News

• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - DIRECTOR OF PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES SAYS SARS HELPS LOOK BEYOND LABELS AND SEE PEOPLE AS CREATURES OF GOD Taipei (Fides Service) – “The lesson we learn from this sudden phenomenon of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is that we must look at people beyond their religious, cultural or social group and see the dignit ...
• 7 May 2003
  AMERICA/VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA - VENEZUELA AND COLOMBIA MAKE A PACT TO END THE TRAGEDY OF REFUGEES ON THEIR MUTUAL BORDERS Caracas (Fides Service) – An agreement has been reached between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela to deal with the problem of Colombian refugees in Venezuela (See Fides 30 April 2003). The two Latin American co ...
• 7 May 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - NOW THE NIGHTMARE OF MALARIA HANGS OVER A MILLION HOMELESS AS FLOODS INUNDATE EASTERN REGIONS OF KENYA Nairobi (Fides Service) – At least one million people have been driven from their homes by severe floods in the eastern regions of Kenya. The provinces most affected are Nyanza and West province. A journalist of a loca ...
• 7 May 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - FLOODS STILL AN EMERGENCY: COUNTRY ASKS ITSELF HOW CAN SUCH DISASTERS BE AVOIDED Nairobi (Fides Service) – It is still difficult to estimate precisely the number of people killed and the damages caused by floods which stuck Kenya at the end of April. So far about thirty people are reported to have ...
• 7 May 2003
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - SLOW RETURN TO NORMALITY: MISSIONARIES PICK UP THE PIECES AT SACKED AND LOOTED MISSIONS Bangui (Fides Service) – “The situation in Bangui is now stable” a Comboni missionary in the Central African Republic, who prefers for security reasons to remain anonymous, tells Fides Service. “Since Francois Bo ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - SARS: THREE MORE PEOPLE DIE, BRINGING TOTAL NUMBER OF VICTIMS TO 14 Taipei (Fides Service) – In Taiwan three more people have died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, bringing the total number of deaths to 14. Five new reported cases bring the number of infected persons to 125. ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - CHURCH IN KOREA SENDS MESSAGE TO HINDUS FOR CELEBRATIONS ON 2547TH ANNIVERSARY OF BIRTH OF BUDDHA Seoul (Fides Service) – Buddhists in Korea have just received a special message from the Conference of Catholic Bishops Korea for the 8 May Vesakh festival to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Buddha. The messa ...
• 7 May 2003
  AMERICA/COLOMBIA - 2ND NATIONAL RECONCILIATION CONGRESS: BUILDING PEACE AND PROGRESS FOR A SOCIETY OF BROTHERHOOD Bogota (Fides Service) - The 2nd National Reconciliation Congress closed on May 7 in Bogotà (Colombia). The congress, organised by the Colombian Bishops Conference through the National office for social pastoral, was t ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - CARD. SHAN: NO PANIC, PRAYER AND SOLIDARITY TO FIGHT SARS: SUNDAY MAY 11 DAY OF PRAYER IN TAIWAN Taipei (Fides Service) – “We must avoid spreading panic over SARS among the public. Instead we must pray and show solidarity to doctors and patients” Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi of Kaohsiung said this to Fides Servi ...
• 6 May 2003
  EUROPE/ITALY - SARS CHAPLAIN OF LARGEST CHINESE COMMUNITY IN ITALY: NO PROBLEM IN PRATO, ALTHOUGH DEEP CONCERN FOR SITUATION IN CHINA Prato (Fides Service) – “With regard to the SARS virus, the situation of the Chinese community in Prato (near Florence) is calm” Fr Giovanni, PIME missionary tells Fides. Fr Giovanni works in Prato assisting the la ...
• 6 May 2003
  ASIA/VIETNAM - HE WAS A DOCTOR FOR LEPERS THEN HE ASKED HIMSELF, BESIDES CURING DISEASE HOW COULD HE TREAT SOLITUDE? TODAY HE IS A PRIEST Hanoi (Fides Service) – Ten years ago he was a doctor, today he is a priest, but his life is still a service to the poor, the marginalised, the terminally ill, anyone needing material assistance and moral and spiritual ...
• 6 May 2003
  AMERICA/PERU - MISSIONARY CHILDHOOD HOLDS NATIONAL FESTIVAL: MARY MOTHER OF ALL CHILDREN Lima (Fides Service) – On May 24, as part of celebrations for the National Missionary Childhood day in Peru, held on the last Sunday in May with collections in parishes and schools, the local Church has organised a “ ...
• 6 May 2003
  AFRICA/SENEGAL - VOICES OF WOMEN, CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM, AGAINST INTRODUCTION OF ISLAMIC RULES IN SENEGAL’S NEW CODE OF THE FAMILY Dakar (Fides Service) – Increasingly heated the debate in Senegal with regard to a new family code. A number of Muslim associations aim to include rules of Islamic law; a possibility which meets with opposition from Ch ...
• 6 May 2003
  AFRICA/GUINEA - CONAKRY – MONS. VINCENT COURBALY, APPOINTED METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP Vatican City (Fides Service) – The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has (6 May 2003) appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Conakry in Guinea, Mons Vincent Courbaly, until now Bishop of Kankan. (Fides Service 6/5/2003 ...
• 6 May 2003
  EUROPE/GERMANY - REV. HERMANN SCHALÜCK CONFIRMED NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES AACHEN-GERMANY Vatican City (Fides Service) - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples has confirmed (23 April 2003) National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies Aachen-Germany, Rev. ...