News

• 10 March 2004
  VATICAN - “There is no rise in the number of atheists in the world”, according to survey on ‘non belief and religious indifference’ carried out by Pontifical Council for Culture in preparation for annual Plenary 11-13 March in the Vatican Vatican City (Fides Service) - To fulfil the mission entrusted to it by the Holy Father to be at the heart of profound changes at the beginning of this new millennium, the Pontifical Council for Culture felt the need to ...
• 10 March 2004
  AMERICA/PERU - Enrolment started for 10th Missiology Course organised by the National Mission Centre on basic themes of the Church’s universal mission and elements to facilitate the evangelising mission of pastoral workers Lima (Fides Service) - Peru’s National Mission Centre CENAMIS, sponsored by the Missions Commission of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Peru under the aegis of the Civil and Pontifical Theology Faculty in Lima, th ...
• 10 March 2004
  VATICAN - New "Directory on the Pastoral Ministry of the Bishop”: an aid for Bishops in their complex ecclesial service to meet the needs of the Church and of society today. Vatican City (Fides Service) - On March 9 the Congregation for Bishops issued a note presenting a new “Directory for the Ministry of Bishops Apostolorum Successores”, (dated 22 February 2004) already in Italian, and ...
• 10 March 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - Catholic Bishops of India appeal to the electorate to cast ‘responsible vote’ in April general elections New Delhi (Fides Service) - An appeal to fulfil the duty to vote and to choose candidates who respect life, promote human dignity, social equality, religious harmony and national unity has been launched to the Catholics ...
• 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 ...
• 10 March 2004
  AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - New outbreak of cholera: 60 dead and 15,000 infected in two months Rome (Fides Service) - An outbreak of cholera is affecting central and southern regions of Mozambique. More than 60 people have died and 15,000 were infected in the past two months. Maputo, the capital, was among the mos ...
• 10 March 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO - A year after the peace pact which put an end to hostilities in the Pool region, government takes stock of progress made Brazzaville (Agenzia Fides)- On March 7, a year after the signing of a peace agreement between the government and Ninja, rebels led by Frederic Bitsangou or Pastor Ntoumi as he likes to be called, the state minister for ...
• 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
  EUROPE/AUSTRIA - Bishop Ludwig Schwarz confirmed National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies Vatican City (Fides Service) - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has (22 February 2004), confirmed National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria ...
• 9 March 2004
  AMERICA/HAITI - “A serious humanitarian disaster threatens. As always the people of Haiti are the loses. Every new crisis leaves them poorer and more vulnerable ”. A report from Haiti Port-au-Prince (Fides Service)-“How can these men be disarmed ”, is the question on the lips of all Haitians, according to a local Church source contacted by Fides in Haiti where gangs of armed supporters of ousted P ...
• 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
  AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Giving of its poverty the Church in Colombia sends missionaries to West Africa: three Eudist Missionaries will open a new mission in São Tome and Principe, faithful to their motto: “We were born in Ocana to be missionaries to the world”. Rome (Fides Service) - On March 25 three Eudist missionaries, Father Manuel Jesus Arias Madariaga, former novice master, Father Ricardo Mendoza and lay missionary Ivan Lugo will set out from Colombia for mission “ad ge ...
• 9 March 2004
  VATICAN - “The Christian faith at the dawn of the new millennium and the challenge of non belief and religious indifference”: Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture Vatican City (Fides Service) - About sixty participants from all over the world will attend the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Culture, in the Vatican 11-13 March, presided by Cardinal Paul Poupard. The t ...
• 9 March 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - 600 million of the world’s people suffer from some sort of disability: 80% live in developing countries. “Cuamm-Doctors with Africa” discuss the situation Rome (Fides) - The World Health Organisation estimates that in the world about 600 million people (25% of the world’s population) suffer from one or another type of disability. Of these 80% live in developing countries ...