Asia

• 2 April 2004
  ASIA/AFGHANISTAN - Three million refugees repatriated in two years: returnees assisted by UN High Commission for Refugees and Christians agencies, particularly Jesuits and Salesians Berlin (Agenzia Fides) - This year alone, more than 65,000 Afghan refugees have gone home from Iran and Pakistan to rebuild their war-torn homeland. UN refugee agency chief Ruud Lubbers has called for improved security a ...
• 2 April 2004
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Catholic Maternity Hospital in Ternate, Moluccas, reopens: Christians and Muslims welcome this sign of hope and confidence Jakarta (Fides Service) - The Catholic Maternity Hospital on the small Island of Ternate, in the Moluccas, vitally important for the local people who are Christians and Muslims, has been reopened. The hospital, which is ...
• 1 April 2004
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Lay Catholics have leading role to play in pastoral care for migrants in Asia: conclusions of “Exodus”, week of formation for Religious and lay Catholics involved in pastoral care of migrants and itinerant peoples Tagaytay (Fides Service) - “Considering the phenomenon of migrants as a sign of the times we vowed to take loving care of itinerant peoples and celebrate communion in diversity ”: Scalabrino Father Fabio Baggio, Dire ...
• 1 April 2004
  ASIA/NORTH KOREA - “The people are hungry for food and peace”: Caritas Hong Kong reports after humanitarian mission in North Korea Hong Kong (Fides Service) - “In north Korea people are still struggling to survive and Caritas Hong Kong does all it can to alleviate the suffering of the people ”. Kathi Zellweger, head of international cooperation ...
• 1 April 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - “Forced conversions” and freedom of religious minorities: theme of electoral campaign - Bishops urge Catholics to fast and pray that the vote will be peaceful and transparent New Delhi (Fides Service) - Forced conversion and rights of minorities: in the electoral campaign in India - as general elections draw near 18 April - themes regarding the Christian community hold the stage. The Bharati ...
• 31 March 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - New nation wide plan to stop the advance of AIDS launched by fully committed local Catholic Church New Delhi (Fides Service) - A new nation wide plan to stop the advance of HIV/AIDS has been launched by the Catholic Church in India involving priests, religious, laity and seminarians, formation houses, religious congre ...
• 31 March 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - Catholic schools mark “Pakistan Day”: commitment to build a modern, liberal and tolerant country Lahore (Fides Service) - Christian and Muslim Catholic school pupils recently made a public commitment to building a country which is open, liberal and tolerant. The commitment was taken by some 300 boys and girls on the ...
• 30 March 2004
  ASIA/MALAYSIA - Programme of new government led by Abdullah Badawi: eliminate corruption promote transparency, give special attention to ethnic and religious minorities Kuala Lumpur (Fides Service) - Eliminate corruption and promote transparency in public administration, start economic reforms, attention to ethnic and religious minorities, development in rural areas: these are the main ...
• 30 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - A “new mission” in the Church and society: Korean Catholic Lay movement valorises contribution of the elderly Seoul (Fides Service) - Life does not end at 60, the age when many men and women retire from active working life: senior citizens have a lot to offer the Church and society with their experience, patience, wisdom and abi ...
• 30 March 2004
  ASIA/EAST TIMOR - Reconciliation and national harmony: Bishop elect Alberto Ricardo da Silva of Dili tells Fides about his mission Dili (Fides Service) - “I intend to intensify efforts to promote national harmony: in East Timor the Church has always striven to do this especially in times of difficulty and crisis. Today a greater effort must be mad ...
• 29 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - In the name of truth, local Catholic Churches in Korea and Japan write a new history of their countries to heal wounds inflicted in the past and promote reconciliation Seoul (Fides Service) - To build bridges of reconciliation between the people of Korea and Japan the local Churches in these two Asian countries are about to publish a new History of Korea and Japan. During a recent plen ...
• 27 March 2004
  DOSSIER ASIA/MYANMAR - Only education can rehabilitate former child soldiers in this country with a sad record number of tiny troops: Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon talks to Fides Yangon (Fides Service) - The South East Asian country of Myanmar, has the sad record of the highest number of child soldiers, more than 75,000. In Myanmar rebel groups of many different ethnic origins are fighting the re ...
• 27 March 2004
  DOSSIER ASIA/SRI LANKA - Yesterday brutalised and indoctrinated, today loved and educated to love: “Some former child soldiers are now teachers. This is our peace process, not talking at a table but acting in daily life, ” Father Pinto Humer told Fides. Anuradhapura (Fides Service) - Nirmal is a Tamil boy. When he was 12 he saw his father killed in combat between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil separatist troops. The rebels gave the boy a gun telling him to take reven ...
• 26 March 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - Catholics in Aizawl celebrate centenary of the first local baptism and community: it was the Salvatorian Fathers who first planted the seed of the Gospel among these peoples Shillong (Fides Service) - Exactly one hundred years ago a small group of missionaries went to a remote area of Assam state in north east India to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the local people. “It was the ...
• 26 March 2004
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - A Catholic seminarian in Jerusalem describes daily life in the Holy Land Jerusalem (Fides Service) - A Polish seminarian studying in Jerusalem tells Fides about life in the Holy Land: “We are sort of semi-clandestine and often have to stay inside the seminary to avoid being arrested and rep ...