Asia

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  12 March 2025
  ASIA/INDIA - New violence in Manipur: a “comprehensive dialogue plan” is needed to address it Imphal (Agenzia Fides) – New episodes of violence have broken four months of relative calm in the Indian state of Manipur, rekindling tensions in this northeastern region. Clashes broke out on March 8, leaving one Kuki ...
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  11 March 2025
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Rodrigo Duterte arrested as country prepares for mid-term vote Manila (Agenzia Fides) - Executing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Philippine police arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte, 79, today, March 11, at Manila airport, immediately afte ...
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  10 March 2025
  ASIA/CHINA - The intense beginning of Lent for Chinese Catholic communities: Pilgrimages, catechism courses, works of charity Beijing (Agenzia Fides) – Pilgrimages, Lenten catechism courses, liturgies to confer the “missionary mandate” to catechists and extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, works of charity of social importance such a ...
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  10 March 2025
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Moratorium on mining in Palawan, to protect indigenous people and territory Puerto Princesa (Agenzia Fides) – The provincial government of the island of Palawan, in the western part of the Philippine archipelago, has approved a decree imposing a 50-year moratorium on mining on the island, both ...
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  10 March 2025
  ASIA/MYANMAR - Between suffering and war, the special prayer of the Rosary for the Pope Yangon (Agenzia Fides) – “In their homes, at 5 p.m. every evening, Catholic families, women, children and the elderly, gather to pray the Rosary for the health of Pope Francis. Others do it in the camps for displaced ...
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  9 March 2025
  ASIA/SYRIA - Sectarian massacres: Patriarchs of the Churches call for an end to the logic of revenge Damascus (Agenzia Fides) – The Patriarchs of three indigenous Churches historically rooted in Syria have signed a joint appeal to stop the “horrible massacres” perpetrated in recent days in several provinces of the ...
• 8 March 2025
  ASIA/INDIA - Appointment of bishop of Cuddapah Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Paul Prakash Saginala, of the clergy of Cuddapah, India, until now professor of sacred scripture at Saint John’s Regional Seminary in Hyderabad, ...
• 8 March 2025
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Appointment of bishop of Timika Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Bernardus Bofitwos Baru, O.S.A., until now counsellor of the Augustinian vicariate of Papua-Indonesia and director of the Fajar Timur Superior ...
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  7 March 2025
  ASIA/BANGLADESH - The country is heading towards elections. The Archbishop of Dhaka: the important thing is to build a democratic, secular and inclusive nation Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) – While Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim executive of Bangladesh, mentions the possibility of “new elections” – still without a confirmed date but scheduled for late 2024 or early 2025 � ...
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  7 March 2025
  ASIA/CHINA - Chinese Catholics pray for the recovery of Pope Francis Shanghai (Agenzia Fides) - Chinese Catholics are living the Lenten period of the Jubilee Year with spiritual meditations that also consider the frailties linked to old age and illness in the light of Christian hope, find ...
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  6 March 2025
  ASIA/HONG KONG - PIME missionary Giosuè Bonzi leaves Hong Kong: Sixty years of commitment to people with disabilities Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - Father Giosuè Bonzi of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), an Italian missionary from Bergamo, has left Hong Kong and his physically and mentally disabled children and young ...
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  6 March 2025
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Bangsamoro: dialogue initiatives to counter the increase in violence in the Muslim region Zamboanga City (Agenzia Fides) - The increase in violence in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), in the south of the Philippines, is a factor that worries society, public opinion and religious le ...
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  5 March 2025
  ASIA/MYANMAR - In Kachin State: Catholic pastoral center bombed Banmaw (Agenzia Fides) - The pastoral center on the grounds of the Catholic Church of St. Michael in Nan Hlaing, in a rural area of the diocese of Banmaw (northern Myanmar), was hit and destroyed by a bombing raid by the ...
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  4 March 2025
  ASIA/CAMBODIA - Apostolic Prefect Figaredo: a border wall is not the solution to the fight against human trafficking Battambang (Agenzia Fides) - The Thai government has announced that it will study the feasibility of building a wall along the border with Cambodia to prevent illegal border crossings. According to the Bangkok government ...
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  4 March 2025
  ASIA/CHINA - The Bishops of Shanghai and Hong Kong pray together for the Pope's health at the Marian Shrine of Sheshan Sheshan (Agenzia Fides) – “I was here with Bishop Joseph Shen Bin to pray for Pope Francis.” With these words, Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, Bishop of Hong Kong, describes the central moment of his recent visit to ...