| PHILIPPINES

The motion filed against the sitting president concerns cooperation with the International Criminal Court, alleged budget irregularities, and failures to manage scandals related to public flood prevention projects. In the background, ongoing legal proceedings continue, including those involving the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, amid tensions within the military, and a deteriorating economic situation.


The invitation starts the Ecumenical Week, whose meditations were prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church this year. As John the Baptist did, the call is not to seek approval and fame at all costs, but to love simple things and sincere words to recognise Jesus.

 

| 18/01/2026
| VATICAN

Established by Pope Gregory XIII on 23 January 1576, it was the first in East Asia in the modern era and played a key role in the region’s evangelisation. St. Joseph's Seminary Church has been  designated as a place of pilgrimage due to a special indulgence granted by the pope for this occasion. “Let the memory of the past become a compass for” today’s mission, writes Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang.

| 18/01/2026
| ECCLESIA IN ASIA
by Stefano Caprio

With the golem mired in the swampy mud of "serving, praying, and giving birth”, it is impossible to trust sociological surveys with increasingly less accessible statistical data. As the rift between Russia’s optimistic majority and a significant pessimistic minority persists, the prevailing view is that "everything will remain as it is today”. Kirill voices an apocalyptic perspective while the fight continues against the "demon" Bartholomew.

 

| 17/01/2026
| RUSSIAN WORLD
by Andrew Law

Three issues dominated online discussions in China at the end of last year, as do discussions about the crises in Venezuela and Iran today, reflecting an awakening in Chinese public opinion and a renewed thirst for the truth, beyond government  propaganda about phoney prosperity.

| 17/01/2026
| CHINA
by Nirmala Carvalho

A tragic case of isolation and indifference in Uttar Pradesh becomes a national issue. Boy cares for 52-year-old mother and, after her death, accompanies her to a post-mortem facility. After his father died of HIV/AIDS, and his mother contracted tuberculosis, the community abandoned them. The boy, who dropped out of school to care for his mother, fears being killed by relatives over his land.

| 17/01/2026
| INDIA
by Santosh Digal

Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo ordained the new deacon yesterday in the cathedral. The latter is the oldest seminarian in the apostolic vicariate. After a first stint as a seminarian, he married and had three children. After his wife's death, he felt the call of the altar again and will soon be a priest.

| 17/01/2026
| PHILIPPINES
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“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”