Oman

by Dario Salvi | GULF - ISRAEL - IRAN

In a situation that remains “worrying” despite the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, Monsignor Martinelli recalls that “the possibility of dialogue must never be abandoned”. The document on brotherhood is a “response of peace to violence”. Prayer and friendship initiatives at the Abrahamic Family House in the footsteps of St Francis. Places are needed to “experience hope, peace and reconciliation”.

by Dario Salvi

Archbishop Martinelli stresses to AsiaNews the link that makes the declaration signed yesterday in Jakarta and the 2019 text on human fraternity‘different and complementary’. In a world marked by war ‘the danger is getting used to dehumanisation’. Strong ‘symbols’ such as the Tunnel of Friendship or the Abrahamic House are essential. From the Pope also the call to look in depth’ in interreligious dialogue, returning “to the question of God as a fundamental human question”.

| 06/09/2024
| UAE - INDONESIA - VATICAN

Today's news: Police in Laos rescue 17 girls (as young as 10) from sex slavery for Chinese tourists;  UN report denounces "institutionalized" forced labor in North Korea; Six Vietnamese men poisoned in a Bangkok hotel room; Recruitment among ultra-Orthodox begins next week, clashes in Tel Aviv; Hindu group offers prayer for Trump's "health" after attack. 

| 17/07/2024
| ASIA TODAY
by Dario Salvi

The Vicar of Southern Arabia officiated at the inauguration of construction work on a new pastoral centre in Ghala. Msgr. Martinelli: 'For children, young people and adults to grow in the faith'. The sultanate's diplomatic work in a conflict-torn Middle East. There are still steps to be taken in the area of rights and gender equality.

| 09/07/2024
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST

This week, the prelate made his first pastoral visit to the Christian place of worship located in the Abrahamic Family House, which includes also a mosque and synagogue. Dialogue with people of different faiths "is not only desirable, but necessary." The local Christian community is “multi-ethnic and multicultural ever since its origin”. The prelate stressed that bearing witness to the faith "excludes any form of proselytism.”

| 22/06/2024
| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The first World Children's Day is being celebrated over the weekend, at the initiative of the Holy Father. Bishop Martinelli met with a group of children, answering their questions, and inviting them to put "their joy, their enthusiasm" at the service of the Church. About a hundred young people met in Hong Kong to share experiences and expectations.

| 25/05/2024
| ASIA – VATICAN
by Dario Salvi

Bishop Aldo Berardi, head of the vicariate that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, comments on Pope Francis' decision to grant the Syro-Malabar Church jurisdiction over Indian migrants. "This is not a secondary element, it concerns areas that go beyond rituals" and will have to be defined. The problem of places of worship, relations with the State and interlocution with the Muslim world. "Too many voices" can create "confusion".

| 16/05/2024
| GULF - VATICAN - INDIA
Editor's choices
 
by Alessandra De Poli
Four years after the death of the Jesuit who dedicated his life to defending the land rights of India’s indigenous peoples, the Bagaicha centre, which he founded in the State of Jharkhand, continues to fight for the poor. Despite threats and continuous ...
| 05/07/2025
| INDIA
 
In the anniversary of the former British colony's transition to the People's Republic, the Hong Kong Democracy Council takes stock of the repression. Of the 161 convicted, 102 are still serving prison sentences. On 14 August, Jimmy Lai's ...
| 01/07/2025
| HONG KONG
 
by mons. Pierre Suon Hang Ly *
The new coadjutor apostolic vicar of the Cambodian capital, appointed yesterday by Pope Leo, tells AsiaNews about the challenges facing the tiny local Church reborn after the persecution of the Khmer Rouge, who fifty years ago also killed Msgr. Samar, ...
| 29/06/2025
| ECCLESAI IN ASIA
 
by Lisa Bongiovanni
On World Drug Day, a well-known South Korean journalist and former addict, Huh Jae-hyun, spoke out against a short-sighted war on drugs that marginalises rather than reintegrate in society. While local media chase after celebrities accused of drug abuse, ...
| 26/06/2025
| SOUTH KOREA
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
The report drafted for the late pope by a group of economists led by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has been released. The study calls for a new global initiative for the most indebted poor countries but also lays out the rules for fairer finance ...
| 20/06/2025
| VATICAN
 
Maryam Marof Arwin, founder of the Purple Saturdays Movement, spoke to AsiaNews about often inhumane conditions of Afghan refugees in Iran, which got worse following Israel’s recent strikes. At least one Afghan has died so far from an airstrike. ...
| 20/06/2025
| IRAN - AFGHANISTAN
 
by Alessandra De Poli
On 19 June, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Burmese democratic leader will turn 80 in prison, where she has been held since the military coup in February 2021. Despite her enforced silence, her son Kim Aris tells AsiaNews how his mother ...
| 17/06/2025
| MYANMAR
 
by Dario Salvi
The Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan of the Latins tells AsiaNews of his concern over the escalation in recent hours. The cardinal, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis, was appointed by the Pope precisely to keep alive the Christian ...
| 13/06/2025
| IRAN - VATICAN
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”