Africa

• 28 January 2009
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - Assessment of yesterday's fighting reveals at least 40 are dead, while diplomatic efforts continue Antananarivo (Agenzia Fides) – The international community continues its efforts to resolve the serious political crisis in Madagascar (see Fides 27/1/2009). According to local Church sources in contact with Agenzia Fi ...
• 27 January 2009
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - A Catholic priest kidnapped in the Niger Delta area; Church expresses disapproval Abuja (Agenzia Fides) – A Catholic priest, Fr. Pius Vii, was kidnapped by gunmen in Port Harcourt, in Rivers State (southern Nigeria). According to the local press, it seems that Fr. Pius was kidmapped shortly after ha ...
• 27 January 2009
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - “We're trying to avoid the worst,” one local Church source from Antananarivo tells Fides, after yesterday's chaos Antananarivo (Agenzia Fides) - “The situation is extremely tense, but we are still hopeful of finding a peaceful solution to the crisis,” Agenzia Fides was told by local Church sources in Antananarivo, the capital of ...
• 26 January 2009
  AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - “The time of talking is over: Mugabe should step down”: Southern African Bishops take a firm stance, as South Africa hosts yet another meeting on the Zimbabwe crisis Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - “The appalling tragedy in Zimbabwe means that the time of talking is over. Six months of talks have resulted only in a stalemate. It is clear that the present mediation and negotiations h ...
• 26 January 2009
  AFRICA/ZAMBIA - “You should strive to venture into activities that will help to awaken, enliven and support the missionary efforts of the Church,” Apostolic Nuncio tells the PMS National Assembly in Zambia Lusaka (Agenzia Fides) - “The meeting was an opportunity to renew our vision of the missionary church. It helped us to renew our vision to actions and helped us to find new stimulus and boldness for missionary animati ...
• 23 January 2009
  AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - “Biological colonialism is on our doorstep:harvesting ovarian human eggs in Africa will help meet the needs of embryonic stem cell research in industrialized countries,” says the Archbishop of Johannesburg Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - “The Global ethic is a challenge to the churches,” Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale of Johannesburg said in his opening address at the Plenary Assembly of the Southern African Catholic B ...
• 23 January 2009
  AFRICA/CONGO DR - General Nkunda, one of the main perpetrators in the war in North Kivu, arrested in Rwanda. One missionary tells Fides: “We are worried about the underhanded activity of the military operations.” Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – Congolese rebel General Laurent Nkunda was arrested yesterday (January 22) evening in Rwanda in a joint operation carried out by Rwandan and Congolese armed forces. Nkunda, who is accused of ...
• 22 January 2009
  AFRICA/SUDAN - More signs of war on the horizon in Darfur, as the UN-African Union peacekeeping forces await reinforcements Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – The rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have threatened to respond with a bloodbath if government troops attack their posts in southern Darfur. The JEM is one of the main guerri ...
• 21 January 2009
  AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - The “factory for poverty” exporting diamonds Harare (Agenzia Fides) - “Zimbabwe has become a factory for poverty,” says a local newspaper. Over 75 percent of the people in crisis-riddled Zimbabwe are living in desperate poverty, with children bearing the brunt. ...
• 19 January 2009
  AFRICA/KENYA - Funeral for Fr. Giuseppe Bertaina, Consolata missionary killed in a Nairobi mugging, to be held on Friday, January 23 Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – The funeral for Fr. Giuseppe Bertaina, the Consolata missionary killed on January 16 in his office in Langata of the Philosophical Institute of the Consolata Missionaries in Nairobi, the capit ...
• 19 January 2009
  AFRICA/CONGO DR - The century-old tradition of catechetical training in the Archdiocese of Kananga Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – In order to extend their pastoral services to all the inhabitants of the often large territories in their care, African priests and missionaries must rely on assistance from lay catechists, w ...
• 16 January 2009
  AFRICA/KENYA - “Fr. Giuseppe dedicated his entire life to education; for forty years he carried out his mission in Kenya”: the religious brother of a missionary killed today in Nairobi present his testimony to Fides Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - “Father Giuseppe was a good, generous person who dedicated his entire life to education,” Agenzia Fides was told by Fr. Giuseppe Ettorri of the General House of the Consolata Missionaries, i ...
• 16 January 2009
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - Bishops of Cameroon invite the faithful to pray and make acts of charity in preparation for Pope Benedict XVI's visit in March Yaounde (Agenzia Fides) - “We give thanks to the Lord for allowing the Pontiff, the Universal Pastor, to chose to visit Cameroon, a missionary land consecrated for over a century to Mary, Queen of Apostles, by the Pall ...
• 15 January 2009
  AFRICA/DR CONGO - Attack on the Salesian community in Goma, eastern Congo, in the heart of the civil war, result of “the atmosphere of instability and insecurity that persists in the city of Goma,” Fr. Lacedonio of ANS tells Fides Goma (Agenzia Fides) - During the night between 14 and 15 January, the Salesian community at the Industrial Technical Institute in Goma (capital of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo) suffered a violent attac ...
• 15 January 2009
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Former ideologist of the regime, who encouraged President to hand himself in to the International Crime Court for crimes in Darfur, is arrested Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – The disputed former ideologist of the Sudanese regime, Hassan al-Turabi, was arrested in Khartoum by security forces, two days after having said in an interview that the President of Sudan, O ...