With the opening of the Holy Year in all parishes on the 24th of last month, the Catholic Church in the Arabian Peninsula marked the martyrdom of Saint Arethas and his other companions who are venerated today in all Catholic and Orthodox churches in the region.
Religious tensions could potentially escalate in the Muslim-majority nation of Malaysia with the formation of a new coalition government that includes a fundamentalist political party. This new scenario brings to mind the past tussle over the use of the word “Allah,” which nonetheless ended beneficially for the Christians.