Asia

A delegation of Buddhists from Mongolia pays its first official visit to the Vatican 30 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Mongolian government. An interview with the head of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar highlights a positive and collaborative relationship.

On Tuesday, Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, made a court appearance and pled not guilty to charges that led to his arrest earlier this month, saying in a Mass later in the day that Christians must “steel themselves” for defending the faith.

Since it was banned by the Soviet Union, it is no surprise that 30 percent of the members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church live outside Ukraine. Now, looking at his country from afar, the Ukrainian bishop in Australia says he often “can’t sleep” because his family is back home.

Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang was arrested May 21, 2021, reported ucanews.com. A day earlier, police arrested 10 priests and an unknown number of seminarians from a Catholic seminary in the diocese that was set up in an abandoned factory building.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and several others pleaded not guilty in a Hong Kong court to charges of failing to properly register a now-defunct fund to help anti-government protesters.

As the new Australian Labor prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is sworn into office, Catholic organizations offer their congratulations and urge him to put compassion and justice at the heart of governance.

Pope Francis on Sunday expressed his spiritual closeness to Catholics in China, voicing hope that the church there operates in “freedom and tranquility,’’ but making no mention of a 90-year-old cardinal who was recently arrested in Hong Kong.

Archbishop Peter Machado says a new anti-conversion law in the Indian state of Karnataka could “become a tool for the fringe elements to take law into their own hands.”

One of Asia’s top Catholic cardinals said the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen is a cause of concern “about the situation for human rights and threats to religious freedom in Hong Kong.”

Cardinal Zen had been arrested by the Chinese authorities on charges of "colluding with foreign forces" as administrator of a fund supporting pro-democracy protesters by covering legal and medical expenses. Authorities released the Cardinal yesterday on bail.

The U.S. State Department has condemned the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen and others by Hong Kong police on May 11, as the latest example that the city’s authorities “will pursue all means necessary to stifle dissent and undercut protected rights and freedoms.”

Hong Kong's national security police have detained Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, along with former opposition lawmaker Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and singer Denise Ho Wan-sze, for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.

Pope Francis appeals for the people of Sri Lanka to make their voices heard in a peaceful way and for political leaders to heed their demands, as protests turn violent killing several people.

Religious leaders called on the Sri Lankan government to reconsider the state of emergency and not restrict people's rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.

Australian bishops elected Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe as the new president of the conference and re-elected Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher vice president.

The newly created Catholic Bishops' Conference of Central Asia elected Spanish-born Bishop José Luis Mumbiela Sierra of the Diocese of the Holy Trinity in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as its first president.

Although the world knows that the Dalai Lama lives in exile and is the face of Chinese repression in Tibet, and the media has shone a light on the persecution suffered by the Uyghurs in the Muslim region of Xinjiang, the “relentless, albeit silent, control” Christians suffer in China also deserves attention, according to experts speaking in Rome.

Monsignor Marco Sprizzi, chargé d'affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature in Timor-Leste hopes the country under the new president will maintain and build further ties with the Holy See for the common good.

Victims of the gruesome 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka gathered in Rome this week alongside local church leaders to seek support from the pope and to call for justice and an independent inquiry into who is responsible.

Greenpeace has joined hands with young people in the Philippines to deliver “love letters” to presidential candidates in next month’s elections, calling on them to ensure “climate justice and climate action”.