Asia

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  29 January 2019
  ASIA/IRAQ - The "return" of Christians in the Nineveh Plain remains uncertain Erbil (Agenzia Fides) - 85 percent of the population who fled from the Nineveh Plain when that territory was conquered by the jihadists of the "Islamic State" (Daesh) is not yet ready to return to their region of origin, ...
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  29 January 2019
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - The Bishops: "Respond to evil with good" Manila (Agenzia Fides) - It is urgent to fight the "cycle of hatred" that is taking place in society: this is what the Filipino Bishops say at the conclusion of their 118th Plenary Assembly held in Manila from 26 to 28 J ...
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  29 January 2019
  ASIA/MYANMAR - Cardinal Bo: "No to the dam that deprives us of 'our mother', Irrawaddy" Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - "We the people of Myanmar, with tears in our eyes, our hearts shaken by fear and sorrow, knock at the doors of our rulers and the international community. Faced with the sad prospect of losing ...
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  29 January 2019
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - The Supreme Court rejects a petition to review their previous decision: Asia Bibi is free Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - The Supreme Court of Pakistan today rejected the request to review the verdict, presented against the acquittal of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy in 20 ...
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  28 January 2019
  ASIA/SYRIA - Cardinal Zenari: Christians represent only 2% of the Syrian population Budapest (Agenzia Fides) - After the conflict that tore Syria apart for 7 years, the Christian component of the Syrian population probably has fallen to around 2 percent. And the Christian presence in the Middle East run ...
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  28 January 2019
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Terrorist attack on the cathedral in Jolo: the Church condemns violence and calls for justice Jolo (Agenzia Fides) - Firm condemnation of violence, solidarity with the victims, proximity to the population of the South of the Philippines: this is what the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines expressed, in the after ...
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  28 January 2019
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - The case of Asia Bibi towards the definitive conclusion Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - The Pakistani Supreme Court has set a hearing date for the petition to review the acquittal of Asia Bibi, on the morning of 29 January. President Asif Saeed Khosa will preside over a jury c ...
• 28 January 2019
  ASIA/VIETNAM - Resignation of the Auxiliary of Hà Nôi Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On January 26, 2019, the Holy Father Francis accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Hà Nôi, Viêt Nam, presented by H.E. Msgr. Laurent Chu Văn Minh, ...
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  25 January 2019
  ASIA/IRAQ - Patriarch Sako calls for a vital "new birth" for Mosul, where Christian homes have become landfills Mosul (Agenzia Fides) - The Iraqi metropolis of Mosul struggles to return to the situation prior to the jihadist occupation, and the difficulties particularly affect the Christian component. The hoped-for return of the C ...
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  25 January 2019
  ASIA/INDONESIA - The Christian Ahok set free, "but his figure polarizes public opinion" Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - "After the release, it is likely that Ahok will go abroad for a few months, at least until after the general elections in April. It is a careful move, because his figure is still much discussed ...
• 25 January 2019
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - Confirmation of the National Director of the PMS, Fr. Mikhael Abdo Abdo, OCD Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 22 November 2018, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, confirmed Fr. Mikhael Abdo Abdo, of the Discalced Carmelites, OCD, as National ...
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  25 January 2019
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - No WYD for young Pakistanis, blocked in their homeland by the Immigration Office Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - The Department for Immigration Office at Allama Iqbal airport in Lahore stopped young Catholics who, on 23rd and 24th January, were about to embark to participate in World Youth Day, underway in ...
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  24 January 2019
  ASIA/INDIA - Vandalistic acts carried out by young Hindu extremists in a Catholic school Kolhapur (Agenzia Fides) - Young activists of the "Yuva Sena" group, the youth wing of the Hindu nationalist organization "Shiv Sena", have committed vandalism in the office of the Holy Cross High School, a Catholic inst ...
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  24 January 2019
  ASIA/IRAQ - Ayatollah al Sistani recommends the UN to investigate the jihadist violence suffered by Christians in Mosul Najaf (Agenzia Fides) - Ayatollah Ali al Sistani reiterated the urgent need to investigate the violence and crimes committed by the jihadist militias of the Islamic State even to the detriment of local Christian communi ...
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  24 January 2019
  ASIA/INDIA - Christians accused of "forced conversions": the government of Madhya Pradesh backtracks Bhopal (Agenzia Fides) - Kamal Nath, Prime Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a big state in central India, has assured Christian leaders that he will cancel the accusations of alleged "fraudulent conversion ...