Leaders of five different religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism) from 15 different countries marked by wars and conflicts. Together gathered around a table to reflect on their task as men of faith in promoting peace this week in Tokyo as part of the Second Round Table for Peace.
The round table is convened by the organisation Religions for Peace together with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations promoted by the UN. Four days of discussion that saw the presence of significant witnesses including the Orthodox Metropolitan Emeritus of Chalcedon Emmnauel Adamakis, the Muslim Abdallah Bin Bayyah, the president of the Israeli association Rabbis for Human Rights Avi Dabush, and the Lutheran Bishop Emeritus of the Holy Land Mounib Yunan.
“We are deeply concerned about the unimaginable suffering that people are enduring in conflict zones around the world, including Haiti, the Middle East, Myanmar and Ukraine,” the religious leaders wrote in the final statement released at the end of the meeting.
“We recognise that the foundations of peace and security are threatened in every region of the world, while the most vulnerable – women, children and marginalised populations – are caught in the crossfire and suffer disproportionately from severe violence, displacement and other human rights violations.

Christians still in the crosshairs in Laos: some village leaders and inhabitants in the south of the country broke into a private home to prevent several families who had gathered inside from holding a celebration on 4th Feb., as part of Sunday services. This is what Radio Free Asia (Rfa) reports , relaunching the stories of some witnesses. The incident is just the latest in a series of attacks and lawsuits in the one-party communist state with a predominantly Buddhist population, despite a national law that protects religious freedom at least on paper. “The village authorities came here and demolished our house around 10.30 on Sunday morning,” a person present at the services in the house church of Kaleum Vangke village, in Xonboury district, Savannakhet province, told Rfa Lao. Speaking on condition of anonymity, like other sources consulted and eyewitnesses who fear retaliation, the Christian continues: “The authorities, including the village head, security guards and senior members of the village, suddenly attacked us and our place of worship destroyed.” The crowd of attackers burned Bibles and documents: “They destroyed our house-says the source-because they don’t want our Christian brothers and sisters to venerate God” and, despite the complaint, so far the authorities have not intervened.

Pakistan goes to the polls to-morrow for very delicate general elections. Today’s election eve was also marked by serious violence, with two attacks in which 28 people died and at least 40 others were injured in Pishin and Qila Saifullah, in the province of Baluchistan. While from prison, former Prime Minister Imran Khan had his followers spread a pre-recorded message inviting followers of his party to go and vote. In such a tense context, what do these elections represent for Pakistan’s Christians? AsiaNews asked Msgr. Samson Shukardin, bishop of the diocese of Hyderabad and president of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan:
“Due to the way the electoral system works, even the parliamentarians who are supposed to represent minorities are chosen by the political parties and not by the community. Many voters, then, do not have access to the vote because they have not been registered, otherwise in some constituencies Christians would have a very high number of voters. We too must improve so that all the faithful are aware of their rights and duties as citizens. ”
“We need good candidates who can serve our community. Already today in at least 20 constituencies in the country Christian voters are a significant number and we could win general seats, but everything is left to the choice of each party.”

The Committee for Free-dom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation has today (30th January 2024) launched a ma-jor new report detailing the collapse of religious freedom in Hong Kong.
The report, titled “Hostile Takeover: The CCP and Hong Kong’s Religious Communi-ties”, authored by the CFHK Foundation’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Frances Hui, is now available to read in full on our website.
The paper delves into the systematic breaking of promises made under the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement, as outlined in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
This study details the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to assert control over Hong Kong’s religious sphere, signaling a bleak future for religious freedoms in the region.
Some of the main abuses of religious freedom, and its consequences, detailed in the report, are as follows:
• Orchestrated CCP Takeover: The CCP is actively taking control of Hong Kong’s religious institutions, as seen through various initiatives and efforts to influence religious groups.
• Strategic Importance of Religion: A recent Chinese Bluebook emphasizes the strategic importance of Hong Kong’s religions for China, linking religious groups with accusations of involvement in “violent protests” and collusion with foreign organizations.
• Politicization of Religious Organizations: The CCP is politicizing religious organizations to advance its agenda. Ominously, the CCP is rallying Muslim governments to downplay human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang….

On the eve of the presidential and parliamentary vote in Indonesia – the most populous Muslim nation in the world – in a climate marked by protests over the “interventionism” of the outgoing leader Joko Widodo in favour of Prabowo Subianto, there is a small but significant change for Christians.
In fact, with presidential decree 8/2024 regarding public holidays, the head of state last week decided to officially change the name of the anniversaries, moving from the previous Islamic name to the Christian term. From this month of February, therefore, the term “Isa al Masih” will no longer be used, but the more appropriate “Jesus Christ” will be used.
Jokowi’s decision will concern, in particular, the naming of four holidays present in the country’s calendar: Christmas, which from today will be called “Day of the Birth of Jesus Christ”; Good Friday, which is the “Day of the Death of Jesus Christ”; Easter, now “Day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ” and the ascension to heaven, from “Isa al Masih” to “Jesus Christ”. The choice was based on Jokowi’s desire to show the increasingly plural face of the country in terms of religious faith and confessional harmony.
The possibility of changing the name of the Christian holidays had been discussed for two years, since the Minister for Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas had proposed it during a meeting with the Indonesian bishops in the Moluccas in April 2022. A choice linked to the request of groups of faithful who asked to make the terminology more “Christian”, compared to using the Islamic denomination.

As I write the Chinese New Year, the high point of the year, is being celebrated at home and overseas. It is the year of the dragon, which among the twelve animals of the horoscope is the strongest and most loved: it is to be believed that many Chinese women will want to have a child in this year, considered the most fortunate of all.
Today’s celebration catapults me into thinking about the Catholic faith in China, the fundamental theme of my life dedicated to the mission. From what we can know, 2024 should be a decisive year for dialogue between China and the Holy See: the 2018 agreement, renewed twice, will have to be permanently ratified or abandoned.
In recent days, news has arrived which has rightly been commented on positively by observers: three new bishops have been ordained, with the approval of both parties, in compliance with the agreement. 2023 had been an annus horribilis for the Holy See, with the sensational transfer to Shanghai of Bishop Shen Bin.
It was the second unilateral act by China which had ousted the Holy See from any consultation. The Vatican protested. It went on to accept what had happened, but requested it not reoccur.
The last three agreed ordinations, accompanied by the recognition by the Holy See of the establishment of a new diocese (Weifang, in the province of Shandong, with borders redrawn by the Chinese authorities) have given the impression that there is, on the Chinese side, the will not to break with Rome and to permanently ratify the agreement.
It should be remembered that this ‘good’ news must be contextualised: if it is true that the Pope appoints the bishops, they are not chosen by him but by an autonomous process led by the Chinese authorities, the details of which are not known, as the text of the agreement remains secret.
Those elected in China are therefore Catholic bishops, but at the same time certainly appreciated by the authorities.

The Sea Link Road in Gaehangjang of Incheon has earned fame as a “Historical and Cultural Pilgrimage Road” thanks to a series of century-old heritage sites related to the early days of Christianity in Korea.
All year round, pilgrims and tourists from home and abroad flock to the street to visit the monuments, including the site where the first Catholic missionary nuns arrived in 1885, Korea’s first Anglican cathedral and the Methodist Church, and Incheon’s first Catholic cathedral known as Dapdong Cathedral.
During the Christian Unity Octave from Jan. 18-25, when Christians across the globe pray for the unity of all Christians, many people throng to the street to visit the churches and other historical Christian sites.
A monument dedicated to four missionary nuns (two French and two Chinese) from the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres congregation stands in front of Incheon Central Police Station.
The nuns arrived in Incheon on July 22, 1888, five years after the opening of Jemulpo Port. Their arrival marked a new beginning for Catholic religious life when Korea was under the rule of the long-reigning Joseon dynasty (1392-1910).
The site is home to a bronze sculpture by famed Korean sculptor Joseph Choi Jong-tae depicting the missionary nuns disembarking from a ship. A prayer: “For the greater glory of God” is also engraved on it, recalling a note from the travel diary of one of the pioneering nuns, Sister Zacharias.
Some 200 meters from the nuns’ monument stands the Korean Christianity 100th Anniversary Memorial Tower, which commemorates the missionary spirit of the Protestant missionaries who first set foot in Incheon in 1885.
The church was rebuilt in 1985, on the 100th anniversary of its founding.
At the entrance to the church are busts of Appenzeller, the second pastor, George H. Jones, and Reverend Kim Ki-beom, the first pastor not only in the Korean Methodist Church but also in the Korean Protestant Church. A restored building of the Jemulpo Wesleyan Chapel, Incheon’s first Western-style Protestant chapel, is also located next to the church.

Nearly 300 Myanmar soldiers crossed the border into India to flee an advance by armed insurgents fighting the country’s junta, an Indian paramilitary officer told AFP on January 20 .
Clashes have rocked parts of Myanmar near the Indian border since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a 2021 military coup.
This week, the group said it had taken over the major town of Paletwa and six military bases along the border of India’s Mizoram state, where the soldiers had crossed on Wednesday.
A total of 276 troops carrying their arms and ammunition arrived at Bondukbangsora village, an officer from the Assam Rifles paramilitary force, who declined to give a name, told AFP.
“We have given them shelter at our camp,” he said, adding that the arriving soldiers were “given all the support they require”.
The officer said that his unit was collecting biometric data from the soldiers and had sought approval from the defence ministry in New Delhi to return them to Myanmar.
Hundreds of other Myanmar troops have fled to India to escape fighting since the ceasefire ended in November, according to local media reports.
Two Myanmar military aircraft arrived in Aizawl, the Mizoram state capital, to collect and repatriate soldiers who retreated from the conflict.
In October, an alliance of the AA and two other ethnic minority armed groups launched a joint offensive across Myanmar’s northern Shan state, capturing towns and seizing vital trade hubs on the China border.

The Church and progressive groups in the Philippines are up in arms against a plan to change the country’s 1987 constitution through a people’s initiative.
The people’s initiative pro-vision in the Catholic-majority nation’s constitution states that amendments can be directly proposed by people “through at least 12% of the total number of registered voters.” Every legislative district must have “at least 3% of the registered voters” as signa-tories. “I do not favour the charter change… whether it is a people’s initiative or by the constituent assembly. A charter change is not the answer to inflation, unemployment, housing crisis, and corruption in the country,” said lawyer Aaron Pedrosa, leader of the Sanlakas, a multi-sectoral organization, on Jan. 18.
The Philippines got the current constitution a year after Ferdinand E. Marcos, the father of current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was deposed as president.

So that the faithful can experience the important moment of the elections with full attention and with a conscience enlightened by faith and the search for the common good and charity, and on the other hand, to ensure that the baptized experience the beginning of Lent in fullness, without distraction and polarization, in a true spirit of penance, with fasting and prayer, Bishop Siprianus Hormat of Ruteng, a diocese on the island of Flores, the Catholic heart of Indonesia, has decided to postpone the celebration of the imposition of the sacred ashes, which follows liturgical calendar scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2024, to Thursday, February 15, 2024.
Particularly in the churches of the mission stations in more remote areas, the rites can also be carried out on the first Sunday of Lent, February 19. The main reason for this decision is political: the presidential elections will take place on February 14th, which will attract the attention of all Indonesian citizens and could overshadow the important spiritual moment that the Church has planned for the beginning of Lent. In a pastoral letter read to the community, Bishop Hormat reminded the faithful that “the celebration of Ash Wednesday will take place on Thursday, February 15, from morning to evening.