Vatican

• 12 December 2005
  VATICAN - Pope Benedict at Sunday midday Angelus prayer encourages preparation for Christmas: “Sad to say in the present day consumer society this season is subject to commercial ‘pollution’ which threatens to distort its true spirit of reflection, sobriety and joy which comes from within rather than outside” Vatican City (Fides Service) - Preparation for Christmas was the central theme of Benedict XVI's reflections before praying the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. " Sad to say in the present day c ...
• 12 December 2005
  VATICAN - Charity Auction in aid of children in Sudan Vatican City (Fides Service) - Once again this year the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples is holding a charity Auction of objects donated by benefactors. The funds raised will go to help children Sudan. Th ...
• 10 December 2005
  VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI grants special audience to men and women religious: “The Church needs your witness, she needs consecrated persons to face the challenges of the present day with courage and creativity” Vatican City (Fides Service) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI granted a special audience to about 8,000 men and women religious working in the Rome diocese to whom he expressed his grat ...
• 9 December 2005
  VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI in Piazza di Spagna: “In these forty years Our Lady has sustained the Bishops and first of all the Successors of Peter in their demanding ministry at the service of the Gospel; she has led the Church to a faithful understanding and application of the Council documents” Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - In the afternoon of December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception in keeping with his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI went to pay homage to the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piazza ...
• 9 December 2005
  VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI on the solemnity of Immaculate Mary Mother of God conceived without stain of original sin: “if we abandon ourselves totally into the hands of God we do not become boring and consenting people, puppets of God,; we do not lose our freedom. Indeed only if we trust ourselves entirely to God can we find true freedom, the vast and creative freedom of goodness.” Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On the feast of the Immaculate Conception December 8 1965 in Saint Peter’s basilica as he solemnly closed the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI declared the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother ...
• 9 December 2005
  VATICAN - Benedict XVI at the Angelus reflection contemplates Immaculate Mary: “May her heavenly purity draw us to God, help us to overcome the temptation to live a mediocre life of compromise with evil and orient ourselves decidedly towards authentic goodness with is the source of joy” Vatican City (Fides Service) -On Thursday December 8th (a bank holiday in Italy and other countries) in his brief address before leading the prayer of the Angelus at midday with people gathered in St Peter’s Square Pop ...
• 7 December 2005
  VATICAN - “We must be certain that however burdensome and stormy are the trials that await us, we will never be left alone, we will never fall from the Lord's hands, the hands that created us and now follow us on life's itinerary”: Pope Benedict XVI explains Psalm 137 Vatican City (Fides Service) - In his reflection addressed to some 20,000 visitors at the Wednesday audience this morning in St Peter’s Square Pope Benedict XVI focused on Psalm 137 (“thanksgiving”) - vespers Tuesd ...
• 6 December 2005
  VATICAN - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe concludes pastoral visit in Vietnam inaugurating new diocese of Bà Ria and installing first Bishop: the Church in Vietnam is living an important page in its history, a page of joy and hope Bà Ria (Fides Service) - On the last lap of his pastoral visit to the Catholic Church in Vietnam Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples was present for the inauguration o ...
• 5 December 2005
  VATICAN - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe on pastoral visit to Ho Chi Minh City archdiocese: “St Francis Xavier responded generously to the Lord’s command, crossing the world to announce Christ. Today the missionary situation is no better” Ho Chi Minh City (Fides Service) - The pastoral visit to Vietnam of Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 November touched the archdiocese of Ho ...
• 5 December 2005
  VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI at the Angelus prayer recalls that “religious freedom is far from guaranteed effectively and everywhere” and asks those present to pray “that every man and women may realise to the full the religious vocation inscribed in the depth of every being” Vatican City (Fides Service) - In the spirit of Advent, when “the ecclesial Community prepares to celebrate the great mystery of the Incarnation it is called to rediscover and deepen its personal relation with God”, ...
• 2 December 2005
  VATICAN - “I know the Lord is a Father to the Church in Viêt Nam and very generous in his blessings. The apostolic results we see are fruits of common efforts and sincere and fraternal collaboration”: Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in Huê Huê (Agenzia Fides) - After the pilgrimage to the national Marian shrine of Our Lady of La Vang and the blessing of the House of the Pilgrim, in the afternoon of Thursday 1 December Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of ...
• 2 December 2005
  VATICAN - New call from Benedict XVI: “the leaders of nations and all people of good will to unite and put a stop to the violence that disfigures humanity and places a heavy mortgage on the development of mankind and the hope of many peoples” Vatican City (Fides Service) - On December 1 Pope Benedict XVI received the Letters of Credence of eleven new ambassadors to the Holy See. After greeting the diplomats, he gave each of them a written message concerning ...
• 1 December 2005
  VATICAN - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe on pastoral visit to Vietnam visits Hué archdiocese: “We thank God for his great mercy and all missionaries have gave their lives that we might form the People of God” Hué (Fides Service) - In the afternoon of 30 November Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, started a new lap of his pastoral journey to Vietnam with a visit to the arc ...
• 1 December 2005
  VATICAN - Declaration from Holy See Press Office Vatican City (Fides Service) - At the end of the morning yesterday 30 November the Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration: "Over recent days, news agencies have reported two d ...
• 1 December 2005
  VATICAN - “O Mother intercede for us and for all who suffer because of religious persecution, injustice, discrimination, war”: Cardinal Sepe prays to Our Lady of Lavang Hué (Fides Service) - On December 1 Cardinal Sepe, still on his pastoral visit to Catholics in Vietnam, made a pilgrimage to the national Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Lavang where in the past persecuted Christians fled ...