Cardinal John Tong Hon, administrator of the Hong Kong, announced that the city will return to public Masses from June 1, at the same time China’s parliament is expected to pass a new national security law that already has pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong taking to the streets.

“Thanks be to God that the situation is easing,” Tong said in a May 22 statement posted to the Diocese of Hong Kong’s web-site, speaking of the coronavirus pandemic.

Noting that public Masses have been suspended since February, he said daily Masses started up again on June 1, while public Sunday liturgies resumed on June 7, on Holy Trinity Sunday.

For those who still fear they will be infected by attending Mass, Tong said that “for the time being,” they can fulfill their Sunday obligation by attending a live streamed Mass and making an act of spiritual communion.

Since the number of people who can be admitted to churches is limited to half of the normal capacity due to social distancing requirements, Tong said that if some people wish to attend a weekday Mass in place of the Sunday Mass, that will also be allowed.

“I would like to thank everyone for being so considerate and accommodating,” he said, noting that, “The pandemic is far from being over. We must carry on with our preventive measures. When we stand by each other with hope and count on our Lord, I am sure peace will be with us.”

Yet Tong might have spoken too soon in his confidence that peace will abide, as his announcement came at the same time that China is attempting to pass a national security resolution in Hong Kong banning treason, secession, sedition, subversion, foreign interference and terrorism.

Christian activists are visiting the family of Asia Bibi after her brother-in-law was murdered in a village of Pakistan’s Punjab province. The body of Younas Masih, 50, was found on May 25 morning in a furrow amid the crops of Dao Ki Mallian, a village in Sheikhupura district.

The father of two was married to Najma Bibi, the younger sister of Asia Bibi, the Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy in 2018 after spending eight years on death row in Pakistan.

“He used to take care of the cattle at the farmhouse of a local landlord. We had been searching for him after he went missing a day earlier. His throat was slit. We handed over his body to police,” the victim’s brother George Masih stated in a first information report to police.

Masih accused Najma Bibi of conspiring to kill her husband with the help of Irfan Dogar, a local Muslim. “She had illicit relations with Dogar. My brother often used to stop them. The accused [Dogar] murdered him at the behest of Bibi,” said Masih.

Punjab police spokesman Sohail Akhtar Sukhera told Dawn newspaper that Sheikhupura police had arrested Najma Bibi and Irfan Dogar. He said they had confessed to the crime and the victim’s body had been sent to a morgue for an autopsy.

The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has appealed to prelates to show solidarity to the dioceses of Borongan and Catarman in Samar by providing aid to those affected by Typhoon “Ambo.” In this great time of need, we urge you to show solidarity to the Dioceses of Borongan and Catarman by giving your donations directly to them,” Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, chairman of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action Justice & Peace, said in a statement.

“We are hoping that you will positively respond to this appeal, while steadfastly praying that all will be well,” he added.

Pope Francis entrusted China to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and asked people to pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the most populated country in the world.

“Dear Catholic brothers and sisters in China, I wish to assure you that the universal Church, of which you are an integral part, shares your hopes and supports you in trials,” Pope Francis said on May 24 after the Regina Caeli prayer.

“It accompanies you with prayer for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that the light and beauty of the Gospel, the power of God for the salvation of whoever believes, can shine in you,” the Pope said.

Pope Francis imparted a special Apostolic Blessing upon China for the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. The Marian shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai, which is dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians, remains closed on this feast after the Diocese of Shanghai suspended all pilgrimages for the month of May to prevent the spread of the corona virus. “We entrust the pastors and faithful of the Catholic Church in that great country to the guidance and protection of our Heavenly Mother, so that they may be strong in faith and firm in fraternal union, joyful witnesses and promoters of charity and fraternal hope, and good citizens,” Pope Francis said.

Plumbing leaks swamp the basement. Red stains reek of dried medicines. Broken furniture lies piled up with burst pipes that once supplied oxygen. A rusty ventilator gathers dust in a corner of the emergency department of United Christian Hospital (UCH), one of the oldest missionary hospitals in Lahore.

“Cracks have appeared on the large water tank that could flood the facility anytime. The gas supply was cut off earlier this year over unpaid bills. Electricity is often suspended. We were once served on a silver spoon; now it’s a living night-mare,” Christian nurse Mary (not her real name) told UCA News.

“There is no general surgeon; the gap is filled with visiting doctors and consultants. Only nurses care for patients in evenings and at night. Yet the staff have not received their full salary for two years. The administration owes me half a million rupees (US$3,145). The residential staff are being charged over-priced electricity bills.”

Mary is one of the 60 employees of UCH, the most talked about institute among Christian social media users over many years. The rumors include a red light bar, fake degree holders, encroachment and sale of its land and medical equipment. Established in 1948 by Presbyterian American missionaries, the hospital was opened in Forman Christian College and later moved to the Gulberg area. Presbyterians bought the land while the US Methodist Church constructed the building with the help of Britain’s Anglican Church. The first open heart surgery in Pakistan was done here in 1968.

There are already clear signs that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is leveraging the Covid-19 crisis to increase repression and cultural destruction in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Christianity is also in its sights and it’s highly likely that under-ground/house churches will be the key focus of a fresh round of repression that will take advantage of the blanket ban on all worship that was enacted in February as China was locked down.

On May 1, controversial new regulations on “ethnic unity” came into effect in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The “Regulations on the Establishment of a Model Area for Ethnic Unity and Progress in the Tibet Autonomous Region” were adopted by the TAR’s People’s Congress on Jan. 11. The TAR spans about half of traditional Tibet, a historically independent country that China has brutally occupied for more than 60 years.

“The regulations explicitly depart from the principle of ‘preferential treatment’ for Tibetans, which was supposed to guarantee that Tibetans could maintain their culture and traditional way of life in their own homeland,” the International Campaign for Tibet noted.

Human rights activists are condemning an Islamic missionary group for trying to convert non-Muslims while distributing rations amid Pakistan’s corona-virus lockdown. A cleric of Ma-dani Channel broke the news of one conversion at the Faizan-e-Madina head office of Dawat-e-Islami in Karachi. A clip shared on Facebook has been viewed more than 500 times.

“Here is good news for you. I just received a message from Faizan-e-Madina where a welfare program is being run. Moments ago a non-Muslim came for rations. They become Muslims after reciting Kalma [the Islamic proclamation of faith],” he said.

“He was named Muhammad Ramzan. He already had sehri [pre-dawn meal in Ramadan] and will observe his first fast. We are trying to make worshipers while delivering food and knowledge of faith at home. Remember us in your donations.”

Minority activists slammed the news. Catholic professor Anjum James Paul, chairman of the Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association, requested Dawat-e-Islami to stop using food for religious conversion.

Christian nurses and doctors in Bangladesh are vowing to continue their battle against the Covid-19 pandemic on the front line as they mark International Nurses Day on May 12.

Clara Biswas, 34, is a Catholic and senior nurse who has worked in private and government hospitals for 11 years. She now works at a state-run hospital in capital Dhaka that treats both Covid-19 and other patients despite various challenges.

“I have not worked in such a situation in my life. This is a very risky time for us and other medical personnel, though all medical staff are using personal protective equipment (PPE) for safety,” Biswas told UCA News.

In addition to the fear of infection, the wearing of PPE for more than eight hours is tough as it gets hot and she feels sick, while the hospital does not allow them to use a common toilet and provides no food, she noted.

Joyanta Mrong, 32, is an ethnic Garo Catholic who works at state-run Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He is aware that his wife and son face risks because of his job.

“I know how to handle myself, but they are not medical persons, so I’m afraid for them,” Mrong told UCA News.

There are 2,500 nurses and 170 doctors from the Christian community actively fighting the deadly virus in Bangladesh, according to church officials.

Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka has made an appeal to Bangladeshi Catholics to engage more in prayers to seek God’s intervention and to donate charitably to support poor and needy people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He urged all Catholics of Dhaka Archdiocese to observe special “prayers, fasting and acts of mercy” on May 14 in line with Pope Francis’ call. “I praise the Lord and thank you all for your strong faith, love and hope as Christian faithful during this grave crisis. We can win this test of faith one day by placing our trust in God,” Card. D’Rozario said in a pastoral letter circulated on May 7. On May 14, all priests in the archdiocese will participate in a special prayer and recollection to be united with the faithful spiritually, he said.