News

• 17 May 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - “Christians must be barred from public administration” say Hindu extremists: “this goes against the country’s Constitution and human rights” Indian Christians reply New Delhi (Fides Service) - Hindu extremists have launched another fierce anti-Christian campaign the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) calling on the state governm ...
• 17 May 2005
  ASIA/VIETNAM - Bird flu: second outbreak in less than a week. Experts fear virus may change Rome (Fides Service) - Since the end of 2003 bird flu has killed 36 people in Vietnam, twelve in Thailand and four in Cambodia. Now in Vietnam two cases of human infection by bird flu have been reported in less than a we ...
• 17 May 2005
  ASIA/CINA - Cases of parasitic disease increase by 75 per cent. 12 million people in China infected by a parasite in the liver Rome (Fides Service) - Diseases caused by food parasites are a growing threat for public health and a serious problem for food security. According to a survey by the Chinese health ministry in 31 provinces and regions of ...
• 17 May 2005
  ASIA/UZBEKISTAN - UN High Commission for Refugees assists Uzbekistan people fleeing violence Bishkek (Fides Service) - While tension is still high in eastern Uzbekistan and clashes between insurrectionists and government troops continue, more civilians fleeing the fighting are heading for the border with Kyrgy ...
• 17 May 2005
  ASIA/UZBEKISTAN - “Social malcontent and poverty are at the root of local protests”, says Franciscan Fr. Krzysztof Kukulka missionary in Uzbekistan Vatican City (Fides Service) - “We are grieving for the death of so many people. Uzbeks are a friendly peace loving people. These protests arise from malcontent and poverty. Unless economic and social reforms are start ...
• 17 May 2005
  AFRICA/CHAD - Violence in refugee camps in Chad: UN High Commission for Refugees seriously concerned N’Djamena (Fides Service) - UN High Commission for Refugees UNHCR is seriously concerned about violence in recent weeks in refugee camps in eastern Chad in which four people were killed. The situation in the camps at ...
• 17 May 2005
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Uncertainty and concern in Guinea Bissau after declarations by former President Kumba Yala Bissau (Fides Service)- “The situation is complicated from the juridical point of view but the main concern is on the political level” said Fr Davide Sciocco, PIME missionary with long experience in Guinea Bissau wh ...
• 17 May 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Next year presidential elections. Democratic Congo adopts new constitution Kinshasa (Fides Service)- “I have promised to lead the people to elections and my promise will be kept” said President Joseph Kabila during a solemn ceremony yesterday 16 May in Kinshasa for the adoption of a new Con ...
• 17 May 2005
  EUROPE/SPAIN - Spanish Family Forum: There is nothing to prove that adoption by a same sex couple is innocuous for the development of the minor Madrid (Fides Service) - The Spanish Family Forum, an association representing more than 4 million families in Spain, has stated that reports presented to the Spanish parliament on the consequences for minors adopted by ...
• 17 May 2005
  VATICAN - Catholic Church’s Message to the Buddhists of the world on occasion of the Feast of Vesakh 2005: “where Buddhists and Catholics live together may they use the moment to consolidate the good relations which already exist between them” Vatican City (Fides Service) - Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, on the occasion of the Feast of Vesakh 2005, has sent on behalf of the Catholic Church ...
• 17 May 2005
  VATICAN - The Pope tells pilgrims in Rome for the beatification of Mothers Ascension de Corazon de Jesus Nicol Goni, and Marianne Cope “Exemplary witnesses of Christ's charity these two new Blessed help us to better understand the meaning and the value of our Christian vocation” Vatican City (Fides Service) - On Monday 16 May Pope Benedict XVI received pilgrims who participated in Saturday's ceremony for the beatification of Mothers Ascension de Corazon de Jesus Nicol Goni, and Marianne Cope. "E ...
• 16 May 2005
  EUROPE/ITALY - Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome and Dominican Republic sign agreement to guarantee full support for the health of little Dominicans Rome (Fides Service) - The Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome has signed an agreement with the Dominican Republic with the direct involvement of the Italo Latino American Institute to guarantee full support for ...
• 16 May 2005
  EUROPE/SWITZERLAND - Vaccines and fighting cancer, TB and malaria: World Health Organisation starts annual meeting Rome (Fides Service) - The 58th Meeting of the World Health Organisation opens today in Geneva. From May 16-25 representatives of the 192 WHO member countries will discuss how to improve and guarantee health on the plane ...
• 16 May 2005
  VATICAN - At the Regina Cæli prayer the Pope underlines the bond that exists in the Church between the Spirit and institution: “Without the Holy Spirit the Church would be a merely human organisation, weighed down by her very structures” Vatican City (Fides Service) - At the end of the Holy Mass with the ordination of 21 new priests for the diocese of Rome, addressing from his study window the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square for the midday prayer ...
• 16 May 2005
  EUROPE/SPAIN - "Children have rights": Professionals of ethics launch a campaign to prevent children being adopted by same-sex couples Madrid (Fides Service) - “Children have Rights” is the title of a campaign lunched by the Federation of Associations of Professionals of Ethics FAPE to prevent the proposed amendment to Spain’s civil code to allow ...