Bishops in the Philippines have said they fear a “creeping dictatorship” under President Rodrigo Duterte. The World Evangelical Alliance has told members it is not seeking “ecclesial or sacramental unity” with Rome (full text). Filipino lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill seeking civil recognition of Church annulments. John Allen and Robert Royal comment on the Vatican’s outreach to China. Evagelos Sotiropoulos accuses Russians of “methodical use of propaganda and disinformation” against Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. Scott Smith critiques Gerhard Höver’s reflection on “intrinsic evil”. And Jim Caviezel has predicted that the Passion of the Christ sequel will be “the biggest film in history”. Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates throughout the day.