The Vatican earlier posed no objection to the beatification process of Father Palliola, who established Christian settlements in the western part of Mindanao among the Subanon tribe.

A Catholic priest who was taken hostage by militants linked to the Islamic State group says he's being held alongside 200 other captives, including children.

Cardinal-designate Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, who will become the first cardinal from Laos, is an ethnic Khmu, a hill tribe from northern Laos and southern China.

Gunmen claiming to have links with the Islamic State group threatened to kill hostages, including a Catholic priest, who were taken from the southern Philippine city of Marawi on May 23.

An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison on Tuesday for blaspheming the Quran.

Thousands of conservative Muslims took to the streets of the Indonesian capital to call for the jailing of its minority Christian governor.