Africa

• 7 November 2012
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - The Bishops welcome the Framework Agreement between Burundi and the Holy See signed on 6 November Bujumbura (Agenzia Fides) - "An agreement that ensures the social and religious peace of the Country to the extent that the Catholic population and its Pastors see their needs understood and protected by the State." This ...
• 6 November 2012
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - One out of 7 women is sexually exploited: poverty allows prostitution to spread Antananarivo (Agenzia Fides) - In less than 20 years, the number of registered prostitutes in the main port city of Madagascar, Toamasina, where about 200 000 people, has risen from 17,000 in 1993 to 29,000 in 2012. It i ...
• 6 November 2012
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - "We thank the Lord because during the Centenary of the arrival of Light in our lands, we enter the Year of Faith": the 100 years of the Ecclesiastical Province of Owerri Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "The missionaries arrived for the first time in this area about 100 years ago, so this is why we wanted to celebrate the arrival of the Light of Christ, the Light of Salvation, in our land," says ...
• 6 November 2012
  AFRICA/SOMALIA - Thousands of displaced people, homes destroyed and livestock drowned: Somaliland flooded by rain Hargeisa (Agenzia Fides) - The torrential rains that have hit in recent weeks are forcing thousands of people of Middle Eastern regions of Somaliland to abandon their homes. More than 4000 families of 9 villages in the r ...
• 6 November 2012
  AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - Appeal for a moratorium on the death penalty: 200 people on death row in inhuman conditions Juba (Agenzia Fides) - An appeal for a moratorium on the death penalty in South Sudan was launched by Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and a series of local groups of civil society. In a joint stateme ...
• 5 November 2012
  AFRICA - "Silent Emergency": each year over a million children die from malnutrition Kampala (Agenzia Fides) - The lack of food continues to cause deaths every year, over a million children under 5 years of age in Sub-Saharan Africa. Deaths due to malnutrition in this region are exacerbated by drought an ...
• 5 November 2012
  AFRICA/KENYA - Attack during a church service within the police station: for the Coadjutor Bishop of Garissa: "It is a political act, not a religious one" Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - The attack which took place yesterday, November 4, was aimed at the Sunday celebration of the Christian interfaith community Utawala in Garissa in eastern Kenya, 140 km from the border with Soma ...
• 5 November 2012
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - Violence in Nigeria: not only Boko Haram but also banditry Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - The indictment of a corporal of the police in Zamfara State (Northern Nigeria) for theft of weapons has shed light on a series of attacks in some villages in the area, previously attributed to Isl ...
• 5 November 2012
  AFRICA/EGYPT - Egyptian Catholics welcome with enthusiasm the election of the new Coptic Orthodox Pope Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The election of the new Patriarch Tawadros II as head of the Coptic Orthodox Church arouses reactions of joy and enthusiasm in the composite Catholic community in Egypt. "We are all delighted," co ...
• 31 October 2012
  AFRICA/CHAD - Catholic students ask the authorities to reconsider Mgr. Russo's expulsion N'Djamena (Agenzia Fides) - The Association of Catholic Students of Chad (Jeunesse étudiante catholique - JEC) has asked the government of N'Djamena to reconsider the expulsion from the Country of His Exc. Mgr. Michael ...
• 31 October 2012
  AFRICA/KENYA - A Kenyan court acquits a missionary of murder Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - Father Gerardo Bottarelli, a Passionist missionary, was acquitted of murder by a court in Migori. The missionary was charged in connection with the death of a citizen of Kenya, Polycarp Otieno, ...
• 30 October 2012
  AFRICA/EGYPT - The Coptic Church complains of persecution and discrimination Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - While the Egyptian Coptic Church is preparing to elect its new Pope, Kamil Seddiq, the Millet Council Secretary (Al-Maglis al-Milli), the body in charge of the administrative affairs of the Church ...
• 30 October 2012
  AFRICA/CONGO DR - Growing insecurity in Kivu; tomorrow day of protest organized by civil society in Bukavu Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - A day of "dead city", with offices and shops closed to protest against the deterioration of the security situation, has been declared for tomorrow, October 31, by the Coordination of Civil Soci ...
• 29 October 2012
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - Attack against a church, "a barbaric act " says to Fides the Archbishop of Kaduna who launches an appeal for calm Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "A cowardly, barbarous and horrible act, that any ordinary person can only condemn. It is unthinkable that anyone is able to commit such actions, but unfortunately it happens," says to Fides Agenc ...
• 29 October 2012
  AFRICA/CONGO DR - The doctor who takes care of thousands of women victims of rapes in eastern DRC forced to flee Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - A Congolese doctor, working for years in taking care of victims of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was forced to leave the area of his activities because his life was t ...