News

• 6 November 2003
  VATICAN - PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, UNIQUE IN THE WORLD MARKS 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDATION Vatican City (Fides Service) – Established in Rome in 1603 as the “Linceorum Academia”, today the Pontifical Academy of Science, the Institution took this name with new statutes approved by Pius XI in 1936. Since 1 ...
• 6 November 2003
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “THE CHURCH IS THE BEST CHANNEL FOR DIALOGUE WITH THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN SUDAN” SAYS HASSAN AL TURABI THE COUNTRY’S CHIEF MUSLIM LEADER Khartoum (Fides Service )- The Church is the best channel for dialogue with the people in the south. This was affirmed by main Muslim leader in Sudan Sheikh Hassan Al Turabi during an interview with Al Jazeera Arab TV af ...
• 6 November 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - AT LEAST 600,000 INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR: “A SOCIAL TRAGEDY SOCIAL”, PROCURATOR JAMMU-SRINAGAR DIOCESE TELLS FIDES Jammu (Fides Service ) – “There are at least 600,000 displaced persons in Kashmir: this is a social tragedy and it has gone on for too long. The problem of the homeless has exhausted Kashmir’s social and economic r ...
• 5 November 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - “IN THIS CRITICAL SITUATION IN SRI LANKA THE LOCAL CHURCH TRIES TO MEDIATE TO PREVENT TENSION FROM BURSTING INTO VIOLENCE”: PRESIDENT OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE TELLS FIDES SERVICE Colombo (Fides Service ) – The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is courageously making every effort to serve as a bridge between the sides in conflict with realism, Archbishop Gomis of Colombo who is also President of the ...
• 5 November 2003
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - PRESIDENT OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE SAYS MUSLIM CHRISTIAN RELATIONS IN PAKISTAN ARE IMPROVING: THE CHURCH RESPECTS THE GOVERNMENT BUT DEMANDS ABOLITION OF BLASPHEMY LAW Lahore (Fides Service) – Better relations with Muslims, mainly positive judgement of Musharraf’s government, but a request for the abolition of the anti-blasphemy law and Hudhud Muslim punishments. These were the mai ...
• 5 November 2003
  AMERICA/EL SALVADOR - MORE THAN 12.885 CASES OF DENGUE IN CENTRAL AMERICA, ALMOST THREE THOUSAND IN EL SALVADOR SINCE JANUARY THIS YEAR Roma (Fides Service) – Since January this year the Health Ministry of El Salvador HAS registered 2.534 cases of ordinary Dengue fever and 108 cases of the haemorrhaging type which has already killed six children. To pr ...
• 5 November 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - 223 DIE OF DENGUE IN ONLY THREE MONTHS Roma (Fides Service) – Local health authorities in India say the dengue virus carried by the Aedes mosquito has killed at least 223 people in three months. The epidemic infected more than 1000 human beings of whom 926 ...
• 5 November 2003
  EUROPE/SWITZERLAND - TB KILLED TWO MILLION IN THE WORLD IN 12 MONTHS: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION INTERVENES Roma (Fides Service ) – TB is still one of the most dangerous infections today: according to the World Health Organisation WHO, every year about 2 million people in various parts of the world die of tuberculosis. The ...
• 5 November 2003
  AFRICA/UGANDA - FOR GUERRILLA LEADERS THE WAR OF ATROCITIES IS NOW A WAY OF LIFE Kampala (Fides Service)- “A military option is not a solution for the war in northern Uganda. The governments of the United States and European Union members must pressure Uganda and Sudan to find a negotiated solution ...
• 5 November 2003
  VATICAN - PAPAL MESSAGE TO PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE UNITY OF CHRISTIANS: “TOGETHER WE WISH TO OVERCOME DISPUTES AND DIFFICULTIES TOGETHER WE WISH TO RECOGNISE FAILINGS AND DELAY WITH REGARD TO UNITY, WE WISH TO RESTORE THE DESIRE FOR RECONCILIATION WHEREVER IT APPEARS TO BE IN DANGER” Vatican (Fides Service) – “Certainly the ecumenical path is no easy one way. As we progress gradually obstacles are more easily perceived and difficulties are more keenly felt. The goal declared by the various theolo ...
• 5 November 2003
  VATICAN - THE POPE’S GENERAL AUDIENCE TEACHING: PRAYER WITH A PURE AND SINCERE HEART IS A SACRIFICE OFFERED TO GOD. THE WHOLE BEING OF THE PERSON WHO PRAYS BECOMES A SACRIFICIAL ACT. HANDS RAISED IN PRAYER ARE A BRIDGE OF COMMUNICATION WITH GOD Vatican City (Fides Service) – Addressing thousands of visitors gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Audience on Wednesday, November 5 Pope John Paul II gave his teaching on Psalm 140 (1-9):
• 5 November 2003
  EUROPE/ITALY - “FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS IN EUROPE: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS” – A CONFERENCE IN ROME ON THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH AND PASTORAL QUESTIONS Rome (Fides Service) – More than 40 delegates and immigration pastoral workers from all over Europe are meeting in Rome for the 5th European Conference of Pastoral Care for Filipino Immigrants in Europe, 3-6 November. ...
• 5 November 2003
  EUROPE/FRANCE - “PACEM IN TERRIS” AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS BUILDING PEACE IN THIS ERA OF GLOBALISATION UNDERLINED BY CARDINAL MARTINO AT UNESCO OFFICES IN PARIS Paris (Fides Service) - “The path to peace is the only path that leads to the building of a society of more justice and solidarity, and it is the duty of all believers and all persons of good will to work to ensure tha ...
• 5 November 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - MISSIONARIES CALL FOR WORLD WIDE PRAYERS FOR PEACE IN SRI LANKA Colombo (Fides Service) – Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate OMI in Colombo and Jaffna have called for world wide prayers for peace in Sri Lanka. The Missionaries voiced to Fides Service their concern over the pres ...
• 5 November 2003
  AMERICA/ARGENTINA - “IN A PLURALIST SOCIETY MINORITY GROUPS MUST EXPRESS THEMSELVES WITH RESPECT FOR THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT OF THE MAJORITY”: SOLIDARITY WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AFTER INSULTS AND OFFENSIVE PAINTINGS ON THE CATHEDRAL WALLS ON NOVEMBER 1 Buenos Aires (Fides Service) – Several statements have reached Fides Service, expressing unanimous condemnation of offence against the Catholic community in Argentina on 1 November. During a civil rights march organise ...