Asia

• 23 February 2005
  ASIA/IRAN - Caritas Italy ready to intervene to help earthquake victims in Kerman south east Iran Teheran (Fides Service) - Caritas Italy has expressed sympathy and solidarity to Iran after the earthquake on 22 February in Kerman, south east of Iran, about 700 km from the capital Teheran, in which whole villages wer ...
• 23 February 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - Two months after the tsunami disaster Papal Nuncio visits affected areas New Delhi (Fides Service) - Recently Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana Papal Nuncio to India visited Catholic communities in areas affected by the December 26 tsunami to comfort bereaved families, encourage the work of reb ...
• 23 February 2005
  ASIA/MALAYSIA - United Nations High Commission for Refugees protects Burmese refugees in Malaysia Kuala Lumpur (Fides Service) - To cope with the continuous flow of immigrants coming from Myanmar the government of Malaysia plans to clamp down on illegal immigrants. The operation will start when the present amnesty en ...
• 22 February 2005
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - Italian post tsunami aid in Sri Lanka: volunteers for development (VIS) and Italy’s national civil protection unit sign two agreements Colombo (Fides Service) - Two Italian development programmes in tsunami affected Negombo and Trincomalee have started as a result of an agreement between the Italian civil protection unit and Salesian NGO Volontariato In ...
• 22 February 2005
  ASIA/INDONESIA - “If only the conflicting parties would see how the people suffer!”: director of Indonesian Catholic Bishops’ “Crisis and Reconciliation Service” says to Fides Banda Aceh (Fides Service) - “Peace is possible if both sides (government and rebels) would only see how the people suffer”: Father Ignazio Ismartono, SJ, head of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference Crisis and Recon ...
• 22 February 2005
  ASIA/INDONESIA - All is calm in the Moluccas but missionaries warn against possible infiltration of terrorists Ambon (Fides Service) - The situation is calm in Ambon, capital of the Moluccas Islands in eastern Indonesia, apart from some minor episodes of violence in a few outlying islands. However security forces are still on the ...
• 22 February 2005
  ASIA/CHINA On the Feast of the Chair of Peter Chinese Catholics confirm fidelity and communion with the Pope and the universal Church Beijing (Fides Service) - This morning on the occasion of the Feast of the Chair of Peter during morning Masses in various churches in China priests encouraged those present to pray especially for the Successor of Peter ...
• 21 February 2005
  ASIA/CHINA - Young Catholics in China anxious to take part in World Youth Day 2005 in Germany Beijing (Fides Service) - As the next World Youth Day approaches enthusiasm among young Chinese Catholics is growing. The event will take place in August in Germany in the town of Cologne. After visiting the official WJT ...
• 21 February 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - Thousands make the Lenten pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Bandel taking part in 400 year old traditional procession Bandel (Fides Service) - In this season of Lent thousands of Catholics are making their way to the Marian Shrine at Bandel, in the Indian state of West Bengal, for the customary annual Lenten pilgrimage in preparation fo ...
• 21 February 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - “Interreligious dialogue is all the more important at times of misunderstanding and inequality”, says Bishop of Mangalore Mangalore (Fides Service) - While fundamentalist Hindu groups in India continue to harass Christians in various ways, Catholics in Mangalore are reflecting on the need to increase interreligious dialogue, also on the bas ...
• 20 February 2005
  ASIA/HONG KONG - “We have a Pope!” Message from Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong; 25 April solemn celebration in Hong Kong Cathedral Hong Kong (Fides Service) -“We have a Pope!” is the title of a message to the diocese issued by the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong Joseph Zen following the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Kong Ko Bao diocesan bulletin ...
• 20 February 2005
  ASIA/CHINA - Showers of congratulations from Catholics and non: “He has taken the name of the Pope who wrote Maximum illud which speaks of mission in China” Beijing (Fides Service) - Showers of congratulations for Benedict XVI are coming from Chinese Catholics everywhere. “Today at Mass we prayed for our Pope Benedict XVI and his mission. We wish him well. Benedict XVI ...
• 20 February 2005
  ASIA/CHINA - Theological writings of Pope Ratzinger translated and published in China in 2002 by the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing Beijing (Fides Service) - Theological writings of Pope Benedict XVI when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger were translated published in Chinese in 2002, an expert on relations between China and the Holy See told F ...
• 18 February 2005
  ASIA/INDIA - Syro-Malankara Church raised to the rank of Major Archdiocese and Archbishop Cyril Baselios of Trivandrum raised to the rank of Major Archbishop Trivandrum (Fides Service) - The announcement that Pope John Paul II raised the sui uiris Syro-Makankara Metropolitan Church to the rank of Major Archdiocese while at the same time raising Archbishop Cyril Baselios Malan ...
• 18 February 2005
  ASIA/CAMBODIA - underdevelopment and landmines, real problems in certain regions of Cambodia: Caritas Australia assists farming families Phnom Penh (Fides Service) - For Lent 2005 Caritas Australia re-launched its Mercy Programme to guarantee food and water to farming villages in the Kompong Cham area of Cambodia. For the past three years Australia’s Ca ...