Using Cantonese opera to evangelize in Hong Kong:

Father Edward Chau King-fun, during his talk in the middle of the concert, identified three qualities common to evangelization and opera singing.

The priest, who is knowledgeable in Chinese culture, said an artist performing onstage and a Christian sharing the Gospel both need "to have a good memory and a loud voice and to be ‘long-winded.’"

Being "long-winded" does not mean one has to be boring or somber, he explained. "It is a daily practice for artists to regulate their breathing and singing, and we all need to maintain a healthy body for our mission."

Helena Law Lan, a well-known Catholic TV personality who also spoke during the concert, said that using Cantonese opera to evangelize is a good idea. She praised Yau, a new Catholic, for using her artistic talent in this manner.

Law later told UCA News that she appreciated the fact that the show was targeted at people from different walks of life. She said she was happy to see the Gospel shared with Cantonese opera fans, especially elderly people who may not be religious practitioners

A new morning in Chile:

Chile began supplying morning-after pills to girls as young as 14 this week under a program that has created an uproar in the politically leftist but socially conservative country, which still outlaws all abortions and legalized divorce only two years ago.

The liberalized contraceptive policy is close to the heart of President Michelle Bachelet, a socialist physician who, when she took office in March as the first woman to serve as Chile’s president, vowed to promote equality between men and women.

"Equality means that for a person who does not have choices, who does not have options, we have to give them these options," Bachelet told the Associated Press at the United Nations last week.

It also echoes a debate between reformers and conservatives across Latin America, where the Catholic Church is a powerful force.

The program provides contraceptives – including the morning-after pill – to girls as young as 14 without notifying their parents.

More church attacks in Asia

Muslim fundamentalists have attacked a Catholic church in West Java while an Iraqi Chaldean church was hit by rockets for the second time in three days in the latest in a series of attacks on churches across the Asian continent.