Church in Asia

Workers of India's tea gardens in the northeastern state of Assam, already stressed for lack of regular wages, found themselves in greater danger as an unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 infections were discovered from three tea estates in Kalain block near the Assam border with Mizoram state.

Children from the Karen tribe in Mazaw village in the parish of Myeik, Mawlamyine diocese, received first communion on May 30.

The Diocese of Dinajpur in Bangladesh ordained five priests at the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier in Dinajpur on June 4.

The Diocese of Mawlamyine in Myanmar was able to ordain two new deacons even in the midst of political crisis in the country.

A member of the Order of Preachers, known as the Dominicans, from Myanmar has been ordained priest in Spain on May 24.

Cardinal Cornelius Sim, the first and only cardinal from Brunei, died while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, on Saturday, May 29.

The Bombay High Court has ordered prison authorities on Friday, May 28, to immediately transfer detained Jesuit priest Stanislaus Lourduswamy, known as Stan Swamy, to a private hospital.

On May 30, Filipinos are urged to pray for the “suffering people of Myanmar and in particular for the Church in Myanmar”

Archbishop Lawrence Subrato Howlader, CSC, has been installed as the new prelate of the Archdiocese of Chattogram in Bangladesh on Saturday, May 22.

A Catholic priest of the Diocese of Pathein in Myanmar died of cerebral ischemia on May 20 at the age of 63.

A Catholic bishop in Myanmar has been leading the faithful in offering nightly prayers for the country starting this week.

Churches in Bangladesh held a virtual ecumenical prayer fellowship for the “healing of the world” on Monday, May 17.

In his keynote address, Bishop Albert Hemrom of Dibrugarh (Assam), NESCOM chairman, stressed the need “to uphold truth in the context of fake news and distorted truth.

Father Baptist Pais, SVD, has been appointed executive secretary to the Commission for Ecumenism of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

A Catholic bishop in Bangladesh called for stories “that help build people’s lives” as the country’s Rajshahi diocese marked World Communications Day on Sunday.

Jesuit priest Stephen Chow Sau-yan, 61, has been named the ninth Catholic bishop of the Chinese special administrative region of Hong Kong on Monday, May 17.

The Church’s social arm Karuna (Caritas) Myanmar has stepped in to provide humanitarian aid as thousands of civilians have been displaced as a result of intense fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin state.

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Shorot Francis Gomes, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka, as the new bishop of the Diocese of Sylhet on Wednesday, May 12.

The Catholic Church in India has offered 60,000 hospital beds and other facilities for the use of COVID-19 patients amid the continuing surge of infections in the country.

Pope Francis prayed for India as the country’s total COVID-19 cases rose by over 400,000 for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday.