Asia

• 28 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - INTERVIEW WITH CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF CALCUTTA: STOP ANTI-CONVERSION BILL. EVERY PERSON MUST ENJOY FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE –MOTHER TERESA IS “GLOBAL”, SHE BELONGS TO THE WHOLE CHURCH AND THE WHOLE WORLD Vatican City (Fides Service) – “Salvation is for all peoples. The Church proclaims and bears witness to the Good News, despite persecution”. This affirmation was made by Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Calcutta, who was ...
• 28 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - “A CHRISTIAN DOES NOT CONVERT PEOPLE: A CHRISTIAN SPEAKS ABOUT GOD AND GOD CONVERTS HEARTS” SAY THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF INDIA WHERE CHRISTIANS HAVE SUFFERED OVER 500 ATTACKS IN THE PAST FEW YEARS New Delhi (Fides Service) – In recent years there have been over 500 attacks on India’s Christians and Christian structures. Christians in India are persecuted by fundamentalist ideological nationalism. Several extre ...
• 27 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - CATHOLIC TEACHERS IN INDIA ASK THEMSELVES: “WHO IS THE CATHOLIC TEACHER? WHAT IS HIS OR HER VOCATION AND MISSION TODAY? Bangalore (Fides Service) – Who is the Catholic teacher? What is his or her vocation and mission? To find the answers to these questions was the purpose of a recent meeting of Catholic teachers in India organised by th ...
• 27 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - INTERRELIGIOUS TORCHLIGHT RALLY IN AID OF THE FIGHT AGAINST SARS, A SIGN OF SOLIDARITY AND LOVE Taipei (Fides Service) – The different religions in Taiwan have launched a series of initiatives in support of the victims of SARS and the medical staff involved. One of the events was a torchlight rally on May 28 in T ...
• 26 May 2003
  ASIA/MYANMAR - APPOINTMENT OF METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS IN YANGON AND MANDALAY AND BISHOP OF PATHEIN Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has, 24 May 2003, made the following appointments in Myanmar: 1. he appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Yangon, Bishop Charles Bo SDB, until now Bishop ...
• 26 May 2003
  ASIA/MALAYSIA - KUALA LUMPUR - ARCHBISHOP ANTONY SOTER FERNANDEZ RESIGNS, MGR. MURPHY NICHOLAS XAVIER PAKIAM, APPOINTED Vatican City (Fides Service) – The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has (24 May 2003) accepted the resignation of the pastoral government of the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, (Malaysia) presented by Archbishop Antony Sote ...
• 26 May 2003
  ASIA/KOREA - GROWING SUCCESS FOR LIFE 31 MOVEMENT PRO HUMAN LIFE, PRO HUMAN RIGHTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE OF THE UNBORN CHILD, AGAINST ABORTION AND EUTHANASIA Seoul (Fides Service) – A new pro-life movement LIFE 31, promoted this year by the Korean Bishops’ Conference is proving a great success. The moderator is Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon, president of the Committee for Fami ...
• 26 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - CHURCH WORKS FOR TRIUMPH OF TRUTH ABOUT VIOLENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DALITS “UNTOUCHABLE” AND “INVISIBLE” FOR INDIA’S CASTE SOCIETY New Delhi (Fides Service) – “We are here as persons interested in Dalit problems and looking at the position of the Catholic Church there is a need to plan concrete strategies in this direction” said Bishop Chinnap ...
• 26 May 2003
  ASIA/IRAQ - UN SANCTIONS A THING OF THE PAST: AT LAST THERE IS A CHANCE FOR A NEW IRAQ PROSPEROUS FOR ALL ITS CITIZENS. “THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD TAKE CARE NOT TO REPEAT MISTAKES OF THE PAST” SAYS REV. NIZAR Baghdad (Fides Service) – “At last we can say that the UN sanctions are a thing of the past” says Rev. Nizar Samaan from the diocese of Mosul in Iraq. “On hearing this news we rejoice and we hope that as soon as ...
• 23 May 2003
  ASIA/KOREA - REVEREND JOHN SUNG HO APPOINTED RECTOR OF TAEGU INTER-DIOCESAN SEMINARY Vatican City (Fides Service) - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has appointed (15 May 2003) Rector of the Inter-Diocesan Seminary in Taegu, Korea, Reverend John Sun ...
• 23 May 2003
  ASIA/VIETNAM - SUDDEN DEATH OF HEROIC HERALD OF THE GOSPEL, APOSTLE OF VOCATIONS, BISHOP VAN NHO COADJUTOR OF NHA TRANG, Nha Trang (Fides Service) – Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nho, coadjutor of Nha Trang diocese in Vietnam, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 66 on 21 May. The entire local Church, clergy, religious, seminarians a ...
• 23 May 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - FLOODS LEAVE 250 DEAD AND 44,000 HOMELESS FAMILIES: FEARS FOR ECONOMY IN THE SOUTH: CARITAS FULLY COMMITTED FOR AID Colombo (Fides Service) – Since severe floods hit southern areas of Sri Lanka, “the local Church has been among the first to offer relief with great speed and concern” Archbishop Thomas Yeh Sheng-nan, Nuncio to Sri ...
• 23 May 2003
  ASIA/KOREA - KOREAN CATHOLICS KEEP UP MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL AID FOR IRAQI PEOPLE SUFFERING AFTERMATH OF WAR Seoul (Fides Service) – Korean Catholics’ concern for the Iraqi people who are suffering in the aftermath of the war continues. On April 12 the Caritas Korea Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference CBCK and t ...
• 22 May 2003
  ASIA/INDONESIA - STUDIES SOON TO BE RESUMED IN THE MOLUCCAS: PATTIMURA UNIVERSITY TO RE-OPEN Ambon (Fides Service) – Pattimura state university in Ambon, capital of the Moluccas province of Indonesia, will resume normal academic activity in the coming month of August. The Indonesian Minister for Social Affairs ...
• 22 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - IDEOLOGICAL NATIONALISM OF EXTREMIST GROUPS STRIKES MISSIONARIES. NEW AHAD ASSOCIATION PROMOTES SOCIAL HARMONY. EVER STRONGER INDIAN BISHOPS’ NO TO ANTI-CONVERSION LAW IN GUJARAT New Delhi (Fides Service) – Christian missionaries in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, are threatened and impeded in their mission to evangelise. A local Catholic priest, Father Matthew Vattakunnel, denounces that a ...