Asia

• 8 May 2003
  ASIA/INDONESIA - IN ACEH WHERE TENSION BETWEEN REBELS AND ARMY RISES, THE FRANCISCAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY IS THE ONLY BULWARK Jakarta (Fides Service) - As tension rises in the Indonesian province of Aceh, in the far north of the island of Sumatra, Father Ferdinando Severi OFM Conv. Franciscan Friar and parish priest of the church of the Sacred ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - DIRECTOR OF PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES SAYS SARS HELPS LOOK BEYOND LABELS AND SEE PEOPLE AS CREATURES OF GOD Taipei (Fides Service) – “The lesson we learn from this sudden phenomenon of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is that we must look at people beyond their religious, cultural or social group and see the dignit ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - SARS: THREE MORE PEOPLE DIE, BRINGING TOTAL NUMBER OF VICTIMS TO 14 Taipei (Fides Service) – In Taiwan three more people have died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, bringing the total number of deaths to 14. Five new reported cases bring the number of infected persons to 125. ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - CHURCH IN KOREA SENDS MESSAGE TO HINDUS FOR CELEBRATIONS ON 2547TH ANNIVERSARY OF BIRTH OF BUDDHA Seoul (Fides Service) – Buddhists in Korea have just received a special message from the Conference of Catholic Bishops Korea for the 8 May Vesakh festival to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Buddha. The messa ...
• 7 May 2003
  ASIA/TAIWAN - CARD. SHAN: NO PANIC, PRAYER AND SOLIDARITY TO FIGHT SARS: SUNDAY MAY 11 DAY OF PRAYER IN TAIWAN Taipei (Fides Service) – “We must avoid spreading panic over SARS among the public. Instead we must pray and show solidarity to doctors and patients” Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi of Kaohsiung said this to Fides Servi ...
• 6 May 2003
  ASIA/VIETNAM - HE WAS A DOCTOR FOR LEPERS THEN HE ASKED HIMSELF, BESIDES CURING DISEASE HOW COULD HE TREAT SOLITUDE? TODAY HE IS A PRIEST Hanoi (Fides Service) – Ten years ago he was a doctor, today he is a priest, but his life is still a service to the poor, the marginalised, the terminally ill, anyone needing material assistance and moral and spiritual ...
• 6 May 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF CIVIL STRIFE “TIGERS” AND “LAMBS” EAT AT THE SAME TABLE: IS PEACE REALLY POSSIBLE? Colombo (Fides Service) – “Sri Lanka deserves peace, prosperity, dignity and equal rights for all: and we must work and pray unceasingly for peace” Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo told Fides Service. The Archb ...
• 5 May 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - SINHALESE SEMINARIANS WILL SPEND TIME IN TAMIL DIOCESES TO PROMOTE RECONCILIATION AMONG ETHNIC GROUPS AFTER 20 YEARS OF CIVIL WAR Colombo (Fides Service) – Sinhalese seminarians in Colombo archdiocese will spend a period of their formation in dioceses in North Sri Lanka where the people are mainly Tamil, as part of a scheme to increase the pastor ...
• 5 May 2003
  ASIA/NORTH KOREA - CARITAS APPEALS FOR MORE FOOD HEALTH AND AGRICULTURAL AID FOR NORTH KOREA Hong Kong (Fides Service) – Caritas Hong Kong has made a new appeal for aid to North Korea, hoping to collect 2.6 billion US Dollars in 12 months, to meet North Korea’s needs for food supplies, health and agricultura ...
• 5 May 2003
  ASIA/CHINA - MORE ACCESS, MORE TRAFFICK, MORE FREEDOM ON THE INTERNET SINCE OUTBREAK OF SARS, ALSO HELPS STUDENTS WITH SCHOOLS SHUT DOWN Beijing (Fides Service) – The outbreak of SARS has had at least one positive effect on China: greater freedom to use the Internet, until now under strict government control. Following the dismissal of the Chinese healt ...
• 5 May 2003
  ASIA/IRAQ - NON CONFESSIONAL PARTIES, SCHOOL REFORM, SECULAR STATE, TRIBALISM OUTLAWED: THIS IS THE IRAQ IRAQI CHRISTIANS WANT Baghdad (Fides Service) - “Democracy in Iraq is possible and this is what we hope for as Christians, because a system of authentic democracy would enable us to stay in our country” Father Nizar of Ninive diocese tell ...
• 5 May 2003
  ASIA/INDONESIA - BORNEO : THE INTERNET REACHES ACROSS 5000 KM OF INDONESIAN ARCHIPELAGO TO FORM CATHOLIC TEACHERS Jakarta (Fides Service) – To communicate, instruct, share experiences across the Indonesian archipelago which extends from east to west for 5,000 km in the Pacific Ocean, the local Catholic Church has decided to use fo ...
• 2 May 2003
  ASIA/CHINA - RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES COMMITTED TO FIGHTING SARS: CATHOLICS CALL FOR SUPPORT OF UNIVERSAL CHURCH Beijing (Fides Service) – Communities of the different religions in China, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians have joined the mobilisation of the people to fight SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, in particular by ...
• 2 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - LEADERS OF HINDU MOVEMENT REACH OUT TO CHRISTIANS ANXIOUS TO BUILD BROTHERHOOD AND UNIVERSAL FAMILY, REMOVING BARRIERS WHICH DIVIDE HUMANITY New Delhi (Fides Service) – Not only tension between Hindus and Catholics in India. Although in some states there are still attacks on Christians and Christian institutions by extremist Hindu groups, there are many gro ...
• 2 May 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - LAWYER SISTER GRACE THOMAS DEFENDS RIGHTS OF POOR AND EXCLUDED PEOPLES Bangalore (Fides Service) – Too many poor people end up in prison, even if they are innocent, because they have no legal assistance. This happens in developed countries in the West and all the more in India where pover ...