Asia

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  14 December 2020
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Advent of prayer, penance and charity, for a humble and simple Christmas Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore wishes for an Advent season marked by prayer, penance and charity, expressed in a pastoral letter to the faithful in all parishes and communities. It i ...
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  14 December 2020
  ASIA/SYRIA - Monks and nuns of Deir Mar Musa, the love of Christ, source of healing for humanity wounded between war and pandemic Nabek (Agenzia Fides) - "Sometimes, out of habit perhaps, we will say to God, “may your will be done”, but only rarely do we say, along with the leper, “if you wish”. Our moments of prayer are often full of ourse ...
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  14 December 2020
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - In times of pandemic, "preaching and bearing witness to the Gospel are particularly important" Manila (Agenzia Fides) - Today more than ever, in a time of suffering, uncertainty and loneliness caused by the pandemic, "it is now more necessary than ever to preach the Gospel with courage in daily life", said Mgr. Br ...
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  12 December 2020
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Indonesian Bishops alongside the people who are suffering in Papua Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta and President of the Indonesian Catholic Bishops' Conference (KWI), confirms the full support, compassion and closeness of the Bish ...
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  12 December 2020
  ASIA/IRAQ - Catholic Bishops: The mystery of Christmas and the Pope's visit make hope bloom, even in our deserts Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - The Iraqi people experience the present like crossing a desert. It is a spiritual and material desert that reveals the weaknesses of all, including the many brothers and sisters who "give up the ...
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  12 December 2020
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Christians in Pakistan seek justice for a Christian girl who escaped her kidnapper Faisalabad (Agenzia Fides) - "We want justice for Sheeza Maqsood, a 16-year-old Christian from Faisalabad who was kidnapped, raped, tortured, converted to Islam and forced to marry one of the four men who raped her sever ...
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  12 December 2020
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Violence in Papua: appeal for peace by Catholic priests Timika (Agenzia Fides) - With a strong appeal for dialogue and reconciliation aimed at overcoming the conflict in the Indonesian Papua region, 147 Catholic priests have signed a "moral call to justice and truth, recogniz ...
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  11 December 2020
  ASIA/JORDAN - King Abdallah once again claims the protection of the Christian Holy Places of Jerusalem Amman (Agenzia Fides) - For the Jordanian royal family, the Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites "is a duty, a commitment, a firm belief, and a responsibility we have proudly undertak ...
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  11 December 2020
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Catholic Arzoo Raja's kidnapper accused of rape; the lawyers ask the court to add other charges Karachi (Agenzia Fides) - The legal battle over the case of Arzoo Raja, the young Catholic kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and forced into an Islamic marriage last October before being released by the police and w ...
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  11 December 2020
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Bishops to young people: "Christ lives: He gives us courage, strength and hope in difficult times" Manila (Agenzia Fides) - Young people are called upon to keep faith and hope alive, especially in times of pandemics, said the Philippine bishops with regard to the National Youth Day 2020 on December 16. In a pastoral l ...
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  10 December 2020
  ASIA/IRAQ - Chaldean Patriarch Sako to Iraqi Christians: may the Pope's visit be for us a "return to the sources" of our missionary vocation Baghdad (Agenzia Fides) - The announced apostolic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq will be a providential occasion for Iraqi Christians and the entire Middle East to make a "pilgrimage" of conversion and a "return to our or ...
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  10 December 2020
  ASIA/INDIA - The analysis of a Jesuit:"A negative year for human rights in India" New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - "The year 2020, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, was a particularly bad year for human rights in India: in a systematic and brutal way, the legitimate rights of the people were repressed and d ...
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  10 December 2020
  ASIA/INDONESIA - On Human Rights Day, President Widodo raises the issue of freedom of worship Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - There are still many problems related to human rights in Indonesia, one of them is the issue of freedom of religion. All the social forces of the nation have the task of jointly addressing the i ...
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  9 December 2020
  ASIA/TAJIKISTAN - Personal visits by priests to families in times of pandemic and without the Internet Dushanbe (Agenzia Fides) - "We are not living the time of Advent as usual and we will not be able to celebrate Christmas like other years: indeed, since April 23 until a date to be decided, churches, mosques and other pl ...
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  9 December 2020
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Human Rights Day: "Protection of minority rights is crucial for the future of the country" Lahore (Agenzia Fide) - "To curb the criminal acts which are often covered by questions of faith and to protect religious minorities from the recurrent violations of fundamental rights taking place in Pakistan": this is ...