Asian

Thailand just decriminalized cannabis. But you still can’t smoke joints, minister says

On June 9 Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis — but tough penalties will still apply to those who use the drug to get high, according to the minister who spearheaded the change. Speaking to CNN in an interview ahead of the move, Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he expected […]

One-on-one with priest leads Japanese atheist to baptism

Kazuhiro Sasahara met the priest suggested by his Catholic wife, a member of Kitami Church on Japan’s island of Hokkaido One-on-one with priest leads Japanese atheist to baptism Kazuhiro Sasahara was born into a family of the Buddhist Jodo Shinshu sect but considered him-self an atheist. Because his wife, whom he met as a student, […]

Rights supporters urge authorities not to arrest activist Sri Lankan nun

Activists called on Sri Lankan authorities not to arrest an activist nun who has supported anti-government pro-testers. Sister Mary Sonali of the Congregation of the Apostolic Carmel was summoned by police June 7 to record a statement about an arson attack. Shehan Malaka Gamage, a social activist and national convener of the Coalition of Catholic […]

Reparations unlikely for victims of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia

Hopes of financial compensation for survivors of Pol Pot’s brutal regime that ruled Cambodia with an iron fist between 1975 and early 1979 are becoming less likely as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal continues to wind down. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), which was sworn in 16 years ago and charged with […]

Historic Catholic village under fire again in Myanmar

The Myanmar military has continued to target a historic Catholic village in the country’s Bamar heartland while pressing ahead with attacks on religious buildings in predominantly Christian regions. At least 320 out of the estimated 350 households were burned down during a military raid on Chaung Yoe village in the Sagaing region on May 20, […]

Chinese bishop remains in detention one year on

A Vatican-approved Chinese bishop remains in detention more than one year after his arrest for allegedly violating the communist country’s repressive regulations on religious affairs. Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang in Henan province was arrested on May 21 last year. His arrest came a day after police arrested 10 priests and an unknown number […]

Pakistan: ‘I spent 8 years on death row falsely accused of blasphemy’

In July 2013, Shagufta and Shafqat Emmanuel, a Catholic couple in Mian Channu, a small town 155 miles south of Lahore, Pakistan, were arrested on false charges of blasphemy. After eight years on death row, separated from each other and from their four children, they were finally released on 3 June 2021 by the Lahore […]

Hoping for divine intervention to save the Philippines

It has been five decades since the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law on Sept. 21, 1972. In this 50th year since the iron fist of repression was imposed, his son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., will soon be the country’s head of state. Sara Duterte, daughter of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte, will serve […]

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

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica