News

• 24 March 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Refugees on Pakistan-Afghanistan border assisted by international agencies and Salesian Fathers Islamabad (Fides Service) - There are still Afghan refugees in the Pakistan province North West Frontier on the border with Afghanistan, an area in the eye of international attention at the moment because it is here that ...
• 24 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Beatification cause of Korea’s second Catholic priest who could become the country’s first non martyr Saint Seoul (Fides Service) - The Church in Korea has received permission from Rome to begin the cause of beatification of Confessor Thomas Choe Yang-eop, who died in 1861 and was Korea’s second Catholic priest. This will be ...
• 24 March 2004
  VATICAN - “We cannot and we must not forget our missionary martyrs, the memory of their sacrifice is a precious treasure”: Cardinal Sepe presides Mass for Day of Commemoration of Missionary Martyrs at the Propaganda Fide Chapel in Rome Vatican City (Fides Service) - At 8am on Wednesday 24 March 24 at the Propaganda Fide Chapel in Rome Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (CEP) Sepe, presided Mass for t ...
• 24 March 2004
  VATICAN - The Pope’s weekly audience teaching focuses on the Feast of the Annunciation which, “on the one hand takes us back to the beginning of our Redemption and on the other encourages us to turn our attention to the Paschal Mystery”. On the Day for Missionary Martyrs the Pope remembers “priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful killed in mission lands”. Vatican City (Fides Service) - Pope John Paul II devoted his weekly catechesis today, Wednesday 24 March, to the mystery of the Annunciation, celebrated tomorrow March 25. “This feast which falls at the heart of Lent- ...
• 24 March 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO - “I cannot be silent before the tragedy of my people ” says Catholic Bishop of Nkayi Brazzaville (Fides Service)- “The people are hungry, they are suffering and poverty affects every sector of society and the Church cannot remain silent in the face of this tragedy” Bishop Daniel Mizonzo, Bishop of N ...
• 23 March 2004
  VATICAN - Pope John Paul II will be awarded Aachen City Charlemagne Prize for great European Achievement 2004 in the Vatican on 24 March Vatican City (Fides Service) - Next Wednesday, 24 March, an extraordinary Charlemagne Prize, one of the highest European honours - will be awarded to His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Rome to pay tribute to his outstand ...
• 23 March 2004
  VATICAN - The Church and the battle against HIV/AIDS: Pontifical Council for Health Care issues paper Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Catholic Church is deeply committed to the battle to treat HIV/AIDS sufferers and to prevent HIV/AIDS. In 1999 the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral organised an international Mee ...
• 23 March 2004
  AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Promoting a spirit of communion and formation for young people: objectives for Meeting of Diocesan Youth Pastoral Delegates in Colombia Santafe de Bogota (Fides Service) - A Meeting of Diocesan Youth Pastoral Delegates in Colombia organised by the Sector for Youth and Childhood of the Colombian Bishops Conference (CEC) opens today March 23 at the Confere ...
• 23 March 2004
  AMERICA/PERU - Many of Peru’s children live in difficult conditions: poverty, child labour, child soldiers, domestic abuse: Doris Portocarrero, directress of Peru’s National Initiative Group for Children’s Rights speaks to Fides Lima (Fides Service) -More than half of the population and 62% of the children in Peru live with a dollar a day, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme UNDP. What is more, 20% of the population ...
• 23 March 2004
  ASIA/JAPAN - “People with AIDS are our brothers and sisters”: a Japanese nun in front line to combat prejudice and help people with HIV/AIDS Tokyo (Fides Service) - Counselling moral support, concrete assistance for people with HIV/AIDS is the mission of a Japanese Catholic nun Sister Shigehisa Machi, who works as a volunteer at the HIV and Human Rights Info ...
• 23 March 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate start new mission in Guinea Bissau geared for dialogue with Muslims and Animists Bissau (Fides Service)-The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate open a new mission in Guinea Bissau at Farim on the border with Senegal. The mission is run by two priests, Father Celso Corbioli and Father Carlo Andolfi ...
• 23 March 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - World TB Day: TB kills 2 million people every year. Tests and treatment outdated, vaccination has less effect, special care for children needed Rome (Fides Service) - Century old tests, vaccine produced in 1920 and same treatment used for 30 or 50 years. The fight against TB is in danger of defeat because of “old fashioned means of diagnosis and treatment”. ...
• 23 March 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Amidst hopes and fears Ivory Coast waits for outcome of Opposition demonstration on March 25 Abidjan (Fides Service)- Ivory Coast is waiting to see what happens during the Opposition demonstration on March 25. “Today there is less tension then yesterday when people feared the nation was on the edge of a precip ...
• 23 March 2004
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Padayon Centre run by the Emmanuel Community engaged in building interreligious harmony and serving the poor, marks 1st anniversary Zamboanga (Fides Service) - Promote interreligious dialogue and offer assistance to poor families is the mission of Padayon Center in Zamboanga, in southern Mindanao, in the Philippines. Padayon in the local language me ...
• 23 March 2004
  ASIA/MALAYSIA - Election victory for moderate Islam led by Abdullah Badawi: relief among ethnic and religious minorities Kuala Lumpur (Fides Service) - There is general satisfaction particularly among ethnic and religious minorities for the outcome of the vote on 21 March. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his party Barisan Nasional BN ...