Asia

• 7 November 2003
  ASIA/SRI LANKA - CRISIS IN SRI LANKA, A QUESTION OF REACHING POLITICAL AGREEMENT , COULD ASSUME A RELIGIOUS HUE Colombo (Fides Service) – The present crisis in Sri Lanka risks becoming a mixture of politics and religion: reliable local analysts who prefer to remain unnamed tell Fides. They say that the peace process is influence ...
• 6 November 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - YOUNG FILM DIRECTORS PROMOTE NON VIOLENCE WITH THEIR FIRST FILMS AT “DON BOSCO FILM FESTIVAL FOR PEACE” Bombay (Fides Service) – A campaign for peace through cinema, with the help of the figure of Saint John Bosco: this is the objective of Don Bosco Film Festival For Peace, organised by Salesian Fathers in Bombay. The Fe ...
• 6 November 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA COMMITTED TO DEFEND TRIBAL CULTURE AND PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT OF DEPRESSED AREAS THREATENED BY HINDU FUNDAMENTALISM Bhubaneswar (Fides Service ) – The situation for Christians in the Indian state of Orissa is not one of the easiest since it is one of the states with the largest number of fundamentalist Hindu groups which in the past ...
• 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
  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 ...
• 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
  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
  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
  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 ...
• 31 October 2003
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - GOVERNMENT NATIONAL EDUCATION AWARD 2003 GOES TO CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR FOR HIS WRITINGS “SOURCE OF SOCIAL HARMONY” Islamabad (Fides Service) –Mehboob Sada Francis, a Catholic, for 28 years professor of literature at Allama Iqbal University in Islamabad, has been awarded the Minority Cultural Prize 2003 by the Pakistan government. ...
• 30 October 2003
  ASIA/PAKISTAN - CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF PAKISTAN: RAMADAN HAS STARTED UNDER BANNER OF DIALOGUE AND PEACE: CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS BREAK FAST TOGETHER IN A SPIRIT OF SOLIDARITY AND SHARING Lahore (Fides Service) – “This Ramadan promises much for dialogue and consolidating good relations between Muslims and Christians. I am very happy and optimistic” Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, head of the Commis ...
• 30 October 2003
  ASIA/INDIA - INDIAN GOVERNMENT AWARD TO MANASA CATHOLIC REHABILITATION CENTRE WHICH CARES FOR 155 CHILDREN WITH PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISABILITIES Mangalore (Fides Service ) – Christians’ involvement in providing social assistance in India is visible for all to see and structures opened by Mother Teresa of Calcutta are only some of the examples, as the Indian g ...
• 30 October 2003
  ASIA/NEPAL - LIFE DEDICATED TO LEPERS DRUG ADDICTS AND AIDS SUFFERERS: A COURAGEOUS PRIEST IN NEPAL Birganj (Fides Service) – People call the leprosy centre he runs Little Flower and it is a reality appreciated by all Nepalese. But today diocesan priest Father Christdas, aged 64, is also caring for drug addicts and ...