News

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  22 December 2015
  AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Bishops' appeal to the country:"Christmas is an opportunity to become instruments of reconciliation, justice and peace" Bogota (Agenzia Fides) - An appeal to all Colombian people, and in particular to rulers, "to be authentic instruments of reconciliation, justice and peace", was launched by the Bishops in their Christmas message. In the ...
• 22 December 2015
  AFRICA/KENYA - Muslim Passengers protect Christians from the Shabaab: "a very positive thing" says the Bishop of Garissa Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "It is a very good thing; a concrete sign that Kenyan Muslims are against violence", says His Exc. Mgr. Joseph Alexander, Bishop of Garissa, in north-eastern Kenya, on the border with Somalia, i ...
• 22 December 2015
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - Two priests kidnapped in the Delta State have been released Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - Two Catholic priests, Fr. Franklyn Odiaka and Fr. Moses Nwaonwochei, who had been kidnapped on December 18 in Obior, in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, southern Nigeria have be ...
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  21 December 2015
  ASIA/SYRIA - President Assad's visit to a Catholic church on the outskirts of Damascus Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited the Melkite Catholic parish of Our Lady of Damascus, in the Damascene district of al Qussur, with his wife Asma. Of the presidential visit, which took p ...
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  21 December 2015
  ASIA/INDONESIA - Birth of the Union of female religious Orders in Indonesia Bandung (Agenzia Fides) - The Union of Superiors General (UISG) brings together 17 religious congregations in Indonesia. As reported to Fides, in the recent meeting in Bandung, the religious elected Sister Veronica Manaa ...
• 21 December 2015
  ASIA/INDIA - Appointment of the Bishop of Vijayawada Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 19 December 2015 the Holy Father appointed Fr. Joseph Raja Rao Thelegathoti, S.M.M., Provincial Superior of the Montfort Missionaries in Bangalore as Bishop of the diocese of Vijayawada ...
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  21 December 2015
  ASIA/HOLY LAND - 600 Israeli "permits" to Christians in Gaza to visit the holy places at Christmas Gaza (Agenzia Fides) - The Israeli authorities issued 600 permits to many Christians living in Gaza Strip to allow them to visit the Holy Places during the holiday season. Permits have a monthly period, starting from Sun ...
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  21 December 2015
  ASIA/BANGLADESH - A violent year: religious extremism worries Christians and activists Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) - "2015 has been a year of unprecedented violence and serious violations of human rights in Bangladesh. Women, children and elderly were hit, innocent people killed. Schools, institutions, mosques, ...
• 21 December 2015
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - Parliament will reject the African mission, confirming the decision of the government Bujumbura (Agenzia Fides) - "Parliament met to confirm what the government has already announced, namely the rejection of the African Union Mission in Burundi. It is therefore only a formal coverage to a decision already ...
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  19 December 2015
  ASIA/VIETNAM - The President of the Bishops: "The theological Institute becomes reality in the Holy Year" Ho Chi Minh City (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic university of Vietnam becomes reality and will be inaugurated in Ho Chi Minh City during the Jubilee Year: this was confirmed to Agenzia Fides by His Exc. Mgr. Paul Bui Van ...
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  19 December 2015
  ASIA/LEBANON - Presidential elections, the Maronite Patriarch still considers "Franjieh's option" valid Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai continues to consider Sleiman Frangieh as a credible presidential candidate thanks to the consent of the Lebanese political forces that allow the election o ...
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  19 December 2015
  ASIA/INDIA - Salesians: compassion towards the flood victims in Chennai Chennai (Agenzia Fides) - The Salesians of Tamil Nadu are actively engaged in helping the flood victims that hit the city of Chennai, former Madras. This is what Don Raphael Jayapalan, SDB Provincial of the Salesians in ...
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  19 December 2015
  AMERICA/CHILE - The Bishop of Temuco: "It is urgent to solve the Mapuche conflict" Temuco (Agenzia Fides) - "In Araucania there is a complex situation. On the one hand there is a historical debt with the Mapuche people. On the other hand, acts of violence increase and spread, with all the problems that ...
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  18 December 2015
  EUROPE/GERMANY - The "Star Singers" recognized as intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO Aachen (Agenzia Fides) - For the 58th time, in the days leading up to January 6th 2015, the "Star Singers" (Sternsinger) of the Holy Childhood Association in Germany, will be on the country’s street-corners singing ...
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  18 December 2015
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - An NGO: need to recognize and welcome persecuted Christians of Pakistan in Europe Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - Christians in Pakistan who escape religious persecution have to be recognized and welcomed in Europe: is what the NGO "Global Minorities Alliance" (GMA), based in the United Kingdom asks Europ ...