News

• 15 March 2005
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - At this stage of political change and preparation for elections the role of the local Catholic Church is fundamental: Pontifical Mission Societies Germany, missio Aachen, looks at commitment of local Church in Liberia Aachen (Fides Service) - The Catholic Church in Liberia has played and continues to play a fundamental role to promote respect for human rights and national stability. This emerged from a recent report “The situation o ...
• 15 March 2005
  EUROPE/ITALY - “Bread broken for others”: 24 March 13th Day of Prayer and Fasting to commemorate Missionaries killed for the Gospel Cause Rome (Fides Service) - March 24 is the annual Day of Prayer and Fasting in memory of missionaries killed for the cause of the Gospel. The initiative was started in Italy by the Youth Movement of the Pontifical Mission So ...
• 15 March 2005
  EUROPE/GERMANY - “With their sincerity, enthusiasm and joy as they reach out to others, their desire to celebrate and pray together and work for a world of more justice, children and young people are the most convincing messengers of God’s love”: main focus of latest issue of Schule und Mission magazine published by Holy Childhood Germany Aachen (Fides Service) - In a Pastoral Letter “His salvation for all Peoples”, the Catholic Bishops of Germany underline the never changing importance of the missionary mandate of the universal Church (see Fides 27 S ...
• 15 March 2005
  AFRICA/TANZANIA - “We are very grateful to the Holy Father for offering his suffering and his prayers for the Church in Tanzania. His words are encouragement for our mission”. Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam speaks with Fides. Vatican City (Fides Service) - “We are very grateful to the Holy Father for offering his suffering and prayers for the Church in Tanzania. The Holy Mass he celebrated at the Gemelli Hospital, at which two of us partici ...
• 15 March 2005
  ASIA/LAOS - Apostolic Delegate blesses first new church built in north Laos since the Communist revolution Luang Prabang (Fides Service) - On Saturday 11 March Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, Delegate Apostolic for Laos, Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar, as well as Papal Nuncio in Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore, blessed the f ...
• 15 March 2005
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Jesuit Refugee Service helps with reconstruction in Aceh Aceh (Fides Service) - After months of first emergency humanitarian aid immediately after the tsunami disaster in December last year, the local Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) working Aceh manned by volunteers, is now helpi ...
• 14 March 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - Bishop of Punalur resigns the Holy Father appoints successor Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, on 12 March 2005 accepted the renunciation of the pastoral government of the diocese of Punalur (India) presented by Bishop Mathias Kappil in conformity ...
• 14 March 2005
  VATICAN - The Pope appoints delegate Presidents, Relator and Secretary for the 11th Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in October in Rome at the end of the Year of the Eucharist Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has appointed the Presidents, Relator and Secretary for the 11th Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in the Vatican October 2 to 29 2005, on the t ...
• 14 March 2005
  VATICAN - The Pope’s reflection at the Sunday Angelus: “In this season of Lent which invites us to nourish ourselves more abundantly with the Word of God, I wish to recall that it is possible to nourish the spirit also through radio, television and the Internet. I am grateful to those committed to this new form of evangelisation which valorises the mass media” Vatican City (Fides Service) - As on the previous two Sundays, yesterday, 5th Sunday of Lent, it was the Substitute Secretary of State, Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, in St Peter’s Square who on behalf of the Pope read th ...
• 14 March 2005
  VATICAN - Three priorities for the Bishops of Tanzania on ad limina visit: the family, the clergy and the common good of society. The Pope writes his message at Gemelli Hospital “where I offer my prayers and suffering for you” Vatican City (Fides Service) - “While I regret that I cannot receive you in the Vatican at this time, nevertheless I gladly welcome you, the Pastors of the Church in Tanzania, on your visit ad limina Apostolorum. I gre ...
• 14 March 2005
  EUROPE/RUSSIA - Saint Francis of Assisi is a popular figure in Russia Moscow (Fides Service) - The presence of Franciscan Friars in Russia after the fall of the Soviet regime, has created interest for the Secular Franciscan Order OFS whose members are lay men and women striving to live the ...
• 14 March 2005
  OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - Vocations flourish in Australia’s Catholic communities: Church commitment in the new millennium Sydney (Fides Service) - Vocations are flourishing in the ‘newest of the continents’ after a drop in vocations in the mid 1990s. Today the number of students in seminaries continues to rise, the Australian Catholic B ...
• 14 March 2005
  AMERICA/BRAZIL - First national Meeting of Missionary Youth representatives 27-30 May in Brasilia: “The idea is not to create a new movement but to co-ordinate and support young people anxious to operate in the field of mission ad gentes” National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies in Brazil told Fides Brasilia (Fides Service) - “To help organise and articulate Missionary Youth, thinking above all of the many young people who started their mission formation as members of Holy Childhood and now wish to continue their ...
• 14 March 2005
  EUROPE/ITALY - Cooperation Agreement between Sant’Andrea Hospital in Rome and the State of Tigray in Ethiopia Rome (Fides Service) - After providing courses of formation and renewal for medical personnel in Africa, commitment on the part of Sant’Andrea Hospital and the 2nd Faculty of Medicine and Surgery continues. A new child ...
• 14 March 2005
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Christian and Muslim leaders work together for peace in Mindanao Zamboanga (Fides Service) - While tension remains in Jolo, southern Philippines, where rebels and army troops have been fighting for more than a month, Christians and Muslims in Mindanao (the large island in the south o ...