An Indian Catholic nun, Sister Prasanna Devi, who inspired both Christians and Hindus with her ascetic way of life in a forest died in the western state of Gujarat.

She was 88 and for the past nine years, was living in the presbytery of the Junagadh parish as she had no one to take care of her. She had lived for over four decades in an isolated hut inside a dense forest at the nearby Girnar mountain range, among leopards, Asiatic Lions and other wild animals, until a fall in 2014 compelled her to leave.

Sister Prasanna Devi. (Photo supplied)

The nun had many Hindu and Jain followers who considered her a goddess and would address her as mother.

She was around 40 when she set up her own hermitage inside the forest and began to live alone, clad in saffron-colored clothes, a sign of renunciation among Hindu sages and ascetics.

Thousands of victims of a major fire in the Philippines were forced to beg on the streets due to lack of food and water at the evacuation centers. The victims alleged lack of government support and complained that the amount of aid including potable water and dried food was insufficient, forcing victims to compete with each other.

The fire in Davao City in Mindanao region engulfed about 1,200 houses last Saturday, leaving some 5,000 residents homeless. An electric spark from a socket was allegedly blamed for the accident.

Victims of the major fire in a coastal town along Piapi Boulevard in Davao City in Mindanao region seen here at a shelter camp. (Photo: Kint Sodinia)

The victims have been suffering from problems with ventilation, as the tents are erected beside each other with no electric plugs for fans. Some of the victims are accommodated in basketball courts and are exposed to hostile weather conditions.

Fire accidents are common in the Philippines. Local media reported that the country registers an average of 15,000 fire accidents, about 855 injuries, and 250 deaths every year. 

A recent survey found that Catholicism is the most trusted religion in South Korea. This was revealed in the "2023 Korean Church Social Trust Survey" conducted this January by G&Com Research on behalf of the Christian Ethics Practice Movement among 1,000 men and women over 19 years of age.

About 21.4 percent of respondents had more trust in Catholicism in comparison to other religions in the country. Protestantism came second with 16.5 percent of respondents supporting it, while Buddhism occupied the third spot with 15.7 percent.

Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul Archdiocese celebrates a memorial Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral to mark the 112th death anniversary of Catholic patriot Ahn Jung-geun on March 26, 2022. (Photo; Seoul Archdiocese)

High-income respondents trusted Catholicism the most, while low-income respondents trusted Protestantism more. However, in comparison to the 2020 data, the overall reliability of religious groups had declined in the country.

According to official data, about 50 percent of Koreans follow no religion, some 15 percent follow Buddhism and about 30 percent follow Christianity, making it the most followed organized religion.

Japan is facing a demographic challenge amid an ongoing drop in birth rates. In 2022, about 800,000 less children were born, the lowest since 1899 when the country began recording the demographic data. The birth rate is 5.1 percent lower than the previous year and continues a seven-year decline.

Isozaki Yoshihiko, deputy chief cabinet secretary of Japan termed fewer children and the lower birth rate as very critical situation. He said the government would double the budget to promote activities towards increasing the birth rate in the economic policy to be tabled in the parliament in June.

This picture taken on March 16, 2019, shows life-size dolls depicting a family sitting in front of a house in the tiny village of Nagoro in western Japan, where life-sized dolls outnumber humans 10 to one, the product of a bid to counter the emptiness and loneliness felt in the village, like many other places in the nation decimated by depopulation. (Photo: AFP)

According to the latest data the birth rate in Japan is at 1.3 children per woman during her lifetime which is below the required rate of 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain the current population size.

In contrast, Japan has a rising elderly population and is already known as a “super aged society.”

The authorities in Macau started an environmental-friendly way of burying the ashes of the dead amid a rise in mortality.

The Institute of Municipal Affairs of Macau is starting a service where families can avail of “free of charge” funeral service at Sá Kong Cemetery Memorial Garden in Taipa. The families can deposit the ashes of their loved ones in the Memorial Garden.

Catholic graves in the mountain cemetery above Cigu church, Yunnan, China. The authorities in Macau started eco-friendly burying of ashes in a cemetery free of charge. (Photo: catholicsandcultures.org)

The ashes are to be initially placed in a biodegradable bag, to be buried in a hole in the garden. This hole is then covered with earth and the ashes over time mix with nature. In the garden, the families also have tombstones where they can put names of the buried family members.

The garden has 400 holes available and after some time, these can be reused to deposit more ashes of other deceased people. The eco-friendly burial comes as Macau recorded 2,992 deaths in 2022, the highest since 1970. The rate is 30 percent higher compared to 2019.

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has indicated that his government will continue to use the courts to silence dissent after he refused to accept an apology from Son Chhay, vice-president of the opposition Candlelight Party.

Chhay lost a final appeal against a defamation conviction last Thursday. He was ordered to pay 1 million US dollars in damages to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party led by Hun Sen, after he claimed that “votes were bought and stolen” at last year’s commune elections.

Son Chhay, Vice President of the Candlelight Party, speaks to media representatives in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal court on Oct. 7, 2022. (Photo: AFP)

Government mouthpiece Fresh News released an apology written by Son Chhay before the court ruling. Hun Sen, who has been prime minister of Cambodia since 1985, did not accept the apology and vowed to end “the culture of defamation and insults.”

Under the authoritarian Hun Sen regime, opposition leaders and members have been arrested, charged with defamation, and convicted for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government. World Justice Project ranks Cambodia as the second worst in the Rule of Law Index 2022.

The Anglican and Catholic Churches in Sri Lanka have urged the government not to postpone local government elections following mass protests and violence in the bankrupt South Asian country.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in the capital Colombo last Sunday as protests erupted in several parts of the country against the decision to postpone local elections.

Police fire tear gas to disperse activists of the opposition National People’s Power (NPP) party during a protest held to urge the government to hold local council election as scheduled in Colombo on Feb. 26. (Photo: Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP)

Two Anglican bishops issued a statement calling on the government to stick to democracy and said the country "is now under a dictatorship." Last month, the government postponed the elections saying the country has no money to conduct the polls amid a massive economic crisis.

Millions have been struggling badly due to shortages of fuel, food, medicines, and cooking gas. Last year, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled and resigned due to protests in the country. Earlier, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said postponing the local elections is an anti-democratic action.

The Vatican established diplomatic ties with the Sultanate of Oman, which many see as part of the Church's widening links with Muslim-majority Arab nations.

In a statement last week, the Vatican said its full diplomatic ties with Oman aim at “promoting mutual understanding and further strengthening friendship and cooperation.” The Holy See and Oman expressed the conviction “that establishment of diplomatic relations serves the common interests” of both nations.

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia (left) and Oman Ambassador Mohammed Al Hassan. (Photo: Vatican News)

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations, and Mohammed Al-Hassan, ambassador extraordinary of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations, signed the agreement in New York City.

The territory of Oman is part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, with headquarters in Abu Dhabi, entrusted to the pastoral care of Capuchin Archbishop Paolo Martinelli. Oman has four Catholic parishes, 12 priests, and about 55,000 Catholics, most of them migrants from Asian countries like the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Asian Church leaders have concluded their continental-level preparations for making the Church more participatory by discussing key questions that have not been sufficiently discussed during lower-level gatherings.

The continental-level gathering that ended on last Sunday in Thai capital Bangkok was the highest preparatory meeting ahead of the Synod on Synodality, which is scheduled to conclude at the Vatican in 2024.

Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) speaks at the closing Mass of the Asian Continental Assembly on Synodality at the Baan Phu Waan (The Sower’s House) Pastoral Training Centre of Bangkok archdiocese on Feb. 26. (Photo: bangkok.synod2023.org)

More than 80 delegates from across Asia gathered for the continental-level preparations. They included representatives from 17 national conferences of bishops and two Synods of Bishops, representing 29 countries, covered by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.

The delegates split into groups and discussed the five most urgent priorities for the continent of Asia, which urgently need to be brought to the first session of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican in October.