News

• 20 March 2004
  Archbishop Michael Courtney gave his life for the people of Burundi to whom the Pope had sent him as an apostle of peace. From the homily given by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State, during a solemn requiem Mass on January 8in St Peter’s in memory of Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, Apostolic Nuncio in Burundi brutally assassina ...
• 20 March 2004
  Comboni Father Mario Mantovani murdered by a young man whom he had baptised. Italian missionary Father Mario Mantovani was shot dead with Ugandan Father Godfrey Kiruowa in Uganda on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption as they were passing through Lobel about 40 km from Kanawat mission. The two ...
• 20 March 2004
  Brother Anton Probst, Claretian brother, known to all as Mbuta, the elder brother German born Brother Anton CMF (Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), was a very active missionary. He lived and worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo for 23 years, from 1968 to 1991. He was an able mecha ...
• 20 March 2004
  Sister Czeslawa Lorek: “What can I do for the Pope? How can I help him? I know, I’ll go on mission!”. Sister Czeslawa Lorek was born in 1938 at Binczyce Gorne, in Poland, to a deeply Christian family. The parish priest, Father Stanislaw Pieprznikm were her first spiritual director who helped her discern her vocation and ...
• 20 March 2004
  Marko Makuec Shir, martyr catechist in Kutum, Sudan One of the participants in a Trauma Counselling Course organised by Nyala parish in February 2003, was a young catechist Marko Makuec Shir, a Dinka from Gogrial, married and with three children The course explained the ...
• 20 March 2004
  José Castillo, killed after 5 years of missionary work for social Pastoral and defence of human rights When Joe Castillo and his wife Yelitza completed their studies at the University of Venezuela, as enthusiastic members of the Pontifical Mission Societies they wanted to go on mission to the apostolic Vicariate of Machiq ...
• 20 March 2004
  Annalena Tonelli, 35 anni in Africa: “to everyone she communicated enthusiasm” “When she first came to Africa, in 1969, she looked like a girl, much younger than 23. Annalena went to Kenya to teach English to children at Thomsfall, where the Consolata Fathers had several schools. She came with tw ...
• 18 March 2004
  VATICAN - On Sunday 21 March the Pope will beatify 4 Servants of God, two Italians and two Spaniards Vatican City (Fides Service) - On Sunday March 21, 4th Sunday of Lent, Pope John Paul II will preside the celebration Mass in St Peter’s Square during which he will beatify four Servants of God. Here are their names: P ...
• 18 March 2004
  EUROPE/AUSTRIA - Cardinal König “The Friend of the Missions”. The Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria will dedicate the next issue of their missionary magazine to the Cardinal Archbishop emeritus of Vienna who died recently. Vienna (Fides Service) - As a mark of deep gratitude to Cardinal Franz König, emeritus Archbishop of Vienna, who died on Saturday 13 March at the age of 98, the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria, Missio Austria, w ...
• 18 March 2004
  EUROPE/LUXEMBOURG - “Together on the roads of the world” : European Delegates of the Pontifical Society for Missionary Childhood will meet 21 - 24 March in Luxembourg. Luxembourg (Fides Service) - “Together on the roads of the world: elements for a proposed missionary catechesis”, is the theme chosen for the next meeting of European Delegates of the Pontifical Society Missionary C ...
• 18 March 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY Martyrology 2003: 36 missionaries killed while spreading the Gospel. Saturday 20 March Fides Dossier in preparation for the 12th Day of Prayer and Fasting in memory of missionary martyrs. Rome (Fides Service) - According to information collected by Fides, during 2003 the number of church personnel who lost their lives while on mission was 36, including archbishops, priests, religious men and women and lay ...
• 18 March 2004
  AFRICA/KENYA - Archbishop Silas Silvius Njiru of Meru resigns, he is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Salesius Mugambi Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has (March 18, 2004) accepted the renunciation of the pastoral government of the diocese of Meru (Kenya), presented by Archbishop Silas Silvius Njiru, in ...
• 18 March 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - New Ecclesiastic Province of Raipur created and first Archbishop appointed Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has, 27 February 2004, created the new Ecclesiastic Province of Raipur, dividing it from the Ecclesiastic Province of Bhopal (India). The new Ecclesiastic ...
• 18 March 2004
  VATICAN - The religious mission of the Church includes defending and promoting fundamental human rights: Cardinal Martino affirms at International Conference on “Women and Human Rights”. Rome (Fides Service) - Cultures based on efficiency, practical materialism, utilitarian and hedonist egoism threaten the entire human rights system. Unless our point of reference is the integral vision of man and woman, ...
• 18 March 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - UN High Commission for Refugees Unite prepares to assist repatriation of more than 3.6 million Sudanese refugees Rome (Fides Service)- “We thought it was important to find out how refugees felt with regard to repatriation” said Dennis McNamara, Inspector general of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Unite UNHCR, wh ...