News

• 31 March 2005
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - Christians around the world invited to pray for peace: “A Lamp for peace in the Holy Land” initiative Jerusalem (Fides Service) - Lamp for Peace in the Holy Land is the name of an initiative to unite the Christians of the world in prayer for the Holy Land. The initiative launched by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, t ...
• 31 March 2005
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - “We the people of Burundi have suffered deeply but we also believe deeply in the redemptive value of suffering”: Catholic Bishops send John Paul II message of sympathy from Burundi where more than 300,000 died in civil conflict Bujumbura (Fides Service) -“We the people of Burundi have suffered deeply but we also believe deeply in the redemptive value of suffering. We sympathise with our Holy Father Pope John Paul II in his present state of su ...
• 31 March 2005
  AFRICA/ZAMBIA - “Stay with us Lord…” Catholic Bishops of Zambia issue Pastoral Letter on the Year of the Eucharist Lusaka (Fides Service)- “The Holy Father invited us to celebrate the Year of the Eucharist, from October 2004 to October 2005, a favourable time to deepen our understanding of the sacrament of the Eucharist” the Cath ...
• 31 March 2005
  AMERICA/BRAZIL - “Evangelisation and bearing witness - Mission of the Church to face challenges of the present day”: 43rd General Assembly of the Catholic Bishops of Brazil will focus on the dignity of human life and bio-technology, cultural and religious pluralism, ecclesial and social commitment Brasilia (Fides Service) - The Catholic Bishops of Brazil will hold their 43rd general assembly at Queen of the Apostle Retreat House Itaici, Indaiatuba (Saõ Paolo), from 6 to 15 April. This important church event will ...
• 31 March 2005
  ASIA/CHINA - From Hawaii to Australia, from the United States to Europe, Chinese Catholics pray for the Pope with lighted candles Rome (Fides Service) - Overseas Chinese Catholic communities on every continent are united in concern and anxiety for the health of the Pope. A woman member of Western Sydney Catholic Chinese Community in Australia, told ...
• 31 March 2005
  ASIA/HONG KONG - Catholics in Hong Kong and mainland China united in prayer for the Pope - government officials voice great respect and concern for Pope John Paul II Hong Kong (Fides Service) - Catholics in Hong Kong are united with Catholics in mainland China as they pray for the health of the Pope John Paul II, said Auxiliary Bishop John Tong Hon of Hong Kong, just back from a visi ...
• 30 March 2005
  Pope John Paul II’s missionary prayer intention for April 2005: “For Christian communities: filled with burning zeal for holiness may they kindle numerous missionary vocations”. Comment by Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodriguez, Archbishop of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Church is a community which lives in the life of the Spirit and which has a fundamental missionary vocation: “Go and teach all peoples baptising them in the name of the Father, the S ...
• 30 March 2005
  VATICAN - In his Easter Message the Pope prays for peace in the Holy Land, in the Middle East, in Africa, “where so much blood continues to be shed” and for all humanity and he says. “We men and women of the third millennium we too need you, Risen Lord!” Vatican City (Fides Service) - At the end of the Mass celebrated on behalf of Pope John Paul on Easter Sunday morning 27 March in St Peter’s Square Cardinal Angelo Sodano read the Holy Father’s Easter Message and int ...
• 30 March 2005
  AFRICA/ANGOLA - Alarm persists in the province of Uige for the spread of the deadly Marburg virus Rome (Fides Service) - Marburg, a member of the Ebola family of viruses, has officially killed 117 people since October in the Uige province of Angola and a further seven people are infected. The first cases were reporte ...
• 30 March 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - Lay people make Easter pilgrimage to leprosy centre: solidarity, prayers for the Pope, sharing and brotherhood Ahmedabad (Fides Service) - More than 60 lay Catholics from the diocese of Ahmedabad, in the west Indian state of Gujarat, took part in the traditional Easter Pilgrimage to a place of suffering. This year the destination ...
• 30 March 2005
  AFRICA/GHANA - Archbishop of Accra resigns, successor appointed Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on 30 March 2005, accepted the renunciation of the pastoral government of the archdiocese of Accra (Ghana) presented by Archbishop Dominic Kodwo Andoh, ...
• 30 March 2005
  VATICAN - From his study window the Pope greets and blesses crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square Vatican City (Fides Service) - A few minutes after eleven o’clock this morning, Wednesday 30 March, Pope John Paul II appeared at the window of his study to greet the crowds who had gathered in St Peter’s Square in t ...
• 30 March 2005
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - God’s justice, truth, love will overcome: principle theme of Bishops’ Easter messages Seoul (Fides Service) - In Easter messages to their respective dioceses Korean Bishops urged the faithful to strive to live in the authentic spirit of the Resurrection and follow the path taken by Jesus, encouraging them ...
• 30 March 2005
  OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - Caritas Australia is among the first to help earthquake victims in Nias Sydney (Fides Service) - Caritas Australia lost no time in arranging assistance for the victims of the 28 March earthquake on the island of Nias. As for the December 26 tsunami, the Catholic aid agency was among the firs ...
• 30 March 2005
  ASIA/INDONESIA - “Endless moments of terror. Exhausted and close to despair, people want to escape the earthquake threat ever-present”: Jesuit eyewitness gives dramatic account of what happened Jakarta (Fides Service) - “We felt the earth trembling under our feet amidst general panic and cries of earthquake, earthquake! People were running everywhere. The evening of 28 March was terror condensed. It will not ...