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Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was sworn in as the 17th president of the Philippines June 30, succeeding Rodrigo Duterte.

The National Synodal Cup 2022-23 will be in July and October to coincide with the 15th National Congress of Vietnamese bishops, which is organizing the event. The tournament is designed to foster fraternity among local clergy before the 2023 assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality.

An archbishop is asking for help after floods have devastated parts of Assam, located in Northeastern India.

In his recent interview to the Jesuit review ‘La Civiltà Cattolica’, Pope Francis recalled that, as war continues to rage in Ukraine, many other people across the world are suffering from wars, including Myanmar. The conflict in the Asian country was the focus of the recent General Assembly of the Burmese Bishops, who in the final statement expressed their deep concern for the plight of civilians who bear the brunt of the fighting.

Church leaders in Pakistan are struggling to run parishes and educational institutions as inflation reaches record levels.

After the arrest of several high-profile pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, including Cardinal Joseph Zen, the territory’s new bishop has urged faithful to refrain from “reactive” instincts, and to instead search for God amid the changing social landscape.

The Vatican has accepted the verdict of an Indian court declaring the innocence of a bishop accused of raping a nun, according to the papal representative to the country, who added the bishop’s future “is not in my hands, but with Rome.”

Police arrested a suspect in connection with recent bombings in northeast India, including one at a Catholic school.

Activists called on Sri Lankan authorities not to arrest an activist nun who has supported anti-government protesters.

On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis will travel to Kazakhstan in September for an international interfaith summit that is also expected to draw the participation of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.

Since his election Pope Francis has been described as a pope of firsts, and on Sunday, he unveiled the first Indian cardinal who is a Dalit – the name for the group of people below the traditional Indian caste system, who were formerly called “untouchables” and face widespread discrimination.

On Wednesday morning, the Australian Church distributed a document to the 280 delegates of its nationwide consultation process taking place in July.

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.”