News

• 21 January 2004
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - BISHOPS STATEMENT DENOUNCING CLIMATE OF INSECURITY AND WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE BRINGS POSITIVE REACTION Bangui (Fides Service) - “Reactions were positive to the Bishops’ statement. The message was welcomed by both government and people” local Church sources in Bangui, Central African Republic told Fides. In a recent ...
• 21 January 2004
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - MAIN REBEL MOVEMENT IN LIBERIA SPLITS: WILL PEACE PROCESS BE ENDANGERED? Monrovia (Fides Service) - “It is the old story of fighting over seats in the unity government”. SMA Father Mauro Armanino told Fides with regard to the news that Mrs Asha Keita-Conneh, wife of Sekou Conneh leader of ...
• 21 January 2004
  AMERICA/ UNITED STATES - US SCIENTISTS SAY AFRICA’S MINI-EPIDEMICS OF EBOLA DUE TO VARIOUS STRAINS OF LETHAL VIRUS Rome (Fides Service) – Although they might appear to be part of one epidemic spreading rapidly among humans and wild animals, recent cases of Ebola in central Africa are in fact multiple epidemics caused by various vir ...
• 21 January 2004
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - EVIL OF FUNDAMENTALISM INFECTS SRI LANKA’S BUDDHISTS: CHURCHES TORCHED, CHRISTIANS’ ACCUSED OF “FRAUDULENT CONVERSIONS”: CATHOLIC BISHOPS REPLY Colombo (Fides Service) – There is tension and fear among Catholics in Sri Lanka after recent attacks on Christian communities. In a wave of violence two churches in districts not far from the capital Colombo were torc ...
• 20 January 2004
  EUROPE/ALBANIA - SHKODRË (SKUTARI): AUXILIARY BISHOP ZEF SIMONI RESIGNS Vatican City (Fides Service) – The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has accepted 20 January 2004, the resignation of the office of Auxiliary Bishop of Shkodrë (Albania), presented by Mgr Zef Simoni, titular Bishop of Ba ...
• 20 January 2004
  ASIA/INDIA – PROTECTING RIGHTS OF TRIBALS AND DALITS AND ALL EXCLUDED PEOPLES: JESUIT MISSION AT WORLD SOCIAL FORUM – INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD OF JESUIT DELEGATION Bombay (Fides Service) – Defending the life and culture of tribal populations is the specific mission of more than 1,300 Jesuits attending the 4th World Social Forum (WSF) in Bombay which will close tomorrow 21 Januar ...
• 20 January 2004
  ASIA/MACAO - YOUNG PEOPLE LEAD WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY: “STRIVING TO LIVE AS TRUE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST IN THE WORLD TODAY ” Macao (Fides Service) – Christians in Macao started the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians with an inter-confessional meeting. Organised by the local Catholic and Anglican Churches, the meeting was held on Sund ...
• 20 January 2004
  ASIA/TAIWAN – “LUNAR NEW YEAR IN CHINA WILL BE DEDICATED TO EVANGELISATION” SAYS CARDINAL PAUL SHAN. CHURCH IN CHINA THANKS THE POPE FOR HIS SUNDAY HAPPY NEW YEAR MESSAGE Kaohsiung (Fides Service) – “The Church in Taiwan will be dedicating the new year to new evangelisation ”, Cardinal Paul Shan Kuo-hsi, Bishop of Kaohsiung told Fides Service. “Parishes have been asked to draft a ...
• 20 January 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - SLOWLY CALM RETURNS TO GAMBELLA AFTER FIERCE ETHNIC CLASHES. CONCERN FOR 16,000 PEOPLE IN FLIGHT TOWARDS SUDAN Gambella (Fides Service)- “The situation is slowly returning to normal” said Reverend Angelo Moreschi Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Gambella in Ethiopia. Gambella is situated about 800 km west of the capital ...
• 20 January 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU – POLITICAL PRIORITIES COMMON GOOD AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FOR PORTUGUESE SPEAKING BISHOPS Bissau (Fides Service )- “The common good must be given first place by political parties”. This was the sense of an intervention by Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, Tomaz da Silva Nunes, at a Conference “Ethics and Poli ...
• 20 January 2004
  ASIA/INDIA APPARENT CALM RETURNS TO JHABUA, BUT THE BISHOP IS CONCERNED; HINDU FUNDAMENTALISTS CONTINUE DEFAMATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST CATHOLICS: BEATEN PRIEST SERIOUSLY INJURED Jhabua (Fides Service) – After days of tension and violence the situation appears to have returned to normal in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh state on the border with Gujarat. In the past few days Jhabua has been the scene of ...
• 20 January 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - SUNDAY 25 JANUARY: 51ST WORLD DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH LEPERS. THURSDAY 22 FIDES DOSSIER WITH INFORMATION AND TESTIMONY Rome (Fides Service ) – Sunday 25th January is the 51st World Day of Solidarity with Lepers, an initiative started in 1954 by Raoul Follereau, who was determined to eliminate not only leprosy but all forms of exclusion ...
• 20 January 2004
  ASIA/CHINA - GLOBAL FESTIVITIES FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR IN CHINA AND OVERSEAS Beijing (Fides Service) – January 22 marks the beginning of festivities for Lunar New Year this year, which for Chinese speaking people the world over has become a globalised event. Chun Jie or the Spring Festival, is ...
• 20 January 2004
  ASIA/CHINA - TRADITIONS AND SYMBOLS IN CHINA FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR: SPRING CLEANED HOMES, PAID BILLS, RED DECORATIONS AT THE WINDOW WELCOME GOOD FORTUNE AND PROSPERITY Beijing (Fides Service) – For the Chinese, Lunar New Year of Spring festival is the most important holiday of the year. The new year is calculated according to the moon, hence its name Lunar. It is a sign that Winter ...
• 19 January 2004
  VATICAN - THE POPE SAYS AT ANGELUS: “IN A WORLD THIRSTING FOR PEACE, IT IS URGENT FOR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES TO UNITE TO ANNOUNCE THE GOSPEL TOGETHER. IT IS INDISPENSABLE FOR THEM TO BEAR WITNESS TO DIVINE LOVE WHICH UNITES THEM AND FOR THEM TO BE BEARERS OF JOY, HOPE AND PEACE Vatican City (Fides Service) – A heartfelt call to “pray intensely” for full unity among Christians of different confessions “meditating on the Gospel’s gift of peace and the duties it involves” was launched ...