Europe

• 4 September 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - 40th National Bible Week to be held September 8-12, on the 60th anniversary of the Italian Biblical Association and on the eve of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The 40th National Biblical Week, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Italian Biblical Association (ABI), which began in 1948, will be held September 8-12 in Rome, at the Pontifical Biblic ...
• 4 September 2008
  EUROPE/PORTUGAL - National Missionary Congress begins: “Portugal, live the Mission, Soar Beyond Your Horizons.” Saint Paul as the model for evangelization: “The Church is her mission of evangelization must respond to a society very similar to the one that heard Paul’s preaching of the Gospel.” Fatima (Agenzia Fides) – Yesterday, September 3, saw the opening of Portugal’s National Missionary Congress, which is being held in Fatima, until September 7, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Missionary Year. ...
• 3 September 2008
  EUROPE/SPAIN - Caritas, the volunteer, the Romanian woman who is immigrant and slave. Reconsidering the role of missionaries today. (Luca De Mata writes from Spain - Part 4) Cuenca (Agenzia Fides) – My time here in Cuenca (Spain) is about to end, and I still have a few appointments left. I am forced to chose among them. I return to Caritas, where I am scheduled to meet with Conchita. She i ...
• 2 September 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - The President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference encourages Italy’s dioceses to hold a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Christians in India Rome (Agenzia Fides) – In light of the recent wave of violence that has affected the Christian community living in the Indian state of Orissa, the President of the CEI (Italian Bishops’ Conference) “encourages the ...
• 1 September 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - General Chapter of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary: 7,000 religious serving the universal mission in 76 countries all over the world Rome (Agenzia Fides) – A Mass will be presided today (September 1) in Grottaferrata (Rome) by General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM), Fr. José Carballo, for the opening of the 22nd General Chapter of the ...
• 1 August 2008
  EUROPE/SPAIN - “The whole truth on abortion” brochure offers informational material in a clear and simple format in response to the main questions on abortion Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – The Spanish organization “S.O.S. Familia” has begun free distribution of a brochure entitled, “The whole truth on abortion,” which offers informational material in a clear and simple fo ...
• 31 July 2008
  EUROPE/SPAIN - “I want my mom and I to have a house where rain and wind can’t get in.” (Luca De Mata writes from Spain - Part 3) Cuenca (Agenzia Fides) – I am almost at the end of my trip in Cuenca. The weather is a bit schizophrenic: on-and-off rain; on-and-off cloud cover. The colors shine and then are dulled, or completely vanish into the res ...
• 31 July 2008
  EUROPE/BELGIUM - The drama of the “sans papiers” in Belgium: Cardinal Danneels calls for a “policy that is realistic, just, and generous.” Brussels (Agenzia Fides) – It is the drama of the illegal workers, the so-called “sans papiers” (without documents), which has erupted in Belgium as well, where an illegal immigrant protesting on top of a crane at ...
• 31 July 2008
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - The mission of the Camillian Order on the island of Samar is growing, with the collaboration efforts of the laity who have laid the first stone of a new hospital in a rural area Manila (Agenzia Fides) – “The island of Samar is the poorest of the 7,000 islands of the Philippines, and yet, the feast of Saint Camillus, celebrated on July 14, has been an opportunity to witness and appreciate how ...
• 30 July 2008
  EUROPE/SPAIN - The veiled face of an Algerian mother and a Moroccan volunteer from Caritas and the Red Crescent. Different cultures, different faiths...these are no longer barriers, but opportunities for progress and democracy. (correspondence from Spain from Luca De Mata - Part 2) Cuenca (Agenzia Fides) – It’s my second day in Cuenca, in the Spanish region of La Mancha. Landscapes. Small houses. White. The land fades into the mix of colors of work and sprawl. Mountains of stone. Castles and mi ...
• 29 July 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - Talks published from the Seminar on the role of women religious in fighting human trafficking Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Modern slavery forces a 13 year-old African girl to become a prostitute for 400 dollars per hour, raking in up to 9,600 dollars per day for her exploiter. Then there are the over 23,000 young gir ...
• 29 July 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - 43rd General Chapter of the Hospital Sisters of Mercy begins August 25 Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The Hospital Sisters of Mercy were founded in Rome in 1821 by Princess Teresa Orsini. They will be celebrating their 43rd General Chapter from August 25 to September 15, 2008 in Loreto (Italy) on ...
• 28 July 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - Message from the Italian Bishops’ Conference for Thanksgiving Day in Italy 2008: “The path from availability to distribution is the main means to resolving the food crisis with justice.” Rome (Agenzia Fides) – “The Gospel reminds us that bread given to the poor is bread given to Jesus Himself. He takes it from us, transforms it, and the multiplies it and fills it with a new energy: it is the ‘daily ...
• 28 July 2008
  EUROPE/ITALY - Saint Paul is adopted as a “traveling companion” by youth from the Oblates’ Costruire Youth Movement on their trip to Uruguay Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Seven members of the “Costruire Youth Movement” (in Italian, MGC) will take a missionary trip to Uruguay July 30-August 21. The event has been taking place for several years, thanks to the Mi ...
• 24 July 2008
  EUROPE/SPAIN - Agenzia Fides interviews the Bishop of Cuenca: “The Church’s role in attending persons from the outside cannot be reduced to charitable services alone, although this is needed. The manner of confronting the immigration issue cannot be limited to Caritas. The Church’s mission is to evangelize.” Excerpt from the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio: “Among the great changes taking place in the contemporary world, migration has produced a new phenomenon: non-Christians are becoming very numerous in traditionally Chris ...