Former governor of Jakarta, Chinese ethnic Christian Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, is free again after serving almost two years for blasphemy in the national police prison at Kelapa Dua, Depok regency (West Java) Waiting for him outside the prison walls this morning was his eldest son Nicholas Sean, while supporters and sympathizers welcomed the progressive politician’s invitation to keep a low profile.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, who in recent days has expressed a desire to no longer be called with the Chinese nickname that accompanied him throughout his political career, has received a reduced sentence of three months and 15 days. Commenting on his upcoming release, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stated that “from now on, it will be up to him to reorganize his future life.” Widodo was a political ally of Purnama, his deputy during his tenure as governor of the capital that preceded the presidency of the Republic.

Maulana Muhammad Abdul Qadir Azad, who served the faithful as Grand Imam in the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore for about 30 years and died in January 2003, was considered “a great promoter of interreligious peace and harmony and above all of dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He was a great religious leader and a lover of peace. He was an ardent promoter of harmony between different Muslim communities and people of other religions”: says the Dominican, Fr James Channan, director of the “Peace Centre” in Lahore, preaching in the Badshahi Mosque, the “Royal Mosque” in Lahore.

On January 18, before the usual Friday Prayer, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, current Grand Imam of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore and son of the late Abdul Qadir Azad, organized an interreligious conference to pay tribute to his father and invited Fr Channan to preach from the pulpit of the mosque, and addressed all the faithful Muslims present.

One in three Christians in Asia faces high levels of persecution after a “shocking increase” of religious-based threats and violence across the world, particularly in China and sub-Saharan Africa, a global advocacy group said.

Around half of China’s 100 million Christians encounters persecution, “the worst it’s been in more than a decade,” following “new laws seeking to control religious expression,” the Open Doors watchdog said.

Persecution worldwide increased for the sixth straight year, with a total of 245 million Christians — one out of nine worldwide — facing high levels in 2018, up from 215 million, or one in 12, the previous year.

“Worldwide, our data reveals that 13.9 per cent more Christians are experiencing high levels of persecution than last year. That’s 30 million more people,” Open Doors UK and Ireland CEO Henrietta Blyth said in a statement.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on January 29 upheld the acquittal of a Christian woman who spent years on death row after being convicted of blasphemy.

The apex court also dismissed a petition filed by Islamists who have called for her execution.

“On merit, this petition is dismissed,” Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said in court, saying the petitioners, led by a village prayer leader, had failed to point out any mistake in the original judgement.

Asia Bibi, a farm worker, was convicted in 2010 of making derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours working in the fields with her objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.

She has always maintained her innocence in a case that has polarized Pakistan.

The Supreme Court’s quash ing of her sentence last October led to violent protests by religious hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws, while more liberal sections of society urged her release.

Hardliners had petitioned to overturn this ruling.

Asia Bibi – also known as Asia Noreen – was unable to leave Pakistan while an appeal request was pending.

“She should now be free to reunite with her family and seek safety in a country of her choice,” Amnesty International said in a statement.

Hundreds of thousands of people have thronged the streets of Manila to fling themselves at a statue of Jesus Christ as it inched its way through the Philippine capital in an annual procession that is one of the world’s biggest shows of Catholic devotion.

The faithful gathered before dawn on Jan 9 to catch a glimpse of the statue as it was wheeled on a metal float along a seven kilometre route through the city.

They believe touching the religious icon known as the Black Nazarene, or simply being in its presence, can heal the sick or deliver good fortune. Police said at least 800,000 people were in the crowd.

“I survived a stroke because of him (God),” 70-year-old Joaquin Bordado, who has attended the procession for decades, told the AFP news agency. “I will do this every year until I am 100 years old.”

Around him, the crowd, mostly walking barefoot as a sign of penitence, chanted “Viva Nazareno” (Long live Nazarene) and jostled for a glimpse of, or selfie with, the statue cloaked in a maroon robe that is topped with a crown of thorns and cross.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has renewed his attacks on bishops in the Catholic majority country by describing them as “sons of bitches.”

The outspoken leader has been criticized by the Church for his war on drugs in which 5,000 people have been killed by police since 2016. “Only I can say bishops are sons of bitches, damn you. That is true,”

Duterte said in a speech during a groundbreaking ceremony for a school north of capital Manila on Jan. 10, Reuters reported. Duterte also suggested that most bishops are homosexual. “Most of them are gay,” he said. “They should come out in the open, cancel celibacy and allow them to have boyfriends.”

The president, who is not a regular churchgoer, said early in his presidency that he was sexually abused by a priest when he was a boy. Almost every time he addresses a crowd, he starts by acknowledging that his staff prepared a speech for him — but he never calls it his own. He always makes a point of putting some distance between him and his speechwriters.

Camillus Perera’s father was so impressed with his son’s sketches and cartoons in his younger years that he told him: “One day you will capture the attention of the world.” The comment proved prophetic.

Now Perera, a devout Catholic, is one of the most famous cartoonists in Sri Lanka — a country in chaos as it reels from a constitutional crisis inspired by a power play by President Maithripala Sirisena and two competing prime ministers.

The artist, whose pictures are often inflected with political messages, now ranks among the top four cartoonists in the country, joining the elite ranks of compatriots Aubrey Collette, Wijesoma and S.C. Opatha.

He lives in Negombo, near capital Colombo, and has spent more than half a century perfecting his art.

His vocation began when he was a schoolboy as he liked to draw cartoons and caricatures of his friends and teachers.

Even though his principal disapproved when he first saw Perera’s caricature of him — sitting by a table with a bottle of liquor on it — the older man was wise enough to recognize the boy’s talent, and he encouraged him to keep developing his skills.

Singapore may be known as a fast-paced financial centre but its growing Catholic community is spreading the word of God even at work.

Established in 2008 as a non-profit organization under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Singapore, the Catholic Business Network (CBN) brings together thousands of “friends” willing to serve the community and promote Catholic morals, values and ethics in the workplace.

President Goh Teik Poh said that business owners can be the voice and face of Christ by embodying Catholic social values in the workplace and showing how they conduct their business with integrity and care for their staff, AsiaNews reported.

Goh, a 59-year-old managing director in the maritime and logistics industry, said entrepreneurs and professionals play a prominent role in their families, companies and communities.

“We don’t have to look very far to see individuals, perhaps within our own families or communities, who need a listening ear or a helping hand to get out of a difficult situation that they find themselves in,” he said.

Singapore’s Christian community is on the rise. Catholics number about 383,000 or 9% of the population and are active in the country’s political and economic life. CBN’s motto is “Shepherds in the Marketplace.”

“We spend a good part of our lives at work. Living our faith therefore must imply that we live out our faith at work as well,” said vice-president Chan Beng Seng.