According to the Catholic outlet AsiaNews, headquartered in Rome, Bishop Andrea Han Jingtao, 99, a leader in the underground Catholic Church in China, died Dec. 30. Han Jingtao was the underground Bishop of Siping. In his early years growing up in a Catholic family, Han
A Catholic archbishop called Tuesday for renewed prayers for a kidnapped bishop following “misleading” reports about the bishop’s fate. Archbishop Anthony Obinna urged “all Christ’s faithful and people of goodwill” to disregard reports that kidnappers had killed Bishop Moses Chikwe. A Dec. 29 statement issued on Obinna’s
The bishops of Nigeria have urged prayer for the safety and release of a Nigerian Catholic bishop who was abducted Sunday in Owerri, the capital of Nigeria’s Imo State. Bishop Moses Chikwe “is said to have been kidnapped in the night of Sunday 27 December
China continues to occupy headlines across the globe, but party officials within the Great Wall have taken little, if any, heed of international opinion. Media reports vary from anxious predictions of China’s economic rise to critical descriptions of police arrests of anyone who reveals the
Two North Korean families prayed silently on the prison floor—making certain to keep their eyes open. Another detainee, a veteran of Kim Jong-il’s gulag system, asked them if they were afraid. “No,” one of the mothers replied. “Jesus looks over us.” The detainee began to
Bleary, barefoot, apparently numbed by a week of captivity, more than 300 Nigerian schoolboys, freed after being kidnapped in an attack on their school, were welcomed by the governor of Katsina state and Nigeria’s president on Friday. Reunions with their parents began late in the
Christians traveling on buses for Christmas holiday close to the border with Somalia have recently become targets of the Somalian militant group, al-Shabaab. According to Christians in the region, traveling has become a risky endeavor, as the militants have seized buses on remote roads. Locals
Mark MovsesianAfter 45 days of fierce fighting, the Second Karabakh War ended last month with a Russian-brokered ceasefire and an Armenian defeat. As I wrote in October, this war between Armenia and Azerbaijan was a conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenians call by its historical name, Artsakh.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered an investigation into the forced conversion of women and girls from the country’s religious minorities, drawing praise from Christian aid groups. International Christian Concern, a group that advocates for persecuted Christians, said Dec. 3 that many of the
Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Dec 3, 2020 / 05:00 am MT (CNA).- A priest who was kidnapped in Nigeria has been released after being held captive for 10 days. “We thank God for the safe release of our brother, Fr. Matthew Dajo … We thank you
