News

• 7 June 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - In front of the UN Human Rights Commission, Franciscans and Dominicans support request to abolish blasphemy law in Pakistan Geneva (Fides) - Two NGOs of Catholic religious, Franciscans International and Dominicans for Justice and Peace, accredited to the UN Human Rights Commission based in Geneva Switzerland, have voiced support for a reques ...
• 7 June 2004
  ASIA/HONG KONG - Alarming rise in requests for marriage annulments: diocesan chancellor stresses need for adequate pastoral care for couples in crisis Hong Kong (Fides Service) - Over the past 22 years, requests for the annulment of marriages presented to Hong Kong Diocesan Court have increased six time, rising from 10 cases a year 22 years ago to 66 cases last year. T ...
• 7 June 2004
  EUROPE/SWITZERLAND - The Pope in Switzerland: “The Church is mission! The time has come to prepare young generations of apostles who are not afraid to proclaim the Gospel. For every baptised person it is essential to grow from a faith of habit to a mature faith expressed through clear, convinced and courageous decisions.” Bern (Fides Service) - “The purpose of my apostolic pilgrimage is to join young Catholics of Switzerland on the occasion of their national meeting... it is the duty to proclaim the Gospel of Christ that pushes me onto ...
• 7 June 2004
  EUROPE/SPAIN - Members of Holy Childhood Society pay a visit to the King and Queen: a group of little members of Holy Childhood tell Royals about their prayers, sacrifices and concrete acts of solidarity to help children in need Madrid (Fides Service) -As part of celebrations in Spain to mark the 160th anniversary of the Pontifical Society Holy Childhood, a group of young members of the Society, accompanied by Archbishop Francisco Pérez Gonzál ...
• 7 June 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - “Seas and Oceans: alive and healthy or polluted and dead”: World Environment Day for Oceans and Seas Rome (Fides Service) - The sea is a resource and riches for the entire planet and as such it must be protected. This year World Environment Day, June 5, focussed on Oceans and Seas which unfortunately are not in the best ...
• 7 June 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Darfur: huge humanitarian tragedy. More than 2 million refugees and internally displaced persons Khartoum (Fides Service)- While the process for peace in Southern Sudan advances the emergency continues in the west region of Darfur, where fighting is causing tremendous suffering to civilians. On Saturday 5 June, in N ...
• 7 June 2004
  OCEANIA/SOLOMON ISLANDS One hundred years of service and blessings in the Solomon Islands for the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary Honiara (Fides Service) - For one hundred years the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary have worked in Solomon Islands, tirelessly announcing the Gospel, giving pastoral care to the faithful, serving in education, ...
• 5 June 2004
  ASIA/THAILAND - Five days to vaccinate 14,000 Hmong refugees accepted by the United States against diphtheria, measles, German measles, tetanus Rome (Fides Service) - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Thai government have registered vaccinations of more than 14,000 Hmong refugees who have been accepted by the United States of America. ...
• 5 June 2004
  ASIA/TAIWAN - “Christian Formation Centre in TaoYuan”: information and social communication to promote growth of local community Taipei (Fides Service) - At the service of the local Church the Christian Formation Centre in TaoYuan supplies a service of information and social formation to promote the cultural and moral growth of the local community ...
• 5 June 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - People of Bukavu live in terror. “Manhunt for journalists and human rights activists” local sources inform Fides Bukavu (Fides Service)- “It is not true that the rebels have withdrawn. They are still present in at least five districts of Bukavu” local sources told Fides in Bukavu, southern Kivu, in eastern Congo taken by rebels ...
• 5 June 2004
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Thousands in Cagayan take part in celebrations to mark 400th anniversary of the arrival of Spanish Dominican missionaries who brought with them devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary Manila (Fides Service) - Thousands gathered on 4th June to take part in celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival Spanish missionaries who came with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary now known and rever ...
• 5 June 2004
  ASIA/HONG KONG - Canossian Sisters and Third Order members celebrate Foundress with profession of three new nuns and renewal of promises of 90 Third Order members Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - The Canossian family in Hong Kong recently marked the feast day of its foundress Saint Magdalene of Canossa. More than 200 Canossian Sisters and a large group of Third Order lay members and fr ...
• 5 June 2004
  ASIA/CHINA - Spanish Jesuit who started 145 leprosy centres caring for 10.000 patients opens home in Hunan province for people with HIV/AIDS Rome (Fides Service) - It was 1986, when Father Luis Ruiz, SJ, today 91 years old, first set out to alleviate the sufferings of lepers in the mainland Chinese province of Guangdong where at that time there was no electri ...
• 5 June 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO RD - Bukavu chronology of a tragedy. Another war imminent in Congo? Bukavu (Fides Service)- Bukavu, a city with a population of 500,000, the main centre of southern Kivu situated on lake Kivu not far from the border, is at the heart of a new Congolese tragedy of which we give a brief chr ...
• 4 June 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - French Father Gérard Chabanon will guide the White Fathers for the next six months Rome (Fides) - The 26th General Chapter of the Society of Missionaries of Africa known as the White Fathers, which opened on 10 May at the General House in Roma, has elected as Superior general of the Society French Fath ...