In Malaysia, the Gospel has been attracting more and more young people and adults, who, after reading the sacred texts, seek baptism, thus embracing Christianity. Several official statements from the local Church have informed us that the Catholic community in Malaysia received – during the Easter Vigil of 2025 alone– more than 2,000 new faithful: 1,047 in Peninsular Malaysia and an equivalent number in the Malaysian provinces of Borneo.
I first encountered Father Jorge Bergoglio during my novitiate in 1981, in San Miguel, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. Our Dehonian novitiate was located near the Colegio Máximo, where young Jesuits on formation, studied theology. At that time, Father Bergoglio was the rector of the institution. He had previously served as the novice master from 1972 to 1973, and after six years as provincial superior, he returned as formator of young Jesuits. Father Jorge Bergoglio helped young men grow in Ignatian spirituality as a mentor, guiding them in discerning God’s will, fostering solidarity with the poor, embracing simplicity, the life of poverty and obedience to God’s will.
A grand celebration marked the seventeenth anniversary of the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ in Buenos Aires, an institution founded when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was Archbishop of the city. This happened in 2008, at a time when the presence of priests in the poorest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, the so-called Villas Miseria, had already been spreading for some time. Known as curas villeros, these clergymen actively participate in the lives of the poorest, caring first-hand for the great needs they face and sharing this commitment with others, thus becoming the center of communities that were born and multiplied.
Read by an increasingly broad and diverse audience around the world, Japanese manga has long held an enormous fascination among young and old alike. In addition to the unusual superhero adventures, this peculiar type of comic book, conceived in its own format, also portrays stories of ordinary men and women. In this way, countless episodes of Japanese history have been transmitted to school-age children; and now, the trend seems to extend to a type of character who, even under fierce persecution, remained firm in their faith in Christ: we are talking about the so-called Japanese “hidden Christians”. A phenomenon that originated in the 17th century, when Christianity – introduced with immense success in the Japanese archipelago a century earlier, thanks to the continued work of missionaries from the Portuguese Patronage of the East – was expressly prohibited, with all missionaries present there being ordered to be expelled. Many of them, for refusing this order, would later be martyred, and, even under torture, they never renounced their faith.
Patriarchs of three indigenous Churches historically rooted in Syria signed a joint appeal to stop the “horrible massacres” perpetrated in recent days in several provinces of the country by jihadist militias, with a particularly serious impact on the communities of the Alawite minority. They denounce an “escalation of violence that has led to attacks against innocent civilians, including women and children.”
The seventh edition of the ‘Asian Mission’ initiative, which this year had as its motto “prepared for the mission; prepared for peace” was comemorated last February. This Catholic event brought together 50 participants, including eight young people from Japan, five from South Korea (more specifically from the diocese of Daejon), and the rest from the Philippine parishes of Nampicuan, San Fabian and Malasiqui, with 30 of these young people being part of the group ‘Servants Missionary Youth’.
The Holy Year celebrations of the Archdiocese of Jakarta coincide with the launching of the “Kabar Baik” (“Good News”) initiative. The newly created Catholic platform is dedicated to evangelization and the dissemination of religious content in the Bahasa language. The “Kabar Baik” platform aims in particular to inspire Catholic journalists to make the main messages of Pope Francis’ magisterium accessible and disseminated to a wider audience.
The Church in the Vicariate of South Arabia is basically a ‘Church of migrants’ whose members share a common experience: this unpleasant feeling that something fundamental is missing in their daily lives, be it their homeland or the presence of loved ones. However, this seemingly negative perception must be seen first and foremost as an opportunity to open ourselves to one another and, at the same time, to bring to light the source and dynamism of Christian hope, “a hope that does not disappoint us because it is rooted in the love of Christ, an irrevocable love, a love that lasts forever”, as the Franciscan Capuchin Bishop Paolo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of South Arabia, writes in a pastoral letter addressed to the Catholic communities of the Vicariate of Southern Arabia – Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
For the untouchable caste of southern India, known as Dalits, this Jubilee Year represents renewed hope in the recognition of their human dignity and another attempt to break the spiral of discrimination and exclusion to which they are usually subjected. Perhaps during this Jubilee period, they could try to counter the caste mentality embedded in Indian culture and seize the opportunities that may arise within society and the Church, on an equal footing with other citizens. At least, this is the opinion of Franciscan priest Fr. Nithya Sagayam OFM Cap, secretary of the Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCST) of the Catholic Bishops’ Council of Tamil Nadu.
On the 25th anniversary of Ecclesia in Asia, Father Dinh Anh Nhue Nguyen reminds us of its continued relevance in addressing the challenges of the Asian Church. Rooted in humility and cultural respect, this Apostolic Exhortation calls the Church to embrace a missionary identity that listens, dialogues, and promotes hope amidst diversity.
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