Asia - Pacific News

Hong Kong media tycoon and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai.

Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty in Hong Kong national security trial

Jan 2, 2024

By Daniel Payne

Lai’s trial in Hong Kong began last month, launching what is expected to be a protracted legal exhibition capping several... Read more

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts a Christmas gathering with Christian leaders, including Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai and Delhi Archbishop Anil Couto, at his residence in New Delhi on Dec. 25, 2023.

India’s Modi hosts Christian leaders for Christmas amid rising persecution

Dec 29, 2023

By Anto Akkara

“Christmas is an occasion to remember Jesus Christ’s life’s message and values,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, addressing Christian leaders. Read more

More than 4,000 faithful attended the celebration of the Christmas Mass at the St. George Parish in the suburb of Edappally, India.

Papal Christmas deadline over Syro-Malabar rift is met, but Indian archdiocese simmers

Dec 28, 2023

By Anto Akkara

Protests and disruptions to “unified” Masses mandated by the pope were observed around the archdiocese, but it remains if there... Read more

Cardinal Thomas Aquinas Manyo Maeda of Osaka, Japan.

Catholic Church reportedly closer to getting its first samurai saint

Dec 23, 2023

By Peter Pinedo

The Vatican is currently investigating miracles associated with the intercession of Blessed Justus Ukon Takayama. Read more

Bishop Louis Mascarenhas of Allahabad greets Father Babu Francis at the gate of Naini jail in Prayagraj district with a bouquet of flowers.

Indian priest jailed under ‘anti-conversion’ laws is released

Dec 22, 2023

By Anto Akkara

Father Babu Francis was detained by the police on Oct. 1 after he sought information on the arrest and detention... Read more

A liturgy at St. Mary’s Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church, Arakuzha, India.

Dissenting priests in Syro-Malabar Church protest Pope Francis’ Christmas deadline 

Dec 20, 2023

By Anto Akkara

Tensions have risen in the Eastern Catholic Church in the Indian state of Kerala as the deadline approaches to implement... Read more

Jonathan Price, a member of Jimmy Lai's international legal team, appears on “EWTN News Nightly” with host Tracy Sabol on Dec. 19, 2023.

Jimmy Lai unlikely to receive a fair trial from Hong Kong judges, lawyer says

Dec 20, 2023

By Daniel Payne

Catholic democracy activist Jimmy Lai was arrested in August 2020 under that year’s controversial national security law. Read more

Hong Kong media tycoon and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai.

Congressional commission urges sanctions if Hong Kong won’t release Jimmy Lai

Dec 18, 2023

By Tyler Arnold

Jimmy Lai, now 76, has been imprisoned for three years in a maximum security prison, charged with a variety of... Read more

Oura Church in Nagasaki, Japan.

Catholicism and martyrdom in Japan: Church marks 400 years since Edo massacre

Dec 17, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

The small but devout Catholic community in Japan is built upon the witness of untold numbers of martyrs. Read more

Catholics celebrate Christmas Mass at the Nativity of Our Lady Church on Dec. 24, 2019, in Macau, China.

Christian population shrinking in China amid ‘crackdown’

Dec 15, 2023

By Zelda Caldwell

This finding, human rights activists told CNA, is not surprising given the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts in recent years to... Read more

The offertory at the installation Mass for the new Archbishop of Imphal Archdiocese, Linus Neli, on Dec. 8, 2023..

More than 10,000 Indian Catholics welcome new archbishop in conflict-torn Manipur

Dec 11, 2023

By Anto Akkara

More than 10,000 Catholics from across the state of Manipur attended the Dec. 8 installation of the new archbishop of... Read more

Cardinal George Alencherry preaches at St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, Ernakulam, India, on Palm Sunday 2021.

Pope Francis accepts resignation of head of Syro-Malabar Church, Cardinal Alencherry

Dec 7, 2023

By Daniel Payne

Pope Francis on Thursday accepted the resignation of Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, based in... Read more

Father Caleb Laldawngsanga leads refugees from violence-torn Manipur in the praying of a rosary.

Refugees of ethnic clash in India find open arms in majority-Christian state

Dec 6, 2023

By Anto Akkara

“We are grateful to God [that] we are safe here,” said Mercy Tungdian, who now lives with her three small... Read more

Military personnel stand guard at the entrance of a gymnasium while police investigators (background) look for evidence after a bomb attack at Mindanao State University in Marawi in the southern Philippines on Dec. 3, 2023.

Pope Francis prays for victims of bombing of Catholic Mass in the Philippines

Dec 4, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Dec. 3 blast in a university gymnasium. Read more

Military personnel stand guard at the entrance of a gymnasium while police investigators look for evidence after a bomb attack at a Catholic Mass at Mindanao State University in Marawi, Lanao del sur province in the southern Philippines on Dec. 3, 2023. At least three people were killed and seven wounded, officials said.

At least three killed in explosion during Mass on Philippine campus

Dec 3, 2023

By Shannon Mullen

Authorities are investigating whether Islamic insurgents were responsible for the blast. Read more

This photo taken on October 12, 2014, shows the exterior of a church in Loikaw, Kayah state, eastern Myanmar.

Catholic cathedral complex bombed, bishop flees with refugees in worsening Myanmar civil war

Nov 29, 2023

By Peter Pinedo

The pastoral center of Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, Myanmar, was bombed on Nov. 26 and occupied by the... Read more

This work of art was displayed at St. Peter's on the occasion of the Vatican's Celebration of the Canonization of 117 Vietnamese Martyrs on July 19, 1988.

St. Andrew Dung-Lac and companions: vanguards of the faith in a time of persecution

Nov 24, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

On Nov. 24, the Church remembers and honors St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions, a group of 117 martyrs who... Read more

World Youth Day pilgrims in Panama City from the Archdiocese of Seoul.

Archbishop to invite young North Koreans to next World Youth Day in Seoul

Nov 23, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick shared this week that he plans to invite a youth delegation from North Korea to the... Read more

Jimmy Lai at a Hong Kong protest.

Hong Kong lawmaker blasts Catholic bishops’ petition for release of Jimmy Lai 

Nov 21, 2023

By Matthew Santucci

“I advise those religious leaders to know when to quit, or else they will have a heavy price to pay,”... Read more

Archbishop Li Shan of Beijing, president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the state-managed Catholic organization in mainland China controlled by the CCP’s United Front Work Department.

China’s top patriotic bishop stresses unity, sinicization to guide evangelization

Nov 20, 2023

By Matthew Santucci

After a three-day visit to Hong Kong, Archbishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing stressed the importance of building unity. Read more