News

• 10 March 2004
  AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - New outbreak of cholera: 60 dead and 15,000 infected in two months Rome (Fides Service) - An outbreak of cholera is affecting central and southern regions of Mozambique. More than 60 people have died and 15,000 were infected in the past two months. Maputo, the capital, was among the mos ...
• 10 March 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO - A year after the peace pact which put an end to hostilities in the Pool region, government takes stock of progress made Brazzaville (Agenzia Fides)- On March 7, a year after the signing of a peace agreement between the government and Ninja, rebels led by Frederic Bitsangou or Pastor Ntoumi as he likes to be called, the state minister for ...
• 9 March 2004
  ASIA/CHINA - Arrest of Catholic Bishop Wei Jingyi; from China a call for prayers Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On the basis of reliable information Fides confirms that the Catholic Bishop of the diocese of Qiqihar in mainland China, Bishop Wei Jingyi, was arrested on Friday 5 March. The grounds for ...
• 9 March 2004
  EUROPE/AUSTRIA - Bishop Ludwig Schwarz confirmed National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies Vatican City (Fides Service) - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has (22 February 2004), confirmed National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria ...
• 9 March 2004
  AMERICA/HAITI - “A serious humanitarian disaster threatens. As always the people of Haiti are the loses. Every new crisis leaves them poorer and more vulnerable ”. A report from Haiti Port-au-Prince (Fides Service)-“How can these men be disarmed ”, is the question on the lips of all Haitians, according to a local Church source contacted by Fides in Haiti where gangs of armed supporters of ousted P ...
• 9 March 2004
  ASIA/IRAQ - “The new constitution is a step forward for a democratic and united Iraq and an example for other countries in the region ” says Father Nizar Semaan, a local Catholic priest Baghdad (Agenzia Fides)-“This is certainly a positive step for national unity and the birth of a new Iraq which respects all minority groups” a local Catholic priest Father Nizar Semaan in the diocese of Ninive told ...
• 9 March 2004
  AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Giving of its poverty the Church in Colombia sends missionaries to West Africa: three Eudist Missionaries will open a new mission in São Tome and Principe, faithful to their motto: “We were born in Ocana to be missionaries to the world”. Rome (Fides Service) - On March 25 three Eudist missionaries, Father Manuel Jesus Arias Madariaga, former novice master, Father Ricardo Mendoza and lay missionary Ivan Lugo will set out from Colombia for mission “ad ge ...
• 9 March 2004
  VATICAN - “The Christian faith at the dawn of the new millennium and the challenge of non belief and religious indifference”: Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture Vatican City (Fides Service) - About sixty participants from all over the world will attend the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture, in the Vatican 11-13 March, presided by Cardinal Paul Poupard. The t ...
• 9 March 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - 600 million of the world’s people suffer from some sort of disability: 80% live in developing countries. “Cuamm-Doctors with Africa” discuss the situation Rome (Fides) - The World Health Organisation estimates that in the world about 600 million people (25% of the world’s population) suffer from one or another type of disability. Of these 80% live in developing countries ...
• 9 March 2004
  AFRICA - UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers appeals to international community to support the repatriation of millions of African refugees Rome (Fides Service)- An appeal to the international community to guarantee the solidarity and support necessary to break the cycle of violence, poverty and desperation afflicting Africa was made by the United Nations Hi ...
• 9 March 2004
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - Guarantee peace and religious freedom: Catholic Bishops of Sri Lanka issue message to political leaders and voters in view of 2 April elections Colombo (Fides Service) - Peace and religious freedom are the main focus of a message issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka in view of general elections on 2 April. The message was signed by Archbisho ...
• 9 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Evangelising Korean society with an eye on North Korea and the rest of Asia : task for the Legion of Mary which is marking 50 anniversary in Korea Seoul (Fides Service) - Fifty year ago the first Legion of Mary group was formed in the diocese of Cheongju. Today it has more than 5,000 members, priests and nuns and lay persons. To mark the anniversary there was a cel ...
• 9 March 2004
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - New service for communications with the media and agreement with State University of Mindanao: initiatives of Silsilah interreligious movement in southern Philippines Zamboanga (Fides Service) - A special service for communications with the media and an agreement with Mindanao State University are two initiatives undertaken by the Silsilah movement for interreligious dialogue in Zambo ...
• 8 March 2004
  VATICAN - The Pope says at the Angelus: ‘Total trust and confidence in God gives the interior light which transfigures the human person making him a witness of the Resurrection’. The Pope appealed for Africa, the Middle East, the Holy Land and Iraq: “I would once again urge all to take the path of forgiveness and reconciliation”. Vatican City (Fides Service) - “Lent calls us to follow Christ in the mystery of his prayer, source of light and strength in the hour of trial. To pray, in fact, means to lose oneself in the spirit of God in an attitud ...
• 8 March 2004
  AMERICA/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - 44 million dollars to fight AIDS which has already infected 82,000 people in the Dominican Republic Rome (Fides Service) - The Global Fund and the Presidential Council for AIDS will soon sign an investment programme of 44 million dollars for the Dominican Republic to fight the disease. With the 90 million dollars donat ...