For nearly four decades, Sister Miriam Francis Perlewitz has lived a quiet but extraordinary missionary life in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation where Catholics represent a tiny minority.

An American missionary sister, Scripture scholar, and educator, she has shaped generations of Catholic priests while also transforming grassroots education for children of all faiths. Today, she stands as one of the last American nuns still serving in the country — and as her advanced age signals an imminent departure, her story emerges as a rare testimony to missionary perseverance, women’s leadership, and faith lived from the margins.

Sister Miriam arrived in Bangladesh in 1985, initially to teach sacred Scripture part time at Holy Spirit Major Seminary in Dhaka. At the time, Bangladesh faced daunting challenges: widespread poverty, limited access to education, and pervasive illiteracy. The idea of a woman teaching future priests — let alone in South Asia — was uncommon and controversial.

Yet what she encountered immediately disarmed hesitation. “The friendliness and welcoming attitude of the students, as well as the questions I had about applying the message of Scripture in a Muslim environment, deeply touched me,” she told EWTN News.

For several years, she divided her time between Maryknoll’s major seminary and Bangladesh. When Maryknoll closed its school of theology in 1992, she made a decisive choice: She would remain full time in Bangladesh. That decision would shape the Church in the country in lasting ways.

For more than two decades, Sister Miriam taught sacred Scripture at Holy Spirit Major Seminary, forming generations of priests — including men who would later become bishops and archbishops. Her presence itself was a quiet challenge to convention.

“First of all, the fact that I was a woman, involved in a ministry that was considered to be a man’s field, was questioned,” she recalled. Initially, some Church authorities hesitated. But the seminarians themselves defended her role. “When the students supported and spoke in my favour, the ‘powers that be’ decided to allow me to continue.”

What followed was a deeply collaborative ministry. Sister Miriam describes her seminary years not simply as academic formation but as a shared spiritual journey. “We became ‘one’ in the endeavour,” she said, united by the goal of passing on the Gospel — “the good news that God became man so that man may become one again with God.” For her, the word “man” was always inclusive, embracing all humanity.

The state-sanctioned Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCC) backed the government’s ban on unregistered clergy engaging in pastoral work and using unapproved sites for worship. The BCCC said in a Feb. 4 statement that “religious groups must comply with relevant laws and regulations when conducting religious activities,” describing compliance as a matter of “national and public interest.” The statement aligned with the Chinese Communist Party’s controls over the region.

Nina Shea, Hudson Institute senior fellow, called on Pope Leo XIV to summon the Chinese Catholic bishops’ conference for supporting the “suppression of Chinese Catholicism.” “That the heads of these entities are the bishops of Beijing and Shanghai, China’s most important dioceses, is shameful,” she told EWTN News. “Pope Leo should immediately summon them to Rome to review their episcopal authority.” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controls stipulate that religious activities occur in “registered” religious venues by “certified and registered religious personnel.”

Though the bishops noted religious groups may request to carry out their activities in a temporary location with prior permission from the government, no unauthorized clergy may ever preside over such activities for any reason, according to Article 40 of the Regulations on Religious Affairs.

Shea, who also directs the Center for Religious Freedom, said: “Supporting the CCP ban on unregistered clergy and churches directly conflicts with Vatican policy.” “[Pope Leo] should disclose the content of the Holy See’s provisional agreement with China and review whether this new Chinese policy constitutes a breach of the agreement’s terms or even of its spirit,” she said.

Shea cited a 2007 letter from Pope Benedict XVI to the Chinese Catholic Church in which the late pontiff described the Chinese government’s bid to impose its own structure on the Church in China as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”

Shea said the Vatican’s 2019 pastoral guidance to members of the Chinese Catholic Churchaffirmed that a cleric had the right to “individually follow one’s conscience on whether to refuse to take the pledge renouncing foreign influence, such as papal influence — a pledge required to register with the state’s Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and its bishops’ conference.”

“This new position in support of banning and criminalizing those clergy who refuse to take the pledge renouncing papal authority lays bare these entities as mere party tools for communist control and suppression of Chinese Catholicism,” Shea said.

At the beginning of this year, the Catholic Church in northern Thailand held its 2026 Annual Regional Seminar in Nakhon Phanom Province in the country’s northeast, bordering Laos. The gathering was attended by nearly 200 priests, five bishops, and several delegates from neighboring Laos.

The seminar focused on the theme drawn from the recent Vatican document Antiqua et Nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence, issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education. The main speaker was Fr. Joseph Anucha Chaiyadej, Secretary General of the Office of Social Communication of the Bishops’ Conference, who addressed clergy and pastoral workers on the Church’s discernment regarding emerging technologies.

In his keynote address, Fr. Joseph reflected on the nature and limits of artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence does not possess true intelligence, consciousness, or comprehension. AI is not the ‘subject’ but the ‘object.’ It has no conscience and no life,” he said.

Basing his reflections on Antiqua et Nova, he presented the document as a “moral compass” for “those entrusted with transmitting the faith,” especially priests and pastoral ministers working in digital environments. He urged participants, “Don’t let algorithms write your story; use technology to serve humanity.” Fr. Joseph also highlighted what he described as the ongoing tension between “statistics and wisdom.” While AI excels in “averaging and predicting” based on available data, he emphasized that human love, freedom, and intelligence remain “unpredictable and sacred.”

In his concluding remarks, Fr. Joseph emphasized the importance of transparency in artificial intelligence systems, especially in areas that have significant social impact.

He described transparency as the effort to “open the black box”, the hidden and often opaque processes by which AI systems generate decisions and recommendations.

This, he explained, is particularly necessary in “high-impact areas” such as education, governance, communication, and social services, where technological manipulation can have serious consequences.

Only through clarity, ethical oversight, and human discernment, he said, can technology truly serve the dignity of the person and the mission of the Church.

Through initiatives such as this regional seminar, the Catholic Church in northern Thailand continues to promote a critical, faith-based engagement with artificial intelligence, one rooted in responsibility, wisdom, and fidelity to the Gospel in the digital age.

As Ramadan and Lent begin on the same day this year, Catholic and Muslim communities in the Philippines are being invited to embrace the moment as a shared season of prayer, fasting, and conversion. Ramadan commemorates the first revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, while Lent prepares Catholics for the commemoration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Although Ramadan begins in the evening of February 17, the first full day of fasting starts on Wednesday, February 18, subject to the sighting of the crescent moon. For Catholics, the same day marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten journey.

In countries where Muslims and Christians live side by side, Church leaders say this convergence is a rare and meaningful coincidence, a shared sacred moment to reflect and walk together toward God, who is “Merciful and Compassionate.”

From southern Philippines, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, chairman of the Commission on Interreligious Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, highlighted the spiritual significance of this convergence. “This shared beginning is a grace,” he said. “It invites us to slow down, to return to God and to walk together in faith.” “In these sacred seasons, Muslims and Christians enter a time of prayer, fasting, repentance, and generosity. We turn our hearts to the Merciful. We learn again to see one another as brothers and sisters,” he added. Reflecting on the sacred texts of both traditions, the bishop recalled: “Our scriptures call us to peace: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Matthew 5:9) and God ‘invites all to the Home of Peace’ (Qur’an 10:25).”

Bishop Bagaforo described Ramadan and Lent as traditional seasons of prayer, repentance, fasting, and charity; moments that renew the heart and strengthen the call to live as brothers and sisters. “Fasting opens our eyes to suffering and enlarges our compassion,” he said. “Love of God is proven in love of neighbour, especially the poor and the forgotten.”

The bishop also emphasized that peace must be rooted in right relationships with God, with others, and with creation. “Peace is more than the absence of war,” he said. “It is the right relationship with God, with one another, and with creation. The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one.” Caring for the environment, he explained, is therefore an essential dimension of working for peace and social harmony.

Drawing from the Filipino Lenten tradition of Alay Kapwa (Lentern Offering), the bishop highlighted the social dimension of prayer and sacrifice. He explained that through this practice, “prayer becomes service, and sacrifice becomes hope for communities affected by poverty, conflict, disaster, and ecological harm.” In this way, Lent and Ramadan become not only personal spiritual journeys, but also collective commitments to uplift the most vulnerable.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, has repeatedly warned that “Myanmar is going through a ‘polycrisis’: an economic crisis, with rising prices; a crisis due to the loss of job opportunities; a social crisis, with more than 3.5 million displaced persons and young people fleeing abroad; a crisis of basic health care; and a crisis of education, with a generation that has lost five years of schooling.”

Sharing with Vatican Media the dire situation facing the country, the Cardinal described Myanmar, five years after the military coup, as a nation marked by fear, exhaustion, and deep uncertainty, especially among young people. Yet, he observed, while hope is “not dead,” it is “crucified.”

Cardinal Bo acknowledged that the general mood among the population is complex and varies according to personal experience, geographic location, and proximity to violence.

Among young people in particular, the Cardinal noted, daily life is increasingly defined by insecurity, psychological strain, and a loss of trust in the future.

“Young people are living with near-constant fear for their personal safety,” Cardinal Bo explained, pointing to ongoing conflict, widespread violence, economic instability, and the threat of forced recruitment. This prolonged insecurity, he said, has led to rising anxiety, stress, and psychological pressure among youth across many regions of the country.

Cardinal Bo also decried a deep sense of loss, observing how years of disruption have eroded education, employment prospects, and normal social life. Many young people, he said, express frustration, sadness, and helplessness, with surveys showing sharp increases in anger and emotional distress compared to the years before the coup. “Very few still experience any sense of normalcy,” he noted, adding that a growing number of young people are considering leaving Myanmar, or have already done so.

At the same time, Cardinal Bo cautioned against reducing Myanmar’s youth to victims alone. Even amid hardship, he observed signs of resilience and determination. Some young people continue to believe in the possibility of a better future, investing in education and new skills, including digital technologies, in an effort to create opportunities against extremely difficult odds.

Against this backdrop, Cardinal Bo insisted that hope remains possible. “This is not naïve optimism,” he said. “It is a Christian hope born of the Cross and Resurrection.”

This hope, the Cardinal explained, does not rest on circumstances or political calculations. “The people of Myanmar have lost many securities—peace, livelihood, stability, even international attention—but,” he noted, “they have not lost God’s presence.” That presence, he said, is visible in displaced villages, in camps for the internally displaced, and in the quiet endurance of families, mothers, catechists, and religious who continue to serve amid suffering.

Civil society and religious groups in South Korea have continued their strong opposition to two proposed nuclear power plants, accusing the government of moving ahead hastily without sufficient access to information, deliberation, or consent. During a press conference on Jan. 27, the Citizens’ Action for Nuclear Phase-out, a coalition of 43 environmental, advocacy, and religious groups, slammed the government for its planned nuclear plants, according to a report by the advocacy group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.

“We strongly condemn the forced push for the hastily pursued new nuclear power plant construction plan,” said Esther Yoo, an executive committee member of the Nuclear-Free Citizens’ Action group. Yoo also demanded that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung “dismiss Minister Kim Sung-hwan and personally explain the [purpose of the] new nuclear power plants.”

On Jan. 26, Kim, the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, stated that the government would proceed with the construction of two new nuclear power plants, the Asia Business Daily reported. Kim hinted at the possibility that the proposal for additional nuclear power plants remains open in the 12th Basic Electricity Plan, which will be prepared this year.

A public opinion survey found that more than 80 percent of respondents said nuclear power is necessary, and over 60 percent agreed that the new nuclear power plants were essential, according to the government.

Park Hang-joo, a specialist committee member of Green Korea United, condemned the survey as “ridiculous.” He pointed out that the survey methodology was flawed and the questions “failed to verify the consistency of the entire survey and responses for policy decision-making.”

Lee Heon-seok, a policy committee member of Energy Justice Action, warned about the risk of nuclear power plants clustered together near cities. “In the event of an accident, the risk is enormous, and evacuation is completely impossible due to the dense concentration of major cities nearby,” Lee warned.

Cambodia is drowning in a flood of plastic waste — almost literally in some cases — fueled by rapidly growing consumption and economic growth, poor to non-existent rubbish collection, almost no recycling, and a lack of public awareness. The kingdom produces 32 kilograms of waste per person — 33 percent more than other countries around the world at a similar stage of development, according to the government’s Plastic Action Roadmap released on Jan. 20, which sets out a 14-year strategy drawn up in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Underlining the issue: Phnom Penh, a city of barely 2.5 million people, uses 10 million plastic bags a day, most of which are thrown away the same day. The Environment Ministry says the volume of waste in the capital alone more than trebled from 343,657 tons in 2007 to 1,058,500 tons in 2019. About 20 percent is single-use plastics such as plastic bags, straws, PET bottles and cups. “In 2022… only five percent of Cambodia’s plastic waste was properly managed, with less than two percent properly recycled. The remaining 95 percent is mismanaged, ending up in dumpsites, being openly burned, or leaking into the environment,” the Roadmap said. “Without urgent intervention, this crisis will continue to escalate, seriously threatening Cambodia’s ecosystems and public health.” The Roadmap plans to increase recycling by 52 percent and cut mismanagement — basically, improper disposal or treatment —  by 74 percent by 2040.

Cambodia’s interfaith youth alliance has made this a priority and is working with local communities and organizations to promote awareness, conduct workshops, and help change the use and waste of plastic. The alliance of Buddhist, Christian and Muslim youth sees country’s waste crisis as a deadly legacy for future generations.

“We need to change the concept of using plastic,” says alliance leader Nhib Kimheang. “It is too easy to use and too easy to throw away without thinking of the effect,” she told UCA News. “It threatens the environment. And when people burn it, it pollutes the air and people choke. If Cambodia cannot cut its plastic waste, there will be a huge problem for the next generation. It is harming the ecosystem, reducing agricultural productivity, and harming food security and public health.” “It will also cost the country a lot of money if we don’t deal with the waste problem now.”

The Catholic Bishops of Thailand have reminded the faithful that they have a vital role to play as a “moral force” and “social conscience” in safeguarding a truthful and just electoral process. In a message addressed to parishioners nationwide and released on January 27, Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana, president of the CBCT, stressed that voting is not merely a civic right but a moral responsibility rooted in the Church’s social teaching.

“The Church invites all Christians to recognize that voting is a moral obligation for the common good,” Archbishop Vira said. “Exercising the right to vote is not simply a legal duty, but a moral requirement that citizens must collectively fulfill for the good of society.”

Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop recalled that citizens are called to contribute to the common good through concrete actions such as paying taxes, defending the country, and participating in public life through voting. Neglecting to vote, he noted, constitutes a failure to participate responsibly in society.

The pastoral letter offers guidance to Catholic voters as the campaign period intensifies ahead of the election, which will determine all 500 seats in Thailand’s House of Representatives, whose members will nominate the new prime minister.

According to the CBCT, authentic democratic participation does not end at the polling booth. “Participation includes monitoring, scrutinizing, and upholding moral truth at every stage of the electoral process,” the statement said, adding that abstaining from voting may be morally permissible only in exceptional cases where no candidate meets minimum ethical standards.

The Bishops also warned against reducing democracy to procedural rules alone. “True democracy is not merely the result of laws and regulations,” Archbishop Vira said, “but arises from the acceptance of fundamental values such as human dignity, human rights, and the common good.” Without these values, he cautioned, democracy risks becoming a “disguised dictatorship” that ultimately oppresses the people, citing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (No. 408).

To mark the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Hong Kong, a celebration with prayer, song, and music brought people together from across the diocese. “May the Holy Face of Jesus always shine upon Hong Kong”, Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokin Tagle said, at the event at the Charter Garden in Hong Kong on January 18. The Cardinal Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization explained the Biblical origin and nature of the Christian practice of blessing. Following the explanation, he blessed everyone present and the entire city—together with the Jesuit Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, Bishop of Hong Kong.

According to the Vatican’sFides news agency, the Pro-Prefect specifically drew inspiration from the blessing found in the Book of Numbers (“The Lord let his face shine upon you and give you peace”). He offered it as “the blessing that God desires to give us”—that His face shine upon men and women throughout all ages. “The blessing that God gives us and to Hong Kong is His Holy Face in Jesus Christ”, Cardinal Tagle noted. It is a face that is both “fully divine and fully human”. He also explained that it is also possible to encounter the Face of Jesus through the face of a child as they “are always a blessing for society”. The Pro-Prefect stressed that “no child or young person is a ‘problem’”. The true blessing for Hong Kong, therefore, is “the face of God that shines upon it”. Cardinal Tagle expressed his hope that the face of Jesus will always shine on Hong Kong and that Hong Kong may always rejoice in His face. In this spirit, people will be encouraged to “bring hope to society”, becoming “courageous witnesses of the Lord”.

In his address, the Pro-Prefect encouraged everyone in Hong Kong to foster these “blessings”, acknowledging that all have the ability to become “a blessing to others”.

At the ceremony, people and groups from various nationalities and backgrounds prayed for Hong Kong in different languages: Cantonese, Filipino, French, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese. Of the more than 7.4 million permanent residents in Hong Kong, over 400,000 are Catholic.

Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, spoke to AsiaNews about recent events in Iraq, and more generally in the region, scene of a new escalation between Iran and the United States (and Israel). “Sadness, great concern, and a climate of fear” are pushing many government officials and religious leaders to remain silent, relegated to the margins while the country risks sinking back into a spiral of tension and violence, fuelled by new winds of war that are “blowing in the Middle East,” in addition to an “internal instability” that has already proven to be a decisive factor in plunging Iraq into chaos.

Amid a broad conspiracy of silence, fear, and silence that resonate louder than words, “several politicians have in recent days asked me to intervene, to make the voice of a religious authority heard,” said the cardinal by telephone at the end of a three-day retreat and prayer. Fear and anxiety are fed by internal instability in a country waiting for the new president to be elected after repeated postponements. Once he is named, he will have to name a prime minister charged with forming a new government.

“Not only in Iraq, but throughout the region, from Syria to Lebanon, people are very worried,” Cardinal Sako said. “The same goes for Christians, who have already paid a very high price in terms of exodus, and who certainly cannot live without security and stability.” Above all, “They fear for their children and their future,” he explained.

“Last but not least, there is also the problem of an economy that is 90 per cent dependent on oil revenues, plus other critical factors,” including a resurging threat from the Islamic State and other jihadist groups.

The Chaldean patriarch has also joined the chorus of criticism and concern over the United States’ decision to send Islamic State detainees from Syria, just over a hundred for now, but they number in the thousands, to neighbouring Iraq.

Instability and fear are also reflected in “the weakness of international institutions, starting with the United Nations, which is no longer capable of ensuring global order. The only superpower today seems to be the United States, which does what it wants,” especially since Trump’s return to the White House.