Asia

• 9 January 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN – ADDRESSING A GATHERING OF MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER PRAISES CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS AND SOCIAL INSTITUTES Lahore (Fides Service ) – “I was educated at the Foreman Christian College and no one ever forced me to become a Christian. Today I am a good Muslim”, Pervaiz Chaudhry, chief minister of the north east province of ...
• 8 January 2004
  ASIA/INDIA – THE MEDIA, CRUCIAL CHALLENGE FOR CHURCH IN INDIA IN THE PRESENT SOCIAL-POLITICAL SCENARIO: BISHOPS HOLD GENERAL ASSEMBLY Trichur (Fides Service) – “The Bishops of India are reflecting on the theme ‘Church and Social Communications’ because in the present social-political scenario the Christian community is faced with difficult chal ...
• 8 January 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - PROTESTANT PASTOR SHOT DEAD: MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALISTS SUSPECTED Islamabad (Fides Service) – A Protestant minister was shot dead on January 5 in Khanewal, in central Pakistan. Pastor Mukhtar aged 50, had ministered in Khanewal for14 years first with the Full Gospel Assemblies and th ...
• 8 January 2004
  ASIA/KAZAKHSTAN - DEATH PENALTIES SUSPENDED: GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES CONCRETE STEPS TOWARDS ELIMINATION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Astana (Fides Service) – The first step towards its definitive abolition: a suspension of death penalties decreed at the end of 2003 by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, has been welcomed by the people of K ...
• 7 January 2004
  ASIA/INDONESIA - EMERITUS BISHOP SOUDANT OF PALEMBANG DIES IN HOSPITAL. CONGREGATION FOR THE EVANGELISATION OF PEOPLES SENDS HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES TO LOCAL CATHOLICS Rome (Fides Service)- Belgian born Bishop Joseph Hubertus Soudant, s.c.i, in charge of the Catholic diocese of Palembang (Indonesia) between1963 to 1997, died on 29 December 2003 in hospital in Lanaken, Belgium. Palemban ...
• 7 January 2004
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE PRESIDENT APPLAUDS INDIA AND PAKISTAN FOR NEW RELATIONS IN NEW MILLENNIUM URGING GOVERNMENTS TO UNITE TO FIGHT POVERTY AND REDUCE MILITARY SPENDING: FULL SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF Lahore (Fides Service) – “We are very pleased and welcome with joy the news of the governments’ decision to resume talks. We hope with all our heart that these talks will mark the start of a new era in relations be ...
• 29 December 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - TWO RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS MARK 75TH ANNIVERSARY WITH ORDINATIONS Taichung (Fides Service) – On 27 December, feast of Saint John the Apostle, the Little Brothers of St. John the Baptist (CSJB) and Little Sisters of St. Teresa di Lisieux (CST) locally founded congregations marked thei ...
• 23 December 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - 10,000 VOLUMES ON SHOW AT “BOOK FESTIVAL” ORGANISED BY PAULINE SISTERS IN MUMBAI: KEEN INTEREST AMONG VISITORS Mumbai (Fides Service) – Every year around Christmas the Pauline Editions organise a Book Festival in Mumbai. This year it was held from 28 November to 8 December at the House of the Pauline Sisters in Mumbai. The fest ...
• 23 December 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM SYRO-MALANKAR ARCHBISHOP CYRIL BASELIOS: MAY CHRISTMAS PEACE AND JOY DISSOLVE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS TENSION New Delhi (Fides Service ) – “Let us pray that Christmas will increase good will and comprehension among ourselves to enable us to be signs of the presence of Jesus in the world today”. This is the Christmas Messag ...
• 23 December 2003
  ASIA/TAJIKISTAN - CHRISTMAS CONCERT BY INTERRELIGIOUS CHOIR OFFERS FIRST EVER PERFORMANCE OF HANDEL’S MESSIAH Dushanbe (Fides Service) – For the first time the notes of Handel’s “Messiah” resounded in Tajikistan. Parts of the work regarding the birth of Christ and the majestic final were performed at a Christmas concert ...
• 23 December 2003
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM Jerusalem (Fides Service) – “Fear not. Hark, I bring you tidings of great joy: unto us a Saviour is born” (Lk 2,10-11). This passage from St Luke’s Gospel was the centre of a Christmas Message addressed to Christ ...
• 22 December 2003
  ASIA/IRAQ - QUIET CHRISTMAS IN BAGHDAD IN PRAYER AND HOPE FOR A BETTER FUTURE Baghdad (Fides Service )- “We will celebrate Christmas with solemnity despite the difficulties” local Church sources in Iraq told Fides. “Due to the lack of security we will not have midnight Mass in Baghdad or in ...
• 19 December 2003
  ASIA/NEPAL - REVIEWING 2003: AMIDST SITUATION OF VIOLENCE, GRIEVING, POVERTY, LOCAL CHURCH CONTINUES SERVE PEOPLE OF THIS LAND SHARING THEIR JOYS AND SORROWS: NEW YOUTH CENTRE OPENS ON 2 JANUARY IN KATHMANDU Kathmandu (Fides Service) – The year 2003 was one of difficulty marked by violence. Many families suffered losses of loved ones. The little Church in Nepal, (6.000 souls amidst a population of 23 million), stood by to ...
• 19 December 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - BOOST COMMUNICATION IN AND AMONG ASIAN FAMILIES FOR MUTUAL ENRICHMENT AND EVANGELISATION SAYS COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION OF ASIAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES Colombo (Fides Service) – How to boost communication in families and among families of different nationalities in Asia was the theme of a recent Meeting in Negombo (Sri Lanka), organised by the Commission for Social C ...
• 19 December 2003
  ASIA/TURKEY –CLOSER THAN EVER IN SOLIDARITY AND DIALOGUE WITH COMMUNITIES OF OTHER RELIGIONS, TURKEY’S CHRISTIANS PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS Istanbul (Fides Service ) – “This Christmas we Turkish Christians feel a deeper sense of solidarity and closeness with Jewish and Muslim communities: this is undoubtedly because of the recent tragic attacks in Istanb ...