I would like to start by thanking everyone who has participated in this blog. I appreciate your comments and interest in my thoughts and opinions about world issues. I apologize for the lack of posts in the past few months. It was due to the US history paper, post-French exchange make up work, exams, and the ACT. But now that school is finally over I have time to keep up with events happening around the world.
With Southeast Asia I focused on Pope Francis and the reactions of the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China. The Filipinos welcomed him warmly due to their high population of Catholics. Both Indonesia and Vietnam have high hopes for the pope and are working towards better relations between Christians and other groups in their own countries. China, on the other hand, is unsure about Pope Francis because of the dispute between the Vatican and China regarding who should select Chinese Cardinals.
I used to think Christianity and more specifically Catholicism was uniquely dominant in the Latin American and European countries. I was not expecting it to be so large in Southeast Asia. It was interesting to learn their perspectives on a seemingly strictly Western religious event.
Southeast Asia was an interesting region to study. But now it is time to look at the perspectives of a new region. My new focus for the next 90 days is the Middle East.
