News

• 23 March 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate start new mission in Guinea Bissau geared for dialogue with Muslims and Animists Bissau (Fides Service)-The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate open a new mission in Guinea Bissau at Farim on the border with Senegal. The mission is run by two priests, Father Celso Corbioli and Father Carlo Andolfi ...
• 23 March 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - World TB Day: TB kills 2 million people every year. Tests and treatment outdated, vaccination has less effect, special care for children needed Rome (Fides Service) - Century old tests, vaccine produced in 1920 and same treatment used for 30 or 50 years. The fight against TB is in danger of defeat because of “old fashioned means of diagnosis and treatment”. ...
• 23 March 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Amidst hopes and fears Ivory Coast waits for outcome of Opposition demonstration on March 25 Abidjan (Fides Service)- Ivory Coast is waiting to see what happens during the Opposition demonstration on March 25. “Today there is less tension then yesterday when people feared the nation was on the edge of a precip ...
• 23 March 2004
  ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Padayon Centre run by the Emmanuel Community engaged in building interreligious harmony and serving the poor, marks 1st anniversary Zamboanga (Fides Service) - Promote interreligious dialogue and offer assistance to poor families is the mission of Padayon Center in Zamboanga, in southern Mindanao, in the Philippines. Padayon in the local language me ...
• 23 March 2004
  ASIA/MALAYSIA - Election victory for moderate Islam led by Abdullah Badawi: relief among ethnic and religious minorities Kuala Lumpur (Fides Service) - There is general satisfaction particularly among ethnic and religious minorities for the outcome of the vote on 21 March. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his party Barisan Nasional BN ...
• 22 March 2004
  EUROPE/SCOTLAND - Concerned about speedier divorce proceedings proposed in new Family Law Bill, Scotland’s Cardinal urges for more counselling to protect marriage, the traditional building block of every society Rome (Fides Service) - Responding to reports that the Scottish Executive plan to introduce legislation to speed up divorce proceedings, on 21 March, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference o ...
• 22 March 2004
  EUROPE/GERMANY - “Aid to the Church in Need” soon to open national office in Poland the first in a former Communist country Königstein (Fides Service) - In the coming month of May “Aid to the Church in Need” (ACN) Catholic aid agency, will open an office in Poland. The decision was reached during a meeting in Warsaw with the Polish Bisho ...
• 22 March 2004
  EUROPE/GERMANY - “Pray!”: a book of prayers written by the young for the young in preparation for World Youth Day in Germany 2005 Cologne (Agenzia Fides) - It is estimated that as many as one million young people will travel to Cologne in Germany for the 20th World Youth Day in 2005, an event which is being carefully prepared by young Christians al ...
• 22 March 2004
  EUROPE/ITALY - “A patient in a vegetative state cannot be seen as a burden for society”. Conclusion of International Conference on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” Rome (Fides Service) - Pending an important joint statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life and International Association of Catholic Doctors on problems connected with regard to the vegetative state, we present ref ...
• 22 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - avian flu: new alarm a month after last reported outbreak Rome (Fides Service) - After a month of calm, the fear of bird flu in Southern Korea has struck again with a new outbreak reported not far from Seoul. The news was confirmed by the South Korean national veterinary author ...
• 22 March 2004
  VATICAN - “A person, although seriously ill and prevented from performing his or her most important functions is and will always be a person, never a vegetable or an animal”: the Pope tells participants at Conference on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas” Vatican City (Fides Service) - “With deep esteem and sincere hope the Church encourages the efforts of scientists who devote their daily work, often with great sacrifice, their study and research to improving diagnosti ...
• 22 March 2004
  EUROPE/KOSOVO - “Education and economic development, priorities for Kosovo, antidote to ethnic and religious violence”: Fides speaks with AVSI Kosovo humanitarian project leader Pristina (Fides Service) - “Steps must be taken to promote education and cultural growth of the people and to build up Kosovo’s economy in view of economic and social development to reduce unemployment and poverty. T ...
• 22 March 2004
  AFRICA/CHAD -100,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad receive concrete international solidarity. Jesuit Refugee Service and UNHCR provide assistance and safety N’Djamena (Fides Service) - There are still 100,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad. Various international agencies are intervening to provide assistance. “We are working with the N’Djamena diocesan Caritas office” F ...
• 22 March 2004
  ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - Laity Meeting: leading role in the local Church committed to promoting family values and evangelising society Seoul (Fides Service) - Korea’s lay Catholics are exemplary for their vivacity, dynamism, maturity and ability to evangelise. The Church in Korea is solidly based on active participation of lay people who make an impor ...
• 22 March 2004
  AFRICA/GREAT LAKES REGION - National armies where former tribal enemies march shoulder to shoulder are one condition for peace in Great Lakes countries Rome (Fides Service)- Building national armies with men enlisted from all the warring parties is one condition for restoring peace in the countries of Africa’s Great Lakes region. At present Democratic Republic of Cong ...