News

• 11 December 2003
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - “THE PLACE OF THE LAITY IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH” PASTORAL LETTER TO CATHOLICS IN NKONGSAMBA DIOCESE Yaounde (Fides Service)- The participation of the laity in the triple function of the Church (sanctifying, doctrinal and pastoral) is the main theme of a Pastoral Letter “The place of the faithful in the mission of the ...
• 11 December 2003
  EUROPE/SPAIN – SPANISH MISSIONARIES RECEIVE CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM CARDINAL ROUCO: “CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE AROMA OF CHRIST WITH your WORDS AND WITH your SILENT WITNESS OF UNCONDITIONED SELF GIVING Madrid (Fides Service ) – “The Season of Advent which we are living brings already the unmistakable aroma of Christmas” Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela Archbishop of Madrid affirms at the beginning of a Christm ...
• 10 December 2003
  VATICAN - PASTORAL CARE OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM IS A SPECIAL FORM OF EVANGELISATION: FINAL DOCUMENT AFTER 5TH WORLD CONGRESS ON- PASTORAL CARE FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES Vatican City (Fides Service) – “The Church cannot remain indifferent in the wake of the present plight of migrants and refugees. She wants to share their joys and grief, there where they are, and be with them in thei ...
• 10 December 2003
  OCEANIA/ FIJI ISLANDS - INSTITUTES EXPERIMENT WITH SHARED FORMATION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A RELIGIOUS IN THE PACIFIC TODAY? Suva (Fides Service) – Last weekend in Suva Religious men and women of various congregations and institutes started a formation programme in preparation for their perpetual vows: the programme is first of its kind orga ...
• 10 December 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - FIRST AFRICAN GATHERING OF DON BOSCO FORMER PUPILS: AN IMPORTANT STEP Nairobi (Fides/Ans) – The first ever African gathering of former Don Bosco pupils opened on 29 November at the YES Don Bosco Centre in Nairobi and closed on 4 December. With Alex Dockers, Vice President of the World Fe ...
• 10 December 2003
  AFRICA/RD CONGO - WOMEN FIRST VICTIMS OF WAR AND FIRST AGENTS OF PEACE: THE ACTIVITY OF A CATHOLIC CENTRE FOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT FOR PEACE INITIATIVES IN LUBUMBASHI SOUTHERN CONGO Kinshasa (Fides Service) - Women and children are always the first victims of war, exposed to all sort of violence from all sides. Among the wars where women are seriously affected, the conflict in the Democratic Republi ...
• 10 December 2003
  AMERICA/PARAGUAY - NIVACLE PEOPLE PROUD OF SISTER CLARA: FIRST RELIGIOUS AMONG THE LOCAL INDIAN PEOPLE Asuncion (Fides Service) - Since 1925 the Oblate Missionaries of Immaculate Mary (OMI) have worked among the Nivacle Indian peoples in the Chaco region of Paraguay and since the 1940s also with the Guarani peoples in the ...
• 10 December 2003
  VATICAN - THE POPE’S TEACHING AT GENERAL AUDIENCE: “THE LORD IS NEVER INDIFFERENT TO HUMAN VICISSITUDES INDEED HE INTERVENES TO DEMOLISH ARROGANT AND OPPRESSIVE EMPIRES, HE LOWERS THE PROUD WHO CHALLENGE HIM, HE JUDGES THOSE WHO PERPETRATE EVIL” Vatican City (Fides Service ) – On Wednesday 10 December the Pope addressed thousands of visitors gathered in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican for his usual general audience. He focussed his teaching on the Canticle fro ...
• 10 December 2003
  ASIA/IRAQ - I HOPE IRAQI COURTS WILL NOT TURN INTO TOOLS FOR REVENGE. RELIGIOUS LEADERS SHOULD PROMOTE THE LOGIC OF FORGIVENESS Baghdad (Fides Service)- “Only the logic of forgiveness can free Iraq from the spiral of violence” Father Nizar Semaan of Ninive diocese told Fides with regard to the latest terrorist attacks and bloodshed in Iraq. � ...
• 10 December 2003
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - IN NAZARETH JEWISH, CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM STAFF WORK IN HARMONY AT HOLY FAMILY HOSPITAL RUN BY ST JOHN OF GOD HOSPITALLER BROTHERS Rome (Fides Service) – Despite the hostility of former regimes, wars with related military occupation, damage due to earthquakes, the activity of the Catholic Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth run by the St John of God ...
• 10 December 2003
  ASIA/NEPAL - PROGRAMME FOR HEALTH-CARE AND DEVELOPMENT IN VIEW OF PROMOTING ROLE OF WOMEN Rome (Fides Service) – In Nepal the health situation is alarming: more than 60% of the people live in areas where malaria is endemic; tuberculosis affects 4-5% of every 1.000 people and 7.2 out of every 1.000 people a ...
• 9 December 2003
  NATIONAL DELEGATES FOR UNIVERSITY PASTORAL MEET IN ROME (9/11 DECEMBER): EXPERIENCE SHARING AND REFLECTION ON HOW TO IMPROVE CHURCH COMMITMENT ON CAMPUS Vatican City (Fides Service) – National delegates of University Pastoral Care are attending a meeting at the Pontifical Lateran University organised by the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences CCEE 9-11 Decem ...
• 9 December 2003
  VATICAN - 4th COLLOQUIUM MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN: DIALOGUE “OPEN RESPECTFUL AND FRUITFUL” A PRELUDE TO NEW FORMS OF COLLABORATION Vatican City (Fides Service) – The 4th Muslim-Christian Colloquium was held from 29 November to 2 December 2003 (8 -11 Azar 1382) at the offices of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Vatican, on ...
• 9 December 2003
  VATICAN - THE POPE PRAYS AT THE FOOT OF THE STATUE OF IMMACULATE MARY IN PIAZZA DI SPAGNA: “MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE, GIVE US CHRIST, TRUE PEACE OF THE WORLD!” Vatican City (Fides Service) – On December 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, braving the piercing cold in Rome Pope John Paul II went to Piazza to place his traditional floral tribute (the 26th time) at the ...
• 9 December 2003
  VATICAN - CARDINAL MARTINO, PRESIDENT OF PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, WILL ADDRESS PERUVIAN PARLIAMENT ON RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND GIVE MAIN TALK AT 7TH NATIONAL CATHOLIC SOCIAL PASTORAL WEEK Vatican City (Fides Service) – The need for all sectors of society to work to promote respect for human rights and democracy will be the central theme of an address which Cardinal Renato R. Martino, president of the Po ...