Asia

• 26 February 2015
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Military offensive in Mindanao; the Bishop in Basilan: "For peace, sincerity is needed" Basilan (Agenzia Fides) - There is no peace in Mindanao. After the massacre in Mamapasano, on 25 January, in the southern Philippines, armed forces have launched a military offensive against fighters of the "Bangsamoro I ...
• 25 February 2015
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - New Amnesty Report: "Religious intolerance increases" Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - "In 2014 intolerance and discrimination on religious and ethnic grounds increased in Pakistan, with the complicity of the authorities or lack of measures to combat it": says the new 2014-2015 ...
• 25 February 2015
  ASIA - Maimed because of the war, many disabled forgotten in Nepal and Sri Lanka Mannar (Agenzia Fides) - Decades of war have seen a proliferation of problems of all sorts in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Among these, people with disabilities are the most vulnerable and neglected in both Countries. The Minist ...
• 25 February 2015
  ASIA/SYRIA - Christian villages attacked: more than 100 hostages in the hands of the jihadists; Archbishop Hindo denounces the "wretched" choices of the West Hassakè (Agenzia Fides) - There are between 120 and 140 Assyrian Christians held hostage by jiahdists of the Islamic State who in the night between Sunday 22 and Monday, February 23 launched a large-scale attack against ...
• 25 February 2015
  ASIA/INDIA - Release of kidnapped priest: the Church thanks the Prime Minister New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - The Archbishop of Delhi, His Exc. Mgr. Anil Couto, has publicly thanked the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his commitment in the release of the Indian Jesuit Fr. Alexis Prem Kumar, wh ...
• 24 February 2015
  ASIA/SYRIA - Islamic State jihadists attack Christian villages along the river Khabur Hassakè (Agenzia Fides) – In the early hours of yesterday morning, Monday 23 February, more than 40 pick-up vehicles carrying jihadist militia of the so-called Islamic State (IS) attacked several Christian villages al ...
• 24 February 2015
  ASIA/INDIA - The government of India does not intend to pass any anti-conversion law New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) – The Indian government will never approve the controversial “ghar wapsi”, ceremonies of “reconversion” to Hinduism, organised by Hindu extremists, which in recent months have involved ...
• 24 February 2015
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Bishops issue “Oratio imperata” for peace in Mindanao Manila (Agenzia Fides) – The Bishops of the Philippines have launched an Oratio Imperata for peace in Mindanao. Aware of the difficult moment the country is living following the massacre on 25 January in Mamasapano, o ...
• 24 February 2015
  ASIA/IRAQ – Courses to start soon at Erbil Catholic University Erbil (agenzia Fides) – The year 2015 is to be the year when the first courses start at the Catholic University in Erbil, a college strongly desired by the Chaldean Catholic Church also as a form of tangible assistanc ...
• 24 February 2015
  ASIA/INDONESIA – Lay volunteers experience Mission on the Island of Flores Maumere (Agenzia Fides) – From 13 January to 9 February “Volunteers of West Lessinia” lived an important experience of missionary work on the remote Island of Flores in Indonesia. “The charisma were many and dive ...
• 23 February 2015
  ASIA/AFGHANISTAN - Release of Indian Jesuit held hostage for eight months Kabul (Agenzia Fides) – Fr. Alexis Prem Kumar, Indian Jesuit taken hostage in Afghanistan (see Fides 3/6/2014), has been released after eight months in captivity : Fides was informed by the JRS , Jesuit Refugee Servic ...
• 23 February 2015
  ASIA/LEBANON - Syrian-Catholic Patriarch opens centenary commemoration of the Assyrian genocide Beirut (Agenzia Fides) – Syrian-Catholic Patriarch Mar Ignace Youssef III opened commemorations to mark the centenary of the Assyrian Genocide, presiding in the evening of Saturday 21 February a liturgical celebration ...
• 23 February 2015
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Robbery and kidnapping in a Catholic church Kasur (Agenzia Fides) – Three armed men openly entered Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic church in Bhai Pheru, Kasur district, in Punjab, taking church personnel including the assistant parish priest Fr. Ijaz Bashir a ...
• 21 February 2015
  ASIA/CHINA – Visits to the elderly and the poor, thanksgiving to God: Chinese Catholics celebrate New Year Beijing (Agenzia Fides) – Home visits to poor families, to lonely elderly and sick persons, Catholics and non ; carrying the sacraments to faithful unable to reach the church; community prayer meetings of thanksgiving ...
• 20 February 2015
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES – In the Year of the Poor, Lent is a favourable time for solidarity Manila (Agenzia Fides) – In the Year of the Poor, Lent is a favourable time for solidarity, it is an opportunity to help persons in difficulty, a time for “being a good neighbour”: this was said by the Archbishop ...