| VATICAN

Unless there are special cases decided by the pontiff, the Church will no longer issue declarations on the supernatural nature of such phenomena, but will only issue a non-committal recognition of their pastoral value when there are no mystifications. These phenomena are associated with many shrines in Asia.

 

by Steve Suwannarat

According to the Israeli army they were killed immediately on 7 October during the attack on kibbutz Be'eri. The fate of six other Bangkok citizens believed to be in the hands of Hamas remains unknown, as does Nepalese student Bipin Joshi, Meanwhile, thousands of Thais are trying to find work again in Israel as farmers.

| 17/05/2024
| THAILAND - GAZA

Patriarchate spokesman Farid Jubran tells AsiaNews: the community "happy and surprised" by an "unexpected" visit resulting from the patriarchate's diplomatic efforts. An "emergency" situation in which "food, doctors and medicines" are lacking. The humanitarian initiative of the Knights of Malta to meet the population's needs. The embrace with the vice-parish priest and the Greek Orthodox bishop. 

 

| 17/05/2024
| GAZA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The synod of the Orthodox community led by Metropolitan Epifanyj has appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew to condemn Kirill for the "ethno-filetist heresy". The clash with the other Orthodox jurisdiction, which has always been linked to Moscow, despite having formally distanced itself from it after the Russian invasion.

| 17/05/2024
| ORTHODOXY

The Home secretary handed out certificates to 14 people yesterday. Promulgated in 2019 and implemented in March this year, the CAA provides easier access to Indian citizenship for members of religious minorities from Muslim majority countries. Analysts argue that religion is being used by the BJP to rouse its electorate in the ongoing elections.

| 16/05/2024
| INDIA

Sources told AsiaNews that two members of the underground Catholic community in Hebei have not been heard from for days, raising serious concern. It is thought that, like in other cases, they have been subjected to restrictive measures by local authorities. The diocese is the same where, a century ago, the Council of Shanghai pushed for the Marian shrine in Donglu. At present, pressure remains very strong on communities that refuse to join the various bodies of China’s “official” Church.

| 16/05/2024
| CHINA
by Silvia Torriti

Cranes and excavators are back at work after they were halted in June 2020 following local opposition and academic criticism, social media in China report. Ostensibly, the goal is to modernise rural life by merging a fifth of 70,000 villages, forcing people into new neighbourhoods on the outskirts of medium-sized cities. Anyone who fails to comply can expect violence.

| 16/05/2024
| RED LANTERNS
Editor's choices
 
Three people have died and hundreds have been injured in recent clashes between police and pro-independence protesters in the French Overseas Territory. For the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), “It cannot be ignored that eruption of violence ...
| 17/05/2024
| OCEANIA
 
by Silvia Torriti
Cranes and excavators are back at work after they were halted in June 2020 following local opposition and academic criticism, social media in China report. Ostensibly, the goal is to modernise rural life by merging a fifth of 70,000 villages, forcing ...
| 16/05/2024
| RED LANTERNS
 
Today's news: Pyongyang laundered 7.5 million in stolen cryptocurrencies in March alone; Rosewood trade from Mozambique to China finances Islamic State militants; YouTube blocks "Glory to Hong Kong" videos as requested by local government; Israel ...
| 15/05/2024
| ASIA TODAY
 
Zhang Zhan, 40, was a leading human rights advocate in Shanghai. The Christian woman was supposed to be freed today after four years in prison, but her fate remains unknown while her family has been forced into silence. Activist groups following her ...
| 13/05/2024
| CHINA
 
Receiving in audience a delegation led by the new Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, the pontiff publicly expressed his assent to a request made for years by the Churches of the East, especially for their faithful in the Persian Gulf. A new harsh warning ...
| 13/05/2024
| VATICAN - INDIA
 
by Nirmala Carvalho
The 38-year-old member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross graduated from college in Mumbai before embracing the religious life. The new priest told AsiaNews: “My vocation and mission as a priest are to provide all the Sacraments in the Indian ...
| 07/05/2024
| INDIA
 
Strongly supported by Hun Sen and backed by Beijing, it would stretch 180 kilometres from the Mekong to the port of Kep. Work could start as early as the end of the year, but Hanoi is concerned about the repercussions on water management. And calls for ...
| 04/05/2024
| CAMBODIA - VIETNAM
 
May 1 in many Asian countries coincides with temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius. Increasingly frequent conditions that - as a study by the Global Labor Institute on textile companies in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Vietnam explains - risk ...
| 01/05/2024
| ASIA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”