Fides Archives

Experts say formal Vatican-China ties are a distant hope

Dec 10, 2019

Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, raised eyebrows this weekend when he said the next step for the Vatican and China would be to establish formal diplomatic relations and spoke of a possible future papal trip, yet experts say official ties are still a long way off.

By Elise Harris

If Church does not evangelize, it will decay, pope says

Nov 4, 2019

The Catholic Church must follow Jesus’ command to preach the Gospel to every person, otherwise it will not fulfill its mission of bearing witness to Christ, Pope Francis said.

By Junno Arocho Esteves

Nearly 50,000 baptisms registered in China in 2017, says Vatican agency

Feb 21, 2018

The Catholic Church in China registered 48,556 baptisms in 2017, reflecting the vitality and missionary strength of the Catholic communities there, according to a report by Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

By Wyatt Noble

Vatican agency says at least 23 church workers killed in 2017

Dec 28, 2017

Fides said 23 people working for the church worldwide — 13 priests, one religious brother, one religious sister and eight lay persons — died violent deaths in 2017; that number was down from 28 people killed in 2016.

By Carol Glatz

Latest numbers confirm global south as new Catholic center of gravity

Oct 22, 2017

New Catholic population numbers released in advance of today’s 91st World Mission Day confirm that the southern hemisphere, containing most of the so-called “developing world,” has become the new demographic center of gravity of the Church. Today more than two-thirds of all Catholics live outside the West, and that share is growing all the time.

By Crux Staff

Debunking three myths about anti-Christian violence

Jan 4, 2015

ROME — At the end of every December, the Vatican’s missionary agency Fides puts out a list of Catholic pastoral workers killed in the line of duty during the past year. It’s not a complete index of anti-Christian violence, just clergy and laity murdered while working full-time for the Catholic

By John L. Allen Jr.