Apr 22, 2019 - 08:03 am .- Local media reported scenes of panic and confusion April 22, as crowds fled the area after what has been described as a “small explosion.” Local police later confirmed the blast was the controlled destruction of a suspect item found in a nearby van.

Apr 21, 2019 - 12:40 pm .- Religious and civil leaders have responded with condolences, prayer, and calls for justice after several explosions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka killed more than 200 people and injured hundreds more on Easter Sunday.

Apr 21, 2019 - 01:45 am .- At least 200 people were killed in explosions Easter morning, detonated in churches and hotels across Sri Lanka. Hundreds more are reportedly injured

Apr 19, 2019 - 04:48 pm .- While the Stations of the Cross are a worldwide Lenten devotion for Catholics, the faithful in Vietnam have an additional practice that blends ancient traditional chants with Catholic prayer and meditation on the Crucifixion.

Apr 15, 2019 - 11:15 am .- More than twenty journalists in Australia faced court charges Monday over breach of a court gag order in the case of Cardinal George Pell.

Apr 15, 2019 - 11:08 am .- Government-run social media and facial recognition technology are being used to help monitor and detain Muslims in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Apr 13, 2019 - 06:01 am .- Catholic bishops in Japan have said they will investigate reports of clergy sex abuse of minors dating back at least as far as 20 years, and they believe many victims might still be reluctant to come forward.

Apr 11, 2019 - 04:39 pm .- South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled an abortion ban in the country to be unconstitutional, receiving mixed responses from Korean citizens.

Apr 10, 2019 - 04:03 pm .- Australia's high court on Wednesday threw out cases brought by pro-life activists challenging “buffer zone” laws in Victoria and Tasmania that bar any protests within 150 meters (nearly 500 feet) of a clinic or hospital that performs abortions.

Apr 10, 2019 - 11:09 am .- A pro-life doctor in South Korea is asking the international community for prayers, as the country’s constituional court considers whether to overturn its national abortion ban April 11.

Apr 9, 2019 - 05:04 pm .- Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur, India has been charged with raping a nun nine times over a two-year period and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, local authorities announced today.

Apr 9, 2019 - 04:01 pm .- Indonesia's Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Buddhist woman who was convicted of blasphemy for complaining about the volume of a local mosque's call to worship.

Apr 8, 2019 - 02:15 pm .- The bishop accused of serially raping a nun could face criminal charges this week, as Indian police say they will ask a court to charge him with rape, evidence tampering, and menacing his accuser.

Apr 6, 2019 - 12:00 am .- The sexual abuse of minors is “a deep and sorrowful shame,” Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes has said after Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron’s conviction in a church court, adding that the Church on Guam must “ensure that the horrible harm inflicted to the innocent is never repeated.”  

Apr 3, 2019 - 06:01 pm .- Brunei implemented Wednesday a sharia penal code that punishes such crimes as adultery, sodomy, rape, and blasphemy of Muhammad with the death penalty.

Apr 1, 2019 - 04:20 pm .- Guangzhou, the capital of China's Guangdong province, is offering to pay citizens in exchange for information on “illegal religious groups” as the Communist Party of China continues to crack down on all forms of religious activity.

Mar 25, 2019 - 06:01 pm .- Wang Yi and more than 100 members of his congregation were detained in China's Sichuan province in early December. Some were released the next day, but then put under house arrest. Wang, his wife, and nearly 10 others remain in detention, charged with inciting subversion.

Mar 20, 2019 - 11:00 am .- The parliament of the Australian state of Victoria is considering a proposal to end the convention of beginnings daily sessions with the Our Father. The prayer has been a fixture of proceedings for more than a century.

Mar 18, 2019 - 05:01 pm .- The Catholic Church in Australia is calling for an increase to the minimum wage in the country, saying that it will help lift families out of poverty.

Mar 15, 2019 - 10:30 am .- The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference released a statement of solidarity with the country’s Muslim population following terrorist attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch. At least 49 people were killed in a mass shooting on March 15.