Asia

• 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 ...
• 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
  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
  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
  ASIA/INDIA - An archbishop and a team of religious mediators restore peace among conflicting ethnic groups in north east India Guwahati (Fides Service) - A Catholic Archbishop is acting as mediator among ethnic groups in conflict in the state of Assam, north east India, the scene of clashes between various tribes engaged in political, economic, ...
• 8 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Coherence, credibility, commitment for human rights: local Church issues guidelines for general elections scheduled for 15 April Seoul (Fides Service) - In view of general elections on 15 April, the Church in Korea issued guidelines for Catholic voters, recalling the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. The Catholic Bishops’ Justice and Peac ...
• 8 March 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN Christian and Muslim students fast together in Lent and Ramadan at St Lawrence Catholic School in Lahore Lahore (Fides Service) - “The initiative taken by the Muslim pupils with regard to Catholic pupils was deeply appreciated”, Father Francis Nadeem, secretary of the Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialog ...
• 8 March 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Solemn Mass for entrance of Archbishop Evarist Pinto, newly appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Karachi Karachi (Fides Service) - With a solemn Mass in Karachi at the end of February, Archbishop Evarist Pinto, the fourth archbishop of Kararchi, took possession of his cathedral. The Mass was presided by Archbishop Alessandr ...
• 5 March 2004
  ASIA/TAJIKISTAN - Growing Catholic community in Tajikistan welcomes two new priests from Argentina Dushanbe (Fides Service) - Two priests from Argentina, members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, have reached their new destination: the Catholic Mission in Tagikistan. The priests are Father Ezequiel Ayala from Ba ...
• 4 March 2004
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem issues Lenten Message: “However, the human person in this land is not called to live in a state of permanent war...those who impose oppression have the duty to put an end to it so that the land might then know the security and peace that are so much desired” Jerusalem (Fides Service) - “Fasting is to return to God and thereby to return to all our brothers and sisters. It is to rid ourselves of all the evils that have accumulated in us, so that we acquire the strength of t ...
• 4 March 2004
  ASIA/TURKEY - Friars Minor in Istanbul open new International Fraternity Centre for dialogue with Orthodox Christians and followers of Islam Istanbul (Fides Service) - In the presence of the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, Fr. Josh Rodriguez Carballo, a new International Fraternity Santa Maria Draperis was opened in Istanbul on 29 February. The ...
• 3 March 2004
  ASIA/IRAQ - “The people who plan and execute these acts want to prevent Iraq from becoming free and democratic ” Father Nizar in Ninive tells Fides Baghdad (Fides Service)-“We firmly condemn the attacks on the Shiite community in Baghdad and Karbala”, Father Nizar Semaan, in the Iraqi diocese of Ninive, told Fides with regard to the two attacks on Iraqi Shiite M ...