News

• 11 March 2004
  AFRICA/SIERRA LEONE - “The commencement of the work of a Special Court for Sierra Leone is another step in the process of a return to normality” says Catholic Bishop of Makeni Freetown (Fides Service)- “This is another step in the process of a return to normality for Sierra Leone” Bishop Giorgio Biguzzi, Bishop of Makeni, told Fides referring to the official opening yesterday, 10 March, of ...
• 11 March 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO RD - “Allô Elections”: new Catholic two-monthly periodical will follow electoral campaign preparing for Congo’s elections in 2005 Kinshasa (Fides Service)- Provide media support for various initiatives taken by the local Catholic Church in view of elections scheduled for 2005: this is the objective of “Allô Elections”, a brand new two-monthly ...
• 11 March 2004
  AFRICA/MALI - 100 eye operations in 10 days, restoring the sight 100 Africans is the result of a first “Restore Light” mission of St John of God Brothers Rome (Fides Service) - 100 eye operations in 10 days, restoring the sight 100 Africans, men women and children, blinded by untreated cataracts. This was the result of the first humanitarian mission of ‘Restore Light’ ...
• 11 March 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - “Christian are small in numbers but they can be important for the vote in India. We hope that fundamentalist Hindus do not prevail ”: Director of Pontifical Mission Societies in India speaks to Fides Bangalore (Fides Service) - “In the coming elections the Christian community, though a minority in India can play a vital role in some parts of the country. In some places the votes of Catholics can even affect the fi ...
• 11 March 2004
  ASIA/INDONESIA - More than 400 people die Dengue fever in the past year in 32 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces Rome (Fides Service) - It is the rains season and Indonesia is suffering from an epidemic of Dengue fever, or beak bone fever, which can be mortal. The fever is raging in 32 of Indonesia’s 38 provinces but the highest ...
• 11 March 2004
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Building a culture of peace and reconciliation: Lenten commitment in Jayapura diocese Jayapura (Fides Service) - A Lenten campaign to build reconciliation and tolerance has been launched in Jayapura diocese in the Indonesian province of West Papua, (or Irian Jaya), affected by violence and fighting as the ...
• 11 March 2004
  AMERICA/EL SALVADOR - Dengue fever alarm: since the beginning of the year 436 cases reported Rome (Fides Service) - Official sources say that in El Salvador since the beginning of the year 436 cases of Dengue were reported, 18 were cases of haemorrhagic dengue. The situation is concerning because the number is c ...
• 10 March 2004
  VATICAN - The Pope address participants at Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications: may the Inter Mirifica document give inspiration “to continue your mission of helping those who work in this vast field to animate it with a humane and Christian spirit" Vatican City (Fides Service ) - As the last item on the agenda of his morning’s work on Tuesday 9 March, Pope John Paul II granted an audience to the participants at the Plenary Meeting of the Pontifical Council for So ...
• 10 March 2004
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - Gafilo cyclone swings around to strike Madagascar a second time. Unconfirmed reports of Ferry missing off Malagasy coast Antananarivo (Fides Service)-“The news of a ferry shipwrecked yesterday 9 March in the Mozambique Channel in the midst of the cyclone raging in the area, has not been confirmed” Father Cosimo Alvati, Director of Rad ...
• 10 March 2004
  VATICAN - “There is no rise in the number of atheists in the world”, according to survey on ‘non belief and religious indifference’ carried out by Pontifical Council for Culture in preparation for annual Plenary 11-13 March in the Vatican Vatican City (Fides Service) - To fulfil the mission entrusted to it by the Holy Father to be at the heart of profound changes at the beginning of this new millennium, the Pontifical Council for Culture felt the need to ...
• 10 March 2004
  AMERICA/PERU - Enrolment started for 10th Missiology Course organised by the National Mission Centre on basic themes of the Church’s universal mission and elements to facilitate the evangelising mission of pastoral workers Lima (Fides Service) - Peru’s National Mission Centre CENAMIS, sponsored by the Missions Commission of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Peru under the aegis of the Civil and Pontifical Theology Faculty in Lima, th ...
• 10 March 2004
  VATICAN - New "Directory on the Pastoral Ministry of the Bishop”: an aid for Bishops in their complex ecclesial service to meet the needs of the Church and of society today. Vatican City (Fides Service) - On March 9 the Congregation for Bishops issued a note presenting a new “Directory for the Ministry of Bishops Apostolorum Successores”, (dated 22 February 2004) already in Italian, and ...
• 10 March 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - Catholic Bishops of India appeal to the electorate to cast ‘responsible vote’ in April general elections New Delhi (Fides Service) - An appeal to fulfil the duty to vote and to choose candidates who respect life, promote human dignity, social equality, religious harmony and national unity has been launched to the Catholics ...
• 10 March 2004
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Seven year old Catholic school girl kidnapped in Jolo, southern Philippines, rescued by security forces Jolo (Fides Service) - Everyone in Jolo, Christians and Muslims, is relieved and happy that seven year old Catholic school girl Rachel Ann Gujit kidnapped on 19 February is safe and sound. In a massive operation on March ...
• 10 March 2004
  ASIA/VIETNAM - ‘Make Lent a time of prayer, sharing and evangelisation’ say Vietnamese Bishops Ho Chi Minh City (Fides Service) - A call to live the Season of Lent as a good time for evangelisation has been issued by Bishops in Vietnam after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference declared 2004 the Year of Evangelisati ...