News

• 3 November 2003
  VATICAN - THE POPE SAYS AT THE ANGELUS PRAYER: “IT IS IMPORTANT AND DUTIFUL TO PRAY FOR THE DEAD BECAUSE EVEN THOSE WHO DIE IN GOD’S GRACE AND FRIENDSHIP MAY STILL NEED PURIFICATION BEFORE ENTERING THE JOY OF HEAVEN ” Vatican City (Fides Service) – At midday on Sunday 2 November, All Souls Day, Pope John Paul II recited the Angelus prayer with people gathered below his window in St Peter’s Square offering his intention for “the ...
• 3 November 2003
  VATICAN - ON ALL SAINTS DAY THE POPE SAYS: “THE SAINTS AND BLESSEDS IN PARADISE REMIND US PILGRIMS ON THE EARTH THAT WE FIND SUPPORT EVERY DAY NEVER TO LOSE SIGHT OF OUR ETERNAL DESTINY FIRST OF ALL IN PRAYER ” Vatican City (Fides Service) – The feast of All Saints “turns our eyes to the immense multitude of those who have already reached the heavenly homeland, and it points to the way which leads to this destination”. Th ...
• 3 November 2003
  EUROPE/ITALY - REV. PASQUALE LIBERATORE SALESIAN POSTULATOR WORKING ON BEATIFICATION OF POPE JOHN PAUL I DIES AT THE AGE OF 71 Rome (Fides Service) –Salesian Father Rev. Pasquale Liberatore, Postulator General for the causes of Saints of the Congregation of St John Bosco, died on 31 October at the age of 71. ANS Salesian news agency reports th ...
• 3 November 2003
  VATICAN - THE POPE ADDRESSES INTERNAL MINISTERS OF EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES: “GUARANTEE AND PROMOTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ARE THE TEST OF RESPECT FOR THE OTHER RIGHTS AND THIS IS REALISED THROUGH PREVISION OF ADEQUATE JURIDICAL DISCIPLINE FOR THE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS CONFESSIONS AS A GUARANTEE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE IDENTITY AND FREEDOM” Vatican City (Fides Service) – “Despite failure in peace initiatives we must continue to hope. Dialogue at all levels - economic, political, cultural, religious – will bear fruit. The trust of believers is founded ...
• 3 November 2003
  AFRICA/UGANDA - 120 CHILD SOLDIERS RESCUED IN NORTHERN UGANDA. SECOND IN COMMAND LRA LEADER KILLED. HAS THE CONFLICT REACHED A TURNING POINT ? Kampala (Fides Service) - Is the Ugandan war at a turning point, international observers are wondering after the recent massive government offensive against Lord’s Resistance Army LRA rebels. During the action governme ...
• 3 November 2003
  ASIA/KOREA - FAMILIES ON MISSION TO FAMILIES: CHURCH IN KOREA RELIES ON LAITY TO EVANGELISE SOCIETY Seoul (Agenzia Fides) – More than 1.000 Catholic married couples have promised to engage in family mission throughout the archdiocese of Taegu. The initiative is a response to a need highlighted during a recent meeting ...
• 3 November 2003
  EUROPE/ITALY:CELEBRATIONS TO MARK CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF OUTSTANDING CATHOLIC STATESMAN GIORGIO LAPIRA Roma (Fides Service) – 2004 will be the centenary year of the birth of Giorgio La Pira an outstanding Catholic statesmen whose cause for beatification is underway. To celebrate the event a national committee was formed ...
• 3 November 2003
  AFRICA/SUDAN - GOVERNMENT AIRFORCE HITS TARGETS IN THE WEST BUT TALKS WITH MAIN REBEL GROUPS CONTINUE Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - While talks to restore peace in Sudan continue, the government airforce has admitted bombings in the western part of the country. However a military spokesman affirmed that targets bombed by Kh ...
• 3 November 2003
  AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - MILITARY PARADE ENDS IN TRAGEDY: 200 INJURED INCLUDING 13 SUFFERING FROM SEVERE BURNS Ouagadougou (Fides Service)- “It was a tragedy and we express our deepest sympathy while ensuring our prayers for the injured and the families”, a local Church source in Burkina Faso tells Fides after the fire which ...
• 3 November 2003
  ASIA/VIETNAM - CATHOLIC BISHOPS ISSUE PASTORAL LETTER: NEW COURAGE AND NEW MEANS FOR THE CHURCH’S MISSION IN VIETNAM TODAY Hanoi (Fides Service ) – Follow the example of Jesus who preached tirelessly and everywhere; announce the Word with courage and enthusiasm; make use of modern means of communications and new technology: these demands o ...
• 31 October 2003
  VATICAN - THE POPE ENCOURAGES FILIPINO BISHOPS’ COMMITMENT TO RENEWED INTEGRAL EVANGELISATION AND WITNESS TO JESUS CHRIST’S GOSPEL OF SALVATION AND LIBERATION THROUGH WORDS, DEEDS AND LIVES Vatican City (Fides Service) – “The pledge of the Church in the Philippines to engage in renewed integral evangelisation demonstrates her desire to ensure that Christian faith and values permeate every aspect of soci ...
• 31 October 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - MOTHER TERESA’S ROOM IN CALCUTTA OPEN TO THE PUBLIC? THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS AND DEVOTEES, FOLLOWERS OF MANY RELIGIONS HOPE SO Calcutta (Fides Service) – Many devotees of Mother Teresa beatified by Pope John Paul on October 19, hope that her room may soon be open to the public. Her Sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, have been thinking for a ...
• 31 October 2003
  AMERICA/VENEZUELA - “PEACE BEGINS AT HOME, PEACEFUL CONSTITUTIONAL AND ELECTORAL SOLUTION URGENT” SAY BISHOPS OF VENEZUELA Rome (Fides Service) – “Venezuela is experiencing a profound political crisis, the country needs urgently a peaceful, constitutional and electoral solution” . This was affirmed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of ...
• 31 October 2003
  EUROPE/ITALY - WATER IS CERTAINLY ONE OF GOD’S GIFTS MOST ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE: ITALIAN BISHOPS ISSUE MESSAGE FOR THANKSGIVING DAY Rome (Fides Service) - “The gift of water is for everyone” is the theme chosen by the Italian Bishops’ Conference for a national Day of Thanksgiving for Creation on 9 November. A message for the Day has been issu ...
• 31 October 2003
  ASIA/BANGLADESH - CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS AGREE THAT ALL ROUND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN STATE SCHOOLS WILL BUILD TOLERANCE AND HARMONY Dhaka (Fides Service) – Religious education in schools, explaining the teachings, symbols, feasts of the main religions in Bangladesh: this proposal has been put to the government by two experts in the field Catholic p ...