Young people are taking to the streets defending democracy. Violence and arrest by the police. Beijing shows its military power. What future has Hong Kong? In this exclusive interview we talk with Martin Lee, founder of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong. You have founded the Democratic Party of Hong Kong. What is the aim…
Read moreOverseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) take and practice their faith fervently wherever they go, wherever they are. That is why the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines appreciates the role of OFWs as modern day apostles of evangelization in the foreign countries where they work. Mary Jane Soriano, a 25-year-old college graduate Filipino domestic worker, has…
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The 13 May 2019 elections in the Philippines have been correctly seen most of all as a referendum on the Duterte presidency, half way through his mandate. In this regard it was a confirmation, and not only because the opinion polls that accompanied the long-drawn-out results showed that around had 80% preferred the president. The…
Read moreThe tension between the presidency and the ecclesial hierarchy has considerably affected baptised Filipinos. The general elections that brought Rodolfo Duterte to power on 30 June 2016, and this was the choice of the majority of Catholics, have not been substantially rejected by them; on the other hand, the contemporaneous adherence to presidential policies and…
Read moreA small community in an Islamic world. Witness and service to the poorest. “The contribution which the small Christian community can make to pacification and the reconstruction of this country is limited, but the signs of its presence in this land are, in their poverty, still meaningful: the service of the poorest of the poor;…
Read moreBut who is Rodrigo Duterte? A person with a judgemental mentality, partly due to his previous profession as a prosecutor, 74 years old and with a deserved reputation as a womaniser, despite being married with four children. For 24 years – 1998 to 2016 – Rodrigo Duterte, with firmness and almost without interruption, was mayor…
Read moreWith a Catholic population of over 80% of its 100 million inhabitants, the Philippines has a special character. With an identity that is due equally to ancient colonisation from Spain and more recent colonisation by the United States, it is, from the usual Asian viewpoint, an outpost of Westernisation in the Orient. The archipelago, in…
Read moreThe Easter Sunday bombings in and around Sri Lanka’s capital left hundreds dead and injured. In recent years, besides becoming a base for hundreds of foreign fighters, the Indian sub-continent has also become fertile terrain for the expansion of the main Islamist terrorist groups. On 3 September 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the formation of a…
Read moreLove for the people and the youth of ethnic minorities has borne fruit in the form of Caffè Bruno, a new brand of coffee now well known and available throughout Thailand. Chae Hom is a plateau surrounded by mountains and is located in the province of Lampang in the north of the country. Agriculture is…
Read moreIt is now almost five years since the coup d’état that took place in Thailand on 22 May 2014. This year on 24 March, it will hold elections which could have serious consequences for the Country of the Smile, now grim and uncertain, led formally by civil institutions but inflexibly guided by the National Council…
Read moreThe definition of The Maritime Silk Road seems never ending. The initial interest of the Chinese government in their South-East Asian neighbours is being gradually concretised in the form of a series of projects. Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar are the countries most involved. Since its announcement in 2013, the Chinese Maritime Silk Road (MSR) initiative,…
Read moreBangkok seems to be a champion of futuristic architecture but its lights simply overwhelm without removing either its own multiple dark areas or the darkening shadows of the country. The present contingency, with the creation of a speculation bubble, the flight of capital, failed investments, populist policies and the rigidity of a self-referential system which…
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In Burkina Faso, the ‘Mother of the Sahel’ brings education and hope to forcibly displaced children. As conflict forced thousands of children to flee to the…
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As the sun sets over the stony plateau of Mexico, a beautiful white flower opens its corolla among the blade-like thorns of the Cereus Nycticalis: it…
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With the highest percentage of her population made up of youth, Africa is a bed of opportunities for growth and prosperity. The African youth are a…
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