AMERICA/PERU - "A Peru that defends life and fights against poverty" - President of Peru meets with Holy Father Benedict XVI
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The collaboration between Church and State and defense of life were the main topics covered in the meeting that the Holy Father Benedict XVI held yesterday with President of Peru, Alan García Pérez. The Peruvian Head of State was received in the private library of the Pope in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, where there was "a fruitful exchange of opinions on questions concerning the current international situation, especially in the region," said a state
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ment released by the Holy See Press Office.
President Garcia, having presented the Pope with the greeting of the people of Peru, confirmed "the Peruvian government's commitment to the life and democracy, and its struggle to eradicate poverty." They also spoke of "cooperation between the Church and the State" and analyzed some aspects of the situation in Peru, particularly as regards the human development and environmental protection.
The President of Peru presented Benedict XVI with a fur and woolen scarf saying that it might be useful to the Pope when it is cold in Rome. The Holy Father presented him with a gold medal of his pontificate. The Peruvian President then met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States. Peru has an area of 1,285,215 square kilometers and a population of about 28 million inhabitants, of which over 85% are Catholics. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 01/12/2009)
EUROPE/ITALY - Consolata Missionaries' Advent Campaign to ensure a safe childbirth and postnatal care for moth
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ers and infants of Congo and Ethiopia
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Today, December 1, 2009, marks the beginning of the campaign being led by the Foundation MCO (Consolata Missions), called "Give the gift of life at Christmas." The campaign aims to ensure a safe birth for babies and postnatal care for mothers and infants in the two worst-hit regions of Africa, where for more than thirty years the Missionaries of the Consolation have been operating. The campaign will affect the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering the region of Kivu, where ethnic conflicts are still ongoing, and southern Ethiopia, recently hit by one of the worst famines in recent decades.
According to a statement sent to Agenzia Fides, the Hospital of Our Lady of Consolation in Neisu, Congo, and the clinic at Modjo, Ethiopia already provide free health services to over seventy thousand people, including five thousand pregnant women and infants. "But in Neisu and Modjo," says the head of Cooperation at MCO, Fr. Antonio Rovelli, "the number of pregnant women who come to our facilities for a safe birth and neonatal care, is still rising." Thus, the foundation's missions is increasing at Neisu and Modjo, in regards to healthcare services and neonatal care. They are hoping to purchase new medical equipment and drugs, train twenty-five professional midwives, strengthen immunization services, expand the neonatal feeding center, and add on to services for prevention and treatment of malaria, and of course, engage in the fight against HIV/AIDS. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 1/12/2009)
Links:
To join the campaign
http://www.missioniconsolataonlus.it
