News

• 2 February 2009
  AFRICA - Relaunching the economy, the crises in several countries, and the “United States of Africa” are the focus for the 12th Summit of the African Union; Libyan leader Gheddafi elected President of the Union Addis Ababa (Agenzia Fides) – The crises in Somalia, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Zimbabwe, and Sudan; economic development and reform of internal groups of the Union, are among the main topics for discussion at the 12th ...
• 31 January 2009
  EUROPE/BELGIUM - Chocolates and Kebabs - Meeting/interview with Mgr Jozef De Kesel, auxiliary Bishop of Malines-Brussels (Luca De Mata correspondence from Belgium - 13) Brussels (Agenzia Fides) - Brussels, like the rest of Belgium, gives you a feeling of living in a perfumed chocolate box, amidst kebab shops from which come young people carrying spicy aroma filled kebabs. Cities with st ...
• 30 January 2009
  AMERICA/VENEZUELA - University students deplore violence and confrontation in the country, calling them “events that upset and sadden the people of Venezuela, who want to live in peace and democracy.” Caracas (Agenzia Fides) – The Department of Youth and Campus Ministry has issued a statement to all universities in Venezuela, expressing its stance on the violent events that have recently taken place in the universit ...
• 30 January 2009
  AMERICA/PERU - First Spirituality Congress of the “Sodalite” Family, “a special occasion to reflect, discuss, and give meaning to the community” Lima (Agenzia Fides) – In an authentic family environment and in spiritual reflection, with over 1,200 members of the “Sodalite” Family, today the First Spirituality Congress of Sodalite began in the city of Lima, ...
• 30 January 2009
  ASIA/TAIWAN - Close of the Jubilee Celebration for the 100th anniversary of the death of two co-founders of the Verbiti missionaries, Saint Arnold Janssen and Saint Joseph Freinademetz Tai Nan (Agenzia Fides) - “So that the light of God's Word and the Grace of the Spirit can enter people's hearts”: this is the goal of the Verbiti (Society of the Divine Word, SVD) of the Chinese province confirmed i ...
• 30 January 2009
  AFRICA/DR CONGO - 900 dead and 700 kidnapped by Ugandan guerrillas in North Congo; Caritas calls for “protection of humanitarian aid organizations working to help victims of the violence.” Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – There are nearly 900 people dead and over 700 kidnapped by Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), since a series of attacks tha ...
• 30 January 2009
  MISSIONARY INTENTION - The Pope’s Missionary Intention for February 2009: “That the Church in Africa may find adequate ways and means to promote reconciliation, justice and peace efficaciously, according to the indications of the Synod of the Bishops’ Special Assembly for Africa.” Commentary. Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – This past month of November, the Special Council for Africa, of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, in preparation for the upcoming second Synod for this continent, met in th ...
• 30 January 2009
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - Message from the Custodians of the Holy Land for the International Day of Prayer for peace in the Holy Land, January 31: “Peace has a price, peace demands conversion...Praying for peace means opening our hearts to receive peace, God's gift to those loved by the Lord.” Rome (Agenzia Fides) – On the occasion of the International Day of Prayer for Peace, to be celebrated on January 31 in over 400 cities across the world, during which youth will take part in 24 hours of continuous praye ...
• 30 January 2009
  VATICAN - The Pope tells Bishops of Russia in their Ad Limina visit: the Catholic community is called to offer the youth a pure transmission of “the wealth of holiness and fidelity to Christ and to the human and spiritual values that are at the basis of efficient human and evangelical progress.” Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Communion with the Bishop of Rome, guarantee of ecclesial unity, allows the communities entrusted to your pastoral care, although minorities, to feel 'cum Petro and sub Petro,' living pa ...
• 30 January 2009
  VATICAN - Benedict XVI tells the Roman Rota: “Above all, there is a need for a positive rediscovery of the capacity that normally every person has to be married, by virtue of their very nature as man or woman. We run the risk of falling into a sort of anthropological pessimism that, in light of the present cultural situation, considers it practically impossible to be married.” Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Above all, there is a need for a positive rediscovery of the capacity that normally every person has to be married, by virtue of their very nature as man or woman. We run the risk of fal ...
• 30 January 2009
  ASIA/TURKEY - Preparing for the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul: As the world faces a water crisis, “we need to protect this essential good for humanity” Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The planet's water sources are drying up. There is an urgent need for intervention, in order to protect them and administer their resources. This is the focus of attention for the international c ...
• 29 January 2009
  VATICAN - The Holy Father's telegram to the new Patriarch of Moscow and of All Russia, Kirill Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father Benedict XVI sent the following telegram to the new Patriarch of Moscow and of All Russia, Kirill. “I have received with gladness the news of your election as patriarch ...
• 29 January 2009
  VATICAN - Pope encourages faithful to pray to the Lord and to Saint Paul, that “as Christians, we can be ever more characterized, in relation with the society in which we live, as members of the 'family of God'...and that the pastors of the Church have increasingly more paternal sentiments, both gentle and strong, in the formation of the house of God, of the community, of the Church.” Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The final letters of Saint Paul, called the pastoral letters, two sent to Timothy, and one to Titus, his close collaborators, were the focus of the catechesis of the Holy Father Benedict ...
• 29 January 2009
  VATICAN - WORDS OF DOCTRINE: Rev Nicola Bux and Rev Salvatore Vitiello - Revocation of excommunication: an act of real ecumenism. Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI expressed a wish in a Letter which accompanied the Motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, addressed to the Catholic bishops of the world, on 7 July 2007: “ I ...
• 29 January 2009
  ASIA/HONG KONG - Father Quirino De Ascaniis, PIME missionary for 75 years in Hong Kong, dies at the age of 100, known and loved for his dedication and complete openness to God's will. Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - “He served the Church and the mission in the Chinese world with all his life and strength, dedicating himself to the parish, pastoral ministry, etc. with a great simplicity.” This was how ...