Vietnam has jailed an out-spoken Catholic blogger, known for commenting on social issues, for allegedly trying to undermine the state.

The People’s Court in Lam Dong province on July 7 senten-ced Nguyen Quoc Duc Vuong, 29, to eight years in jail and three years’ probation for “mak-ing, hoarding and disseminating anti-state propaganda.”

The blogger from Don Duong district was arrested in September last year.

According to a four-page indictment, Vuong had posted and spread 98 video clips and 366 articles against the govern-ment on Facebook.

He was also accused of taking part in illegal protests in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 against the approval of the country’s contro-versial cyber security law and proposed special economic deve-lopment plans. The indict-ment said his posts criticized the country’s socialist system and Ho Chi Minh, the father of commu-nism in Vietnam. It said Vuong was heavily influenced by his anti-communist father, who was a soldier in the South Vietnamese army during the Vietnam War.

Catholics in Indonesia have welcomed the appointment of Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta as a new member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Many of them stressed the need for him to promote tolerance in the multi-religious country. Cardinal Suharyo, also the chairman of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference and an ordinary of the Military Ordinariate of Indonesia, was among more than 20 new Pontifical Council members announced by the Vatican on July 8.

Groups of Muslim volunteers are burying Christians who have died from the coronavirus. This is seen as a great example of interfaith harmony, and videos of their work have gone viral in Bangladesh.
According to World Health Organisation data, almost 160,000 cases have been reported in Bangladesh with about 2,000 deaths, including a dozen Christians. Fearing contagion, very few people in the country are willing to touch the bodies of infected people, living or dead.

Muslim volunteers, who live isolated from their families, have been trained to bury those who die from the respiratory disease.

As part of the burial process, they first spray a disinfectant (a mixture of water and alcohol) onto the body of the dead, then bathe it with a solution of soap and water, and rub it with a cloth. Finally, the body is wrapped in a shroud and placed inside a special plastic bag.
Sahidul Islam, head of Al-Manahil Foundation, a charity based in Chittagong, notes that the burial of Christians is a new experience for his group.

“Despite the current Covid-19 pandemic, which is posing its share of challenges in Pakistan, religious intolerance and discrimi-nation in recent months have increased”: is the complaint of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), within the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
The statement sent to Agenzia Fides states: “Recently, Nadeem Joseph, a Chri-stian from Peshawar, and his mother-in-law Elizabeth Masih were brutally attacked by the Muslim Salman Khan and his sons a few days after Nadeem Joseph bought a house in the Colony in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 4, 2020, in a Muslim dominated neighbourhood and his neighbours did not tolerate the pre-sence of a non-Muslim in their neighbour-hood.” Police arrested several members of Salman Khan’s family in connection with the incident.

NCJP strongly condemns this act of violence. In a joint statement, Archbishop Joseph Arshad, Chairman of the Commi-ssion, National Director Fr Emmanuel Yousaf and Executive Director Cecil S. Chaudhry declare: “Pakistani society has become increasingly intolerant and living as a religious minority is becoming more and more difficult. There are many similar incidents that are not reported. Religious minorities continue to face discrimination as part of their daily lives,” it stresses, citing refusal to give food supplies or provide relief to non-Muslims during the pandemic, or that of poor personal protection for health workers, who are at the forefront. Bishops call on law enforcement agencies to do everything possible to catch the main culprit who brutally killed Nadeem Joseph and bring him to justice, noting the “clear violation of human rights” and “an act against the law that cannot go unpunished.”

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.