Asia

• 
  16 December 2016
  ASIA/SYRIA - East Aleppo, a cease-fire deal to allow evacuation of rebels. The Catholic hospital director: we welcome the wounded and the sick of neighborhoods that were under the rebels Aleppo (Agenzia Fides) - A cease-fire deal to allow evacuation of rebels and tens of thousands of civilians from eastern Aleppo up to the harvesting areas located near the border with Turkey is back on. Syrian official s ...
• 
  15 December 2016
  ASIA/INDIA - Violence and abuse of Christians in view of Christmas New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - New violence against Christians, carried out in view of Christmas, cause concern in the Indian Christian community. According to information gathered by Fides, on December 14 a group of about ...
• 
  15 December 2016
  ASIA/THAILAND - May Jesus be visible even in our home, today! The hope of a missionary for Christmas Bangkok (Agenzia Fides) - In Thailand every home, office, factory, farm and public space exposes a giant poster of the King or the royal family, especially in this period of national mourning for the death of the 'Greate ...
• 
  15 December 2016
  ASIA/KYRGYZSTAN - The Kyrgyz government announced a program to combat Islamist extremism Bishkek (Agenzia Fides) - Kyrgyzstan is preparing to create an anti-terrorism state program that will in particular aim to increase both preventive and repressive measures to fight the expansion of religious extremism in ...
• 
  14 December 2016
  ASIA/TURKEY - Evangelical pastor arrested on charges of belonging to Gulen’s "terrorist" network Ankara (Agenzia Fides) - Evangelical pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, former head of the Evangelical Church of the Resurrection in Izmir (Smyrna Diriliş Kilisesi), was arrested last week on suspicion of being part of the Hi ...
• 
  14 December 2016
  ASIA/INDIA - The Church: a new policy towards the Dalits New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - To build a truly inclusive community is an ethical imperative: motivated by this intent the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI) has launched a new policy of inclusion, support and development of ...
• 
  14 December 2016
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Christian governor stands trial: a test for democracy in Indonesia Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - The Christian governor of Jakarta shed tears yesterday, 13 December during the hearing in court, on the first day of the trial in which he is accused of blasphemy. The trial will continue with t ...
• 
  13 December 2016
  ASIA/INDIA - Two priests ordained in Orissa, in the district of the anti-Christian massacres Bhubaneswar (Agenzia Fides) - Kandhmal district in the Indian state of Orissa, which was the scene of the anti-Christian massacres of 2008, welcomed two new priests at the end of the Jubilee Year. As reported to Fides, m ...
• 
  13 December 2016
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Bishops to the government: "We urgently need a moratorium on the death penalty" Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - The Indonesian Bishops have officially asked the government for a moratorium on the death penalty. As reported to Fides by Fr. Paulus Christian Siswantoko, executive secretary of the Commission ...
• 
  12 December 2016
  ASIA/LAOS - Laos has its first martyrs Vientiane (Agenzia Fides) - Historic Step for the Catholic Church in Laos where yesterday December 11, the solemn liturgy of beatification of 17 new martyrs, including missionaries and lay Laotians was held in the Cathed ...
• 
  12 December 2016
  ASIA/AFGHANISTAN - The "bacha posh": little girls dressed as boys to avoid early marriages with adults Kabul (Agenzia Fides) - Afghan families who want to protect their underage girls from early marriages are having to decide whether to hide their sex to avoid grown men to marry them. Parents who choose not to be groped b ...
• 
  12 December 2016
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Violence on Ahmadis, in defiance of the rule of law Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - Arbitrary actions are committed both by public forces and by a masse of radical Muslims, carried out in defiance of the rule of law and fundamental freedoms of every citizen of Pakistan: this is ...
• 
  9 December 2016
  ASIA/BANGLADESH - Children forced to work 64 hours every week Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) - The children who live in the Bangladeshi slums are often forced to work 64 hours a week in textile factories of major international brands. This is what emerges from a study carried out by the Bri ...
• 
  9 December 2016
  ASIA/LEBANON - Lebanese "Mission" for the Grand Mufti of Syria: meetings with President Aoun and Patriarch Bechara Rai Bkerké (Agenzia Fides) - Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, Grand Mufti of Syria, on Wednesday, December 7 made a brief but significant visit to Lebanon, where he was received by the first President of Lebanon Michel Aoun ...
• 
  9 December 2016
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Earthquake: over one hundred dead, thousands homeless and destroyed homes, schools closed Banda Aceh (Agenzia Fides) - At least 102 people have died and hundreds injured because of the strong earthquake that on December 7 hit the province of Aceh, in the north of the island of Sumatra. According to the latest ...