Asia

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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 ...
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  9 December 2020
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Appeal to the Prime Minister: protection of religious minorities from forced conversions Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - "The phenomenon of the current forced conversions threatens religious freedom, freedom of conscience and religious pluralism in Pakistan. There are hundreds of cases of forced conversions of Hind ...
• 9 December 2020
  ASIA/KAZAKHSTAN - Resignation and appointment of apostolic administrator of Atyrau Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 8 December 2020, the Holy Father accepted the resignation presented by the Reverend Dariusz Buras, apostolic administrator of Atyrau in Kazakhstan, and appointed to the office of apostol ...
• 9 December 2020
  ASIA/INDIA - Resignation and succession of metropolitan archbishop of Patna, India Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Patna, India, presented by Archbishop William D’Souza, S.J. He is succeeded by Arch ...
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  7 December 2020
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan claims the protection of the Holy Places of Jerusalem Jerusalem (Agenzia Fides) - The Jordanian government has also deplored the arson attack perpetrated on Friday 4 December in Jerusalem against the Basilica of the Agony, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Ambassador Daif ...