World

After a year of preparation work, the "Interfaith Council of Leaders-Sulu" has officially started in the small string of islands in the southern Philippines known for being the home and the basis of the "Abu Sayyaf" terrorist group.

This was reported to Fides by the Center for Muslim-Christian Dialogue "Sisilah" based in Zamboanga city, promoter of the new Council, expressing satisfaction for what is defined as "the beginning of something great". Read more »

58 churches and Christian institutions were attacked and set on fire in Egypt in past days. This was reported to Fides Agency by Fr. Rafic Greiche, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops of Egypt.

"Out of 58 churches attacked, 14 are Catholic, the rest belong to the Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant communities" says Fr. Greiche. Read more »

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was concerned about the growing religious intolerance in Indonesia and promised that the country, champion of pluralism, will defend religious minorities and religious freedom.

The issue of growing religious intolerance, which shook Indonesia last year, was the focus of the recent annual speech on behalf of the President to Parliament, which has a programmatic value for the government. Read more »

St Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Franciscan who volunteered to die in the place of a stranger at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Rajmund Kolbe was born in 1894 in the Polish town of Zduńska Wola which at that time was part of Russian Empire.

His father was German and his mother Polish. In 1907 Maximilian and his elder brother Francis decided to join the Franciscans. He professed his first vows in 1911, adopting the name Maximilian. Read more »

Today, Catholics and many other Christians celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This significant feast day recalls the spiritual and physical departure of the mother of Jesus Christ from the earth, when both her soul and her resurrected body were taken into the presence of God.

Venerable Pope Pius XII confirmed this belief about the Virgin Mary as the perennial teaching of the Church when he defined it formally as a dogma of Catholic faith in 1950. Read more »

We know little of the early life of Dominic, and that little is the stuff of legend. It is believed his mother had a dream in which a dog holding a firebrand ran hither and thither setting the world on fire.

The child born was called Dominic, “belonging to the Lord”, and though of noble lineage, wealth and power meant little to him.

Dominic, born in Calaruega, central Spain, in 1170, joined the Benedictine order as a young man. Read more »

Most prophets come to untimely ends. This as true today as it was in the days of the Bible.

For the prophet is a spokesman for God and his commandments, one who “speaks the truth to power” as the modern expression has it; and those who indulge in games of power have no desire to hear the truth.

As the popularity of Jesus grew, and as the curiosity about who he really was intensified, rumours started circulating that he was John the Baptist “come back to life”. Read more »

Alphonsus Liguori was born into an aristocratic family at the turn of the 17th century in Naples, Italy.

A well educated young man, he opted to become a lawyer.

However, after just a few years, the deceit and manipulation he encountered in the profession made him give up law and decide to become a priest instead. Read more »

Even at its stormiest, the Sea of Galilee doesn't have waves like those pounding Copacabana beach, but Pope Francis asked young Catholics to imagine they were with Jesus on the seashore and he was asking them to follow him and share his love with others.

In his first remarks to the young people at the huge World Youth Day celebration on the beach July 25, Pope Francis spoke of belonging to the great family of faith and that included a moment of silent prayer for Sophie Moriniere, a French pilgrim who died July 17 in a car accident in French Guiana. Read more »

James is the English version of the Hebrew name Ya’aqov (or Jacob), which may mean ‘may God protect’ or ‘the one who supplants’.

James, son of Zebedee, is called James the Greater to distinguish him from James the younger (another apostle, thought to be a relative of Jesus and later the first bishop of Jerusalem).

James the greater was the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. Read more »