BANGKOK (SE): Ordinations to the priesthood in Thailand may be rare enough, but over the weekend of July 8 and 9 there was a first for the Church in the Land of Smiles when Reverend John Phong Phan Wongarsa was ordained a priest under the title of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in his home parish of the Holy Family in Ban Nong Khu.
 

TOKYO (Agencies): Japanese authorities confirmed on April 4 the identity of a 17th century Italian Catholic missionary priest, Father Giovanni Battista Sidotti, whose remains were discovered in 2014 during excavations for an apartment building.

Vatican Radio reported on April 6 that he is known as the last missionary martyr to Japan.

SEOUL (SE): Five priests from the archdiocese from Seoul in South Korea were commissioned to take up missionary appointments overseas by the archbishop of the capital city,  Andrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung on March 10.