News

• 26 June 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - From Congo swept once again by the winds of war the last tesimony of a Xaverian missionary Uvira (Fides Service)- “He wanted to die here among the people he served for more than 30 years” Italian Xaverian missionary, Father Luigi Lo Stocco, director of Radio Maria “Wa Amani” in Bukavu in the east of De ...
• 26 June 2004
  AFRICA - United Nations High Commission for Refugees reaffirms commitment to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS Rome (Fides Service) - With the signing of a memorandum-agreement the United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHCR has become the tenth co-sponsor of UNAIDS, the United Nations programme to fight HIV/AIDS, in the am ...
• 26 June 2004
  EUROPE/SPAIN - “It is not a question of ‘doing’ many things, however important they may be, but rather of spreading the spirit born from Christ’s command: Go and announce the Gospel to all men and women ” Spanish Diocesan Directors of the PMS say at the conclusion of their annual meeting Madrid (Fides Service) - A path of missionary formation for children and young people, reflection on mission ad gentes in the new cultural and social situations, integration of missionary work achieved by Church Movement ...
• 26 June 2004
  OCEANIA/SOLOMON ISLANDS - Prime Minister praises Christians for contribution past and present to growth of the nation: celebrations mark 100 anniversary of arrival of first Catholic missionaries in these remote Pacific islands Honiara (Fides Service) - Gratitude to Christian missionaries who in the past and present contributed to the growth of the nation was voiced recently by Solomon Islands Prime Minister. Sir Allan Kemakeza commended the V ...
• 26 June 2004
  AMERICA/COLOMBIA - 500 years of evangelisation or 500 years of slavery? Colombian Bishops concern for project which threatens to undermine the evangelisation of indigenous peoples Rome (Fides Service - “We face the concerning phenomenon of the penetration of certain ideologies which claim to defend the indigenous peoples, but in fact manipulate them" Archbishop Iván Antonio Marín López, Arch ...
• 25 June 2004
  AFRICA/ZAMBIA - Radio Liseli new channel of hope opened by Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Lusaka (Fides Service)- A new Catholic radio station has been inaugurated in Zambia. Radio Liseli in an initiative of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. According to DIA a local news agency the radio has two obje ...
• 25 June 2004
  AMERICA/LATIN AMERICA - Every year thousands of children die due to lack of clean water and basic healthcare Rome (Fides Service) - Every year in Latin America and the Caribbean more than 36,000 children under five die of diseases caused by lack of clean water and basic health-care. Another 14,500 die because of pollution in ...
• 25 June 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - “In Burundi all the warring parties are guilty of crimes against civilians” Human Rights Watch denounces Bujumbura (Fides Service)- “Everyone is pleased with the progress towards peace but they seem to forget that outside the capital for hundreds of thousands of people war continues ” Alison Des Forges, head of the Afri ...
• 25 June 2004
  ASIA/IRAQ - “Zarqawi the terrorist wants to free Iraq from foreign invaders? Well he should be the first to go, seeing he is not Iraqi and he is shedding the innocent blood of Iraqis” a priest in northern Iraq told Fides Baghdad (Fides Service)-“Who asked him to come here to “defend” our people and carry out his heinous attacks on innocent civilians?”. Father Nizar Semaan, Iraqi Catholic priest in Mosul north Iraq is dismayed by ...
• 25 June 2004
  AMERICA/ARGENTINA - "Espíritu y Carisma’", 25 years of evangelisation through the press to bring people closer to the Word of God Parana (Fides Service) - The aim of ‘Espíritu y Carisma’, magazine which marked its 25th anniversary on June 23, is to “help the world know, accept and love Jesus as the only Lord and Master and to be 'the sword o ...
• 25 June 2004
  ASIA/TAIWAN - Local community of Opus Dei celebrates Mass of thanksgiving to God for its founder Saint San Jose Maria Escrivá Taipei (Fides Service) - To celebrate the feast day of founder of Opus Dei Saint Jose María Escrivá canonised by Pope John Paul 6 October 2002 in Rome, the local Opus Dei community in Taiwan, guided by Rev. Rolando Sia ...
• 25 June 2004
  ASIA/INDIA - Kerala’s “barefoot missionary” proclaimed “Venerable”, first step towards sainthood Palai (Fides Service) - The Catholic Church of Syro-Malabar rite in Kerala, southern India has obtained recognition of one of its apostles: the Holy See has given the title of Venerable to Father Augustine Thevarparambil ...
• 25 June 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “Only justice brings real peace. I will tell this to the American Secretary of State when he comes to Sudan” said Bishop Macram Max Gassis, Catholic Bishop of El Obeid Khartoum (Fides Service)- “The fact that Mr Colin Powell is coming to Sudan is a positive sign. I want to meet him, to plead the cause of the weakest members of our country” Bishop Macram Max Gassis, Sudanese Catholi ...
• 25 June 2004
  EUROPE/POLAND - Priests, men and women religious laity and seminarians reflect on missionary commitment in their respective communities in the light of the post synodal exhortation “Ecclesia in Europa”. Warsaw (Fides Service) - As in the past, the Pontifical Mission Societies in Poland will hold an annual Course of Missionary Animation Grade 2, from June 28 to July 4, Father Jan Piotrowski, national director of the Pont ...
• 25 June 2004
  EUROPE/FRANCE - France’s annual national pilgrimage to Lourdes led by Cardinal Barbarin will include a special pilgrim this year, Pope John Paul II Paris (Fides Service) - Last year Pope John Paul II received an invitation from the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Bishop Jacques Perrier and Bishop Jean-Pierre Ricard President of the French Bishops’ Conference, to vis ...