The special assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishop took place from 18the April to 14th May 1998 at Rome. In the document Ecclesia in Asia, the Pope John Paul II wished to share with the church in Asia and through out the world the fruits of this special assembly. This document seeks to convey the wealth of the great spiritual event of communion and Episcopal collegiality. The Synod for Asia was a celebration of the Asian roots of Christianity. This Synod was an opportunity to recognize the ancient religious traditions and civilizations, the profound philosophies and the wisdom which have made Asia what it is today.

The Asian Context: Asia The Birth Place Of Jesus Of Church.
    In this chapter Holy Father talked about the religious, social, economics, political realities and the position of the church in Asia. In the same chapter the Pope also talked about the changes that are taking place in Asia including migration, the marginalized, indigenous people, the rights of women, the human rights situation, fundamentalism, evangelization, local church, poverty and laity etc.

Jesus The Savior: A Gift To Asia
    Here Pope John Paul II emphasize that no nation or civilization could be a strange, to the salvific message of Jesus. Jesus is the only savior in the fullest sense of the word because his word and works especially his resurrection from the dead have revealed him to be the Son of God/ the pre existent word, who reigns for ever as the lord and Messiah.

The Holy Spirit: Lord And Giver Of Life.
The church in Asia should and must respond to the call of the Holy Spirit in order to be the witnesses of the Jesus in various contextual realities in the continent of Asia. The stress in laid on the Christian tradition: the Holy Spirit has always been associated with the life and the giving of life. This same spirit is present from the very beginning of the creation. It is the Holy Spirit that empowers the church to continue the mission of Jesus Christ.

Jesus The Savior: Proclaiming The Gift
    In this chapter the Pope stresses the need of evangelization in a way that appeals to the sensibilities of Asian people and suggest images of Jesus which would be intelligible to Asian minds and cultures and at the same time, faithful to Sacred Scripture and church traditions.

Communion And Dialogue For Mission
    Pope John Paul II lays stress in harmony among the nations. For evangelization it is important to build good relationship with the people of other faiths. Inter religious dialogue should be encouraged on diocese and parish levels. The synod fathers also remembered those who are deprived of religious freedom, the Pope urges the government of such countries to rant freedom for the religious practices, to make such policies. Where all the citizens may have the right to practice their religion.

The Service Of Human Promotion
    In this chapter the Pope highlights the challenge of human rights in order peace and justice in Asia. He also mentions with great concern he practice of child labor, which leaves bad effects on the life of children. He further states that poverty is a burden on the society stress on the dignity of women in Asia. In the church we can raise the dignity of women by giving them proper responsibilities in the church.

Witness To The Gospel
    In this chapter the Holy Father says, that priests are called for the work of Evangelization, for the administration of the sacraments. To be the good shepherd in association with their respective local bishops. Monastic life, longing for God and for the services of others can be a great model in witnessing to the life presence of Jesus. It is a duty of the church leaders to prepare the faithful for the evangelization.

At the end of the document. Ecclesia in Asia, the Holy Father accentuates the role of media in the proclamation of the good news. He wishes that media should be used for the work of evangelization. He states that the church must seek new ways in order to be a more effective evangelizer. He places the church in Asia under the kind protection of Mother Mary.

The Main Issues Of The Document
It is difficult to deal with all the issues discussed in the Synod, but we will take some of the themes which are rather prominent and at the same time are of interest to us. The significant themes are as following:

The Local Church
Arther C, states that the theme of the local church is at the heart of Asian people. In fact, it has now generated and contributed to such and extent that is offers a rich theology of it and the world churches benefit from this enormous development. It is in this sense that participants in this Synod spoke frequently of the identity of the church in Asia and its being rooted in the soil and it's having an Asian face. They were convinced that being church in Asia entails more then adaptation, translation and enculturation. They hold that in this way churches in Asia would be able to contribute better in the theological, spiritual, pastoral and missionary fields for the developments of the people of Asia. Regarding local church it was stressed that there is an urgent need that the church should became a participatory church. Through the church, communion of communities must be marked at all levels by participation. Communion within the local church is seen as a leading factor towards solidarity among the churches. In this way the local church should be an acculturated church, a church incarnated. This implies that she should enjoy a legitimate autonomy of collegiality. Subsidiary and legitimate autonomy. Each local church needs to become fully responsible and must have the legitimate autonomy that her natural and harmonious growth demands.

Evangelization
Arther, C. (1998) comments on the theme 'evangelization' by stating the Evangelization is as old as Christianity herself. The work of evangelization of the Good news and the kingdom was given, by Jesus himself. The Synod for Asia stresses that evangelization is the prime duty of the church, i.e. to proclaim the Good news concerning Jesus Christ as a joyful message to the whole world. Thus it is the foundation, center and at same time the summit of evangelical mission of the church. However, this task has taken different shapes at deferent times. It is only when the church is faithful to the evangelical mission that it can make its distinctive contribution in the social, political and cultural spheres. In this regard, being church in Asia means participating in love and services so that Asians can more fully achieve their integral human development. During the Synod session, the role of religious orders and congregation was praised. Undoubtedly they have played a major role in evangelization. The church in Asia on her part now continues the same missionary commitment. During the synod evangelization was seen as a duty and obligation of the whole church. It has highly acknowledged that the laity is important missionaries of gospel. The work of catechists was also well esteemed, in fact it was said that they have worked wonders. Sentiments of thankfulness were expressed to the Asian churches for sending missionaries to other continents and extending brotherly cooperation in the field of development, promotion of human rights and proclamation of the Gospel.

The synod however placed great stress on a broad understanding of proclamation. In Asia the emphasis is on religious experience, therefore the more effective and credible proclamation of the risen lord is through witness of a person who has a deep God experience and whose life is transformed. The church's mission of evangelization is a service of love to the total population; it is the means through which God reveals his saving plan. The Holy Father wishes that we Asians should continue the mission of love and service in Asia. The role of women in evangelization was also highlighted. It was said that women play a vital role in the ministry of Jesus. In the history of church too women had played significant roles in evangelization. Thus evangelization is a task of the whole church of Christ.

Poverty
Pope John Paul II has a great concern for the poor. The vision is one of the main concerns of the synod for Asia. Stress is laid on the preferential love for the poor. In Asia half of the population suffers deprivation, poverty and exploitation. The poor of Asia and of the world will always find their best reason for hope in the gospel command to love one another as Christ has loved us and the church in Asia can not but strive earnestly for fulfilling that command towards the poor in words and indeed.

The Holy Father called on Asian Catholics to adopt a life-style consonant with the teachings of the gospel so that they may better serve the church's mission and so that the church herself may become a church of the poor. In her love for the poor of Asia, the church herself especially with migrants, with indigenous and tribal people, with women and with children since they are the victims of the worst from of exploitation. In addition, a large number of people suffer discrimination because of their culture, color, race, caste, economic status and their way of thinking, at the present time Asia is experiencing and unprecedented flow of refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants and overseas, linguistically disadvantaged and economically vulnerable. They need support and care in order to preserve their human dignity and their culture and religious heritage.

Moreover, no one can remain indifferent to the sufferings of the countless children in Asia who fall victim to intolerable exploitation and violence, not just as the result of the evil perpetrated by individuals but often as a direct consequence of corrupt social structures, the synod fathers identified child lobour, pedophilia and the drug culture as the social evils which affects children most directly. These ills are compounded by others like poverty and ill conceived for women, whose situation remains a serious problem in Asia where discrimination and violence against women is often found in the home, at the work place and even within the legal system. These all happen because of poverty.

Conclusion
This document reflects church's concern about the complex realities of Asia. Beside the major themes, the church in Asia is also concerned about the situation of indigenous and tribal people who are the victims of the worst type of exploitation .they suffer discrimination because of their culture, race, color, economic status and their way thinking. Also among them are many who are victimized for being Christian, living at times in hostile non Christian environment , the church is also aware of the situation of women and children in Asia, especially in Pakistan where each year the number of honor killings has been rising, the population of Asia generally consists of youth, however most of the young people are jobless therefore they are prone to drugs, or forced to join the underworld groups , there is need to provide job opportunities to the youth so that they become the leaders of tomorrow . With regards to inter religious dialogue, we live in a multilingual and multi religious society and while we work for harmony we must avoid everything which divides us. In the modern world we all face similar problems and it is by working together that we can bring a positive transformation in the society. The prerequisite for any positive dialogue is respect of different, giving all a chance to practice their faith and working together to solve problems which all face. This is one of the greatest challenges which the 21st century is facing in Asia.

Finally the churches in Asia are reminded of their responsibilities as evangelizers. The church's evangelizing mission is deeply affected by the impact of the mass media, new information technology and these needs to be used for the proclamation of the Gospel. The mass media is an effective means of spreading the church's teaching among other faiths. It also communicates among the masses of Asia the Christian response to the challenge of the modern world and the eagerness of the church to work with people of good will for the common good.