at the poorest communities, fundamentally because they lack the resources to adapt,” said Fr. Edwin A. Gariguez, social action director of the Apo-stolic Vicariate of Calapan, south of Manila. Gariguez was the keynote speaker at the Caritas Asia Regional Conference, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 11, attended by approximately 100 representatives from 25 Caritas organizations across Asia. The priest said that small farmers, fishers, and indigenous peoples are on the front lines, grappling with the direct impacts of environ-mental changes that threaten their livelihoods and survival. Gariguez emphasized the need for effective policies that could provide immediate relief and long-term sustainability.
Discussing various extreme weather events, including the 2023 humid heatwave across South Asia and devastating typhoons in the Philippines, Gariguez explained that these phenomena “do not just disrupt daily lives–they obstruct long-term development.” Recent scientific data showed the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, under-scoring the urgent need for regional adaptive strategies, according to Gariguez. “The correlation between escalating climate events and the surge in health issues is undeniable,” noted Gariguez, adding that climate change exacerbates health crises, particularly respira-tory and water-borne diseases. “Our faith implores us to see the environmental crisis not just as a physical challenge but as a moral imperative,” Fr. Gariguez remarked.
He said that different Asian communities integrate spiritual beliefs and cultural values into their environmental conservation efforts, showing how these practices can forge strong commitments to ecological stewardship. The priest praised organizations like Caritas Internationalis for their role in blending humanitarian aid with developmental strategies. “By integrating immediate disaster response with long-term development plans, we pave the way for sustainable resilience,” he said.

As Buddhists today mark the start of Vesak, their most important holy day, some Christian leaders in Southeast Asia have sent messages of good wishes as a way to promote interfaith dialogue. The Association of Churches of Sarawak (ACS) extended its best wishes to the Buddhist community in the Malaysian state and throughout the Southeast Asian country.
In view of many international crises, wars, and dissensions, as well as aggressions, divisions, and conflicts, the Buddha’s teachings and message of peace, compassion and devotion to humanity are something that must be heard more and more, this according to the Rt Rev Danald Jute, ACS president and Anglican Bishop of Kuching. “In a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation such as Malaysia, it is essential that we respect and celebrate our similarities as well as our differences,” the prelate said. “Let us affirm the good in each one of us. In this way, we can all help to build a more peaceful, respected, and prosperous nation.”
Cardinal William Goh, Catholic Archbishop of Singapore also issued a message for the city-state’s Buddhist community. “As you celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and final nirvana of Gautama Buddha, may your hearts be filled with peace and joy,” he said. “In today’s world, many pursue material wealth while relegating spiritual values and their sense of morality to the back seat. As Buddhists and Christians, our religious principles and moral responsibilities motivate us to help mankind in its search for truth and peace.” According to the cardinal, “Constant care and attention are needed to preserve trust among the different faith communities in Singapore. This is especially important when our world is experiencing increasing levels of geopolitical tension and ethnic and religious polarisation today.” With this in mind, “Let our communities continue to adopt a way of life that seeks truth over falsehood, compassion over hatred, and forgiveness over revenge to ensure lasting peace and prosperity,” he added.
Catholic Archbishop Julian Leow of Kuala Lumpur also issued a brief message to Malaysian Buddhists. “May this celebration inspire us to cultivate greater understanding, kindness, and harmony within our communities. May we also strengthen our commitment to work for reconciliation and resilience.”

Christians in Pakistan have taken to the streets across the Muslim-majority nation following yet another mob attack over false blasphemy accusations in the central Punjab province. Uca news agency reported that from Peshawar city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to southern Karachi in Sindh, Christians gathered in large numbers this week-end to protest the attack on two houses and a shoe factory owned by a Christian family in Sargodha district in Punjab.
The Christian factory owner, Mr. Nazil Gill Masih and his son were accused of having burnt pages of the Quran in their garbage in the residential area of the Gillwala Mujahid colony of Sargodha and last week were attacked by over 400 men armed with batons, bricks, and stones ransacking and burning their shops and homes. Although twelve members of the family were able to escape, Mr. Masih was badly beaten and severely injured before police arrived and managed to remove him from the mob. He was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. His son was also reportedly beaten and, according to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), ransacking and fires continued after the attack, posing a grave threat to the safety and well-being of the local Christian community.
The Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP) demanded punishment for the perpetrators of violence. For its part ACN has joined in strongly condemning the incident, and has expressed its solidarity with the affected family and the whole Christian community in Pakistan. The police, meanwhile, ha registered cases against 450 unknown persons under an anti-terrorism law and 25 people have been arrested in connection with the attack.
At a demonstration in Peshawar, Christians declared May 25 as a “black day” and more than 500 protesters at the Faisalabad District Council Chowk in central Punjab blocked traffic for two hours and 20 women burned their head scarves in protest, Akmal Bhatti, a Catholic political leader and head of the MAP said.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon in Myanmar, said there is an “unprecedented state of turmoil and suffering, which seems to have no end” in the country resulting from a coup d’état at the beginning of 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conflict has already left more than 100 places of worship bombed or damaged, the cardinal said, and the violence has spread in many areas of the territory. In addition, he said that almost 3 million people have been displaced and are in urgent need of assistance, which has been arriving little by little thanks to the work of the Catholic Church and other nongovernmental organizations such as Religions for Peace.
Although Myanmar is a pre-dominantly Buddhist country, the constitution guarantees religious freedom. However, Bo pointed out a worrying reality: “The last de-cade saw the emergence of funda-mentalist forces that targeted mi-nority religions.”
The situation has been exa-cerbated by recent political unrest affecting people of all faiths who are suffering the consequences of an expanding civil war. “Peace is the common prayer of all the religions,” the cardinal emphasized.

“We, the Christians of Bangladesh, and their leaders – the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB) and the United Forum of Churches (UF-CB) are surprised and worried,” said a joint statement issued on Sunday.
In today’s globalised and secularised world, the idea of a “Christian state” is absurd, said the statement signed by Abp Bejoy D’Cruze of Dhaka, the president of CBCB and UFCB.
The reaction came after Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused Christians of plotting to carve out a “Christian state” of their own by taking parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar. “Like East Timor …they will carve out a Christian country taking parts of Bangladesh [Chattogram] and Myanmar with a base in the Bay of Bengal,” national English newspaper The Daily Star quoted Ms Hasina as saying on May 23.
She said the government is under pressure to allow a foreign government to use a base in the Bay of Bengal, which she rejected without naming the country. “Many have their eyes on this place. There is no controversy here, no conflict. I won’t let that happen. This is also one of my crimes [in their eyes],” she said, adding that this is why the Awami League Government is always in trouble.
The alleged plot is neither supported nor accepted by Christians, he said.

This year marks one hundred years since the Council of Shanghai, the first Plenary Council of the Church in China. For the occasion, the Pontifical Urbaniana University in cooperation with the Agenzia Fides organised a conference, which was held today, to highlight the historic event a century ago, but also to look at today’s challenges, starting with the notion of “sinicisation” of religions, an issue central to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s religious policy.
Pope Francis also underlined the importance of the council in 1924, which brought together the bishops and apostolic prefects present in China at the time, in a video message.
A lot of curiosity surrounded the first official visit in Rome of the current bishop of Shanghai, Msgr Joseph Shen Bin, at the centre of tensions last year after Chinese authorities unilaterally transferred him to China’s foremost epis-copal see, a situation later settled by Pope Francis’s decision to appoint him as well.
Bishop Shen was joined by important academics and Church officials from the People’s Republic of China, who brought their vision of what happened a century ago, as well as their views about the relationship between the “inculturation” of the faith promoted by the doctrine of the Church and “sinicisation”, processes seen as two circles that overlap but also diverge.
This also comes with the need for dialogue in the perspective of fraternity to avoid the risk of fuelling “new self-referential closures”, as Card Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, put it this in his conclusion. “The stories of our Chinese brothers and sisters have something important to show to the universal Church,” Card Tag-le said. “There may be misunderstandings, but [they are] never half-hearted with respect to the Church’s journey in China.”

Instruments and institutions at the service of the disabled. And permits for the construction of two new churches in the archdioceses of Jakarta and Pelambang. These are the new projects put in place in agreement with the local Church by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, through its Directorate for Catholics (Bimas Katolik Kemenag), presented in a meeting held with the Bishops’ Conference.
In particular, the government will take care of the dissemination of a Braille translation of the Gospel of Mark for the visually impaired and the establishment of two Catholic high schools to train catechists prepared to serve the disabled in the district of Nagekeo, located on the island of Flores, in eastern Nusa Tenggara province, and on the island of Nias, in Sumatra province.
‘Our agency has a primary focus on the neglected people in the remote areas of the country,’ explained the Director of the Directorate for Catholics, Mr Supraman, ‘providing a financial aid package to establish or renovate places of worship and to procure essential tools for apostolate in education or other areas. The project for the disabled is being carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Expressing his thanks, the President of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Antonius Subianto of Bandung, commented: ’We really have things in common: the good spirit of helping others, especially the neglected people.