An official from the National Capital Police Office’s Recovery and Wellness Program said that former addicts are among the 76,800 drug suspects who surrendered to authorities out of fear of being killed during the deadly anti-drug war unleashed by the regime of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Father Flavie Villanueva prays with relatives of drug war victims during a ceremony to exhume their remains at Bagbag Cemetery in Novaliches, Metro Manila on June 10. (Photo: AFP)
Under the government rehabilitation program, drug dependents worked with various sectors of society including the Church to receive spiritual and values formation. The suspects were also taught skills and given livelihood training that they can use once out of rehab.
Rights groups say at least 12,000 people, mostly drug users and low-level drug peddlers, were killed by security forces and armed vigilante groups during the ‘war on drugs.’
While Christmas approaches, the Church in Myanmar remains wounded and displaced as thousands of people are forced to flee their homes, villages are burned, and churches are destroyed amid ongoing conflicts.
Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon expressed his sadness during the homily at the ordination of two fellow Salesians held at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Nazareth Apostolate School in Anesakahan last Thursday. The outspoken cardinal pointed out that only love and reconciliation can bring hope for people amid destruction and suffering.
Cardinal Charles Bo cuts a Christmas cake with Myanmar’s junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Yangon on Dec. 23, 2021. (Photo: AFP)
The appeal by Cardinal Bo came just two weeks after his home village – Mon Hla in the Sagaing region – was raided by the military and homes were set ablaze while at least three civilians were killed.
Amid the escalating violence between the military, anti-coup protesters and ethnic rebels, the junta has targeted various churches and Christian institutes in Christian-majority states. Hundreds have died and thousands have been displaced and sought refuge in churches, relatives’ homes and in the jungle to escape violence.
A Jesuit-run charity in Australia has started a Christmas fundraiser to assist vulnerable families in Cambodia who are struggling amid poverty and hunger.
The Jesuit Mission Australia has urged Catholics to shun traditional gifts this Christmas and instead support the Gifts for Change Program to provide a family in Cambodia with everything they need to start a chicken farm, to give them access to sustainable food and income.
Jesuit Mission Australia is collecting Christmas donations to assist poor Cambodian families to start a chicken farm to overcome poverty and hunger. (Photo: Jesuit Mission Australia)
The chicken farm is one part of a community development program to assist farmers in remote areas to gain knowledge and skills. This year 480 farmers from 18 different remote villages have received support from this project.
According to World Bank, about 17.8 percent of Cambodia’s estimated 17 million people live below the poverty line. The Covid-19 pandemic and an economic meltdown have pushed about 460,000 people into poverty since 2019.
Hong Kong’s Catholic media tycoon and democracy supporter, Jimmy Lai, received a fresh jail sentence of five years and nine months on the charge of fraud in a contractual dispute.
The new sentence against 75-year-old Lai came shortly after he completed a 20-month jail term resulting from convictions related to his support for democracy and freedom in the former British colony. He faces a possible life sentence at his upcoming trial under the repressive national security law.
This file photo taken on Feb. 9, 2021, shows Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai arriving at the Court of Final Appeal to hear a decision on whether he will be granted bail, in Hong Kong. (Photo: AFP)
Lai, the founder of now-defunct, pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, is known as a close ally of Cardinal Joseph Zen, a strong critic of China who has been convicted for failing to register a fund that supported democracy protesters.
Besides the jail term, Lai has also been fined about 257,000 US dollars and banned from managing companies for eight years. He is one of the dozens of pro-democracy activists, politicians and supporters arrested and facing trial in Hong Kong.
Thousands of people with physical disabilities from Vietnam’s Northern provinces gathered for Christmas celebrations in a church center to experience love, solidarity, and unity.
About 5,000 people with disabilities joined the festivities at the Divine Mercy Center at An Lac parish in Thai Binh province in the second week of December. The participants were mostly non-Catholics served by about 1,000 religious and college students.
Thousands of people with physical disabilities attend a special gathering to celebrate Christmas at the Divine Mercy Center in Thai Binh province on Dec 10-11. (Photo: UCA News)
During the gathering, participants listened to talks about a synodal church and marriage, had medical checkups and received medicine, played traditional games for gifts, watched cultural performances, enjoyed meals, received money, and attended a Mass concelebrated by three bishops and joined by 50 priests. They were also given hundreds of wheelchairs.
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