Important political events will mark the Asian panorama in 2019 while the evolution of strategic and economic questions will play a role in regional and global relations. Once again Chine will take the lead. Again in 2019 the gaze of the world will be turned towards China, the economic colossus which, in the second half…
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Brother Karl Gaspar, an award-winning writer, respected socio-anthropologist, theologian, interfaith scholar, and missionary from Davao City shares with us the reasons for his passion for Indigenous Peoples (IP) and his vocational option. “As somebody born in Davao and growing up in parts of Mindanao, I was early on exposed to indigenous peoples who came down…
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Today, Bangladesh is a country in tumultuous growth, afflicted by many problems that for the small local Church and the missionary presences are so many fields for intervention, both in country areas as well as in the capital Dhaka, a metropolis of 15 million inhabitants, containing in its chaos both problems and potential as well…
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Ashulia and the nearby districts of Savar, Tongi and Gazipur on the edge of the metropolitan area of Dhaka, represent the greatest industrial concentration of the country, the heart of the production of textiles, clothes and accessories much of which is destined for the foreign markets of European and US brands. However, they are also…
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The population of Bangladesh is rapidly approaching 170 million, depending on an area of 147,570 square kilometres, large parts of which are subject for their productivity to seasonal variations in the tides and seasonal flooding. After the first dramatic decades following independence in 1971, the country succeeded in bettering its agriculture and rationalising its resources,…
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Geography, demography, history, faith and politics are inextricably intertwined in determining the reality known as Bangladesh. Many positive elements and progress in many areas have marked its journey since independence, but an equal number of elements render difficult a view into its future. The country is mostly a flat area in the combined delta of…
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For the last five years, a retired engineer and his wife have been feeding poor people on the streets almost every week, on Kamias Road in Quezon City. Nobody knows about it – neighbours, family members, and friends. “We do not advertise or brag about it,” Imelda said. “It is our expression of faith or…
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Nearly all major religions of the world were born in Asia. Some characteristics of Asian spirituality – inner journey, search for depth, silence, detachment nonviolence, honesty – show their significance in today’s world. An inward pilgrimage has remained central to the Asian understanding of religion. Spirituality is the removal of all obstacles on this journey…
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Founded in Kerala fifty years ago, the Missionary Society of St Thomas is the first exclusively missionary Institute of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation, at Melampara (in Kerala, India), of the Society of the Missionaries of St. Thomas. Today it has grown to around 350 priests responsible…
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The Tibetan Buddhist leader Dalai Lama remembers a discussion he had with Thomas Merton on how the great religions of the world could learn from each other’s spiritual traditions. In this era of rapid secularisation it has become all the more necessary. It is often in encounter with others that we discover ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi…
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Chinese spiritual outlook made Confucius remind his people of their own inherited ethical convictions. Ethical traditions develop in society in response to the human need for guidance for life together. A spirituality of responsibility reminds us that our fates are interlinked and that we all must be concerned for each other and develop sensitivity for…
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Undoubtedly, nonviolence remains at the heart of Asian spiritual tradition. It is not that Asians are less violent than others, but a longing for peace has clung to their hearts even in the most violent of times. Ahimsa, nonviolence, remains an inspiring theme in Asia among the co-nationals of Buddha and the disciples of Lao…
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Money is what hurts the most. Popovic, the founder of Otpor (Enough), a student movement that played a key role in toppling Serbian dictator Slobodan…
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A long time ago, both thunder and lightning lived on this earth, among all the people. Thunder was an old mother sheep and Lightning was her…
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A faith-based youth apostolate movement, committed to the principles and values of evangelisation, formation, social justice and advocacy, wants to expand in Africa In Africa, the YCS…
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