Africa

• 18 March 2006
  AFRICA/KENYA - Italian missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception di Ivrea alleviate suffering at Kadem Leprosy and TB Clinic Rome (Fides Service) - In the 1970s Kenya still had three large leper colonies at Alupe, Kadem and Mombasa. Until the mid 1980s more than 800 new cases of leprosy were registered every year. In 1989, according to the Wor ...
• 18 March 2006
  AFRICA/DR CONGO - Three months ahead of long awaited elections Democratic Congo swings between hope and despair for situation in eastern region Kinshasa (Fides Service)- The international community has confirmed its commitment to support general elections in DR Congo on 18 June. The head of MONUC the UN Mission in Congo Jean-Marie Guehenno said there is sufficie ...
• 17 March 2006
  AFRICA/NAIROBI - Injustices against refugees and the need to coordinate Justice and Peace efforts, focus of AMECEA executive council meeting Nairobi (Fides Service)- Concerned for increasing injustice committed against refugees has been expressed by the Association of Member Bishops’ Conferences of East Africa in a statement issued by the AMECEA executive c ...
• 17 March 2006
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - Crisis takes positive turn Abidjan (Fides Service)- “An important development to be encouraged by the international community” say local Church sources with regard to the presence at a government meeting in Abidjan on 15 March of Guillaume So ...
• 16 March 2006
  AFRICA/CHAD - Internal strife in the president’s clan and external influence at the origin of coup attempt N’Djamena (Fides Service)- “The situation is calm, traffic is normal and people have gone to work as usual today. But the apparent calm hides deep concern for the future” say local Church sources in N’Djamena, ca ...
• 16 March 2006
  AFRICA/MALAWI - Political and institutional crisis ever more complicated involving Constitutional Court Lilongwe (Fides)- “The last move in the battle between the president and vice president might appear ridiculous but it is true ” said a missionary who has worked for years in Malawi, a country suffering from months o ...
• 15 March 2006
  AFRICA/NIGERIA - Catholic Bishops’ Conference plenary assembly vows to “Restore hope with the truth” Abuja (Fides Service)- “As shepherds of the People of God in our land we are called to bear witness to Christian hope. Hope is the gift God gave mankind when Jesus Christ triumphed over death” the Catholics Bishops o ...
• 14 March 2006
  AFRICA - Measles major killer of children in developing countries: 48% drop in lethal cases in last six years Rome (Fides Service) - Thanks to a vast vaccination campaign between 1999 and 2004 the number of deaths caused by measles has been halved. The number of deaths caused by measles dropped 48% from 871,000 in 1999 to 454, ...
• 14 March 2006
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “Humanitarian cease fire” urgently needed in Darfur where people continue to die of war, hunger and hardship Khartoum (Fides Service) - African Union negotiators at peace talks for Darfur taking place in Abuja, Nigeria, have said there is urgent need of a “Humanitarian cease fire” in Darfur where people continue to die of w ...
• 13 March 2006
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - UN Mission investigates situation in local Children’s Homes Monrovia (Fides Service)- “The question of orphanages must be considered with the general situation of the country still struggling with the consequences of civil war” says Fr. Mauro Armanino of the Society for Afric ...
• 13 March 2006
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Geared for the future: Stigmatine mission in Ivory Coast Abidjan (Fides Service)- “The suffering of people here increases with each passing day: all they ask for is to live and have the joy of expressing wonder for the marvellous events of every day life” says Fr Lino Poff ...
• 10 March 2006
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - Every day more than 250 refugees return to Liberia Monrovia (Fides Service)- In February the programme for voluntary repatriation of Liberian refugees in west African countries organised by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHCR topped the 50,000 mark with ...
• 10 March 2006
  AFRICA/MALAWI - Sad “Day for Women’s Rights” unimaginable domestic violence Lilongwe (Fides Service)- “We celebrated the Day for Women’s Rights one day later because on March 8 the diocese commemorated Bishop Bishop Luciano Nervi (see Fides 6 May 2005)” said Fr. Giorgio Gamba Italian Monf ...
• 10 March 2006
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Increasing pressure for UN peace-keepers to Darfur. Today African Union decides whether to hand control to UN Khartoum (Fides Service)- This morning the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, meeting at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, will decide whether or not to hand control of the Darfur region ...
• 9 March 2006
  AFRICA/DR CONGO - Cardinal Etsou asks Catholics to support Kinshasa Catholic Radio and Television project: valuable and powerful means for necessary new evangelisation Kinshasa (Fides Service)- The Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Frédéric Etsou has said that the country has urgent need of a Catholic Radio and Television station to face the present crisis in values, growing relativis ...