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A long-running liturgical dispute in India’s Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church based in southern Kerala state refuses to die despite a recent change in Church leadership. Last Sunday, most priests from the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese refused to read out the first pastoral letter of the new Church head Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil.

Only 12 of the 328 parishes in the archdiocese, which is the seat of power of the Church, followed the instructions. The priests who read out the letter during Sunday services skipped the part related to the liturgy dispute.

Catholics burn the circular of Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the Apostolic Administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, on June 25, 2023, in front of St Mary's Cathedral Basilica in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The liturgy dispute in the archdiocese continues with priests refusing to read out the pastoral letter from their new Major Archbishop on March 10. (Photo: supplied)

The priests said their defiance of the order was a protest against Thattil’s failure to resolve the dispute. Thattil replaced former Church head Cardinal George Alencherry in January.

Alencherry resigned last December following years of controversy and unrest in the archdiocese stemming from his alleged role in selling off church land that reportedly incurred a loss of $10 million US dollars. He was also accused of reviving the liturgy dispute dating back five decades to deflect attention from the land scandal.

The governments of Cambodia and the United States have decided to resume their search for American soldiers killed during the Vietnam War. The search was suspended for one year on the orders of former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The decision was made public in a statement published by Cambodia’s official Agence Kampuchea Presse on Tuesday. It followed a meeting between Prime Minister Hun Manet and Ann Mills-Griffiths, chief executive officer for the League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia.

US servicemen drape the American flag over one of six coffins containing the possible remains of US servicemen that are missing in action (MIA) from the Vietnam War, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 4, 1995. (Photo: AFP)

The organization has been backing the search program for the past 32 years. More than 40 American servicemen are listed as Missing in Action in Cambodia and the remains of another 42 have been returned.

A further 1,500 are still missing in Vietnam and some have been classified as “non-recoverable.”

Philippine vice-president Sara Duterte has backed a controversial pastor accused of financial and sexual crimes and listed as a fugitive in the wanted list of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte issued a statement on Monday to support 73-year-old Apollo Quiboloy, the founder of Kingdom of Jesus Christ sect.

In a video posted on social media, Quiboloy laid out 17 conditions to show up for a Senate investigation into his alleged crimes.

Apollo Quiboloy (fifth from left) who is on the FBI's most wanted list and is facing allegations of sexual abuse and human trafficking, has been spotted recently at a social gathering with former President Rodrigo Duterte, weeks after announcing that he has gone into hiding. (Photo: Impact Leadership Facebook page)

Among his demands are revealing identities of witnesses, the right to personally cross-examine the witnesses, covering all expenses including food, five-star hotel accommodation, dietary requirements, safe landing and departure of his private jet, attendance of his 50 private guards and a guarantee to prove that the US and Philippine governments are not conspiring to kidnap and assassin him.

He was accused of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking including of children, and bulk cash smuggling by FBI before fleeing the US in 2018. 

Myanmar military kept a Baptist Christian pastor and 16 youths in custody days after arresting them during a raid on a shelter camp in violence-hit Kachin state. The arrests followed intense fighting in the northern state on the Chinese border where many ethnic Christians live.

Sources said the soldiers fired shots before they raided the Baptist Church-run Robert camp last Sunday and singled out 17 individuals for arrest. The camp houses some 3,300 people, including children, who fled their homes following violence that began in 2011.

A woman sits next to a cat in front of her damaged house following fighting between Myanmar's military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Shan state on Feb. 4. (Photo: AFP)

The ongoing fighting between the military and Kachin rebels reportedly left thousands trapped in conflict-torn areas in the state. Kachin state is home to 116,000 Catholics in a population of 1.7 million.

Prominent Kachin Baptist leader Dr. Hkalam Samson was arrested in December 2022 on terrorism and unlawful association charges. He is serving a six-year jail term.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with the country’s religious leaders on Tuesday to seek their support in tackling civil issues and fulfilling reform tasks in the healthcare sector.