Africa

• 13 June 2005
  AFRICA - “The G8 decision to cancel debts of the poorest countries is excellent news”: Fides hears from the voice of the Church in Africa Rome (Fides Service)- Local Catholics and missionaries in Africa expressed satisfaction tempered with prudence as to the application of debt reduction after a decision by the G8 to cancel the debts of 18 countries in Afr ...
• 13 June 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - UN High Commission for Refugees organises repatriation of Angolan refugees from Democratic Congo Kinshasa (Fides Service)- As part of its voluntary-repatriation programme for Angolan refugees in the next two weeks the United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHCR is planning an airlift to help 303 Angolans retur ...
• 11 June 2005
  AFRICA/LESOTHO - “The Catholic Church is the country’s first institution for education” Bishops from Lesotho on ad limina visit to Rome told Fides Rome (Fides Service)- “Catholic schools are the most numerous” a group of Catholic Bishops from Lesotho told Fides in an interview on June 10 in the Vatican. Bishop Bitsoane Evaristus Thatho Bitsoane of Qacha’s Nek ...
• 11 June 2005
  AFRICA/LESOTHO - Info: Rome (Fides Service) - Lesotho is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy styled after the British system. It has an area of 30,355 sq. km and a population of 2,100,000: 32.50% Catholic; 35% Anglican and Lutheran; 29.77% ...
• 10 June 2005
  AFRICA/NAMIBIA - “The local Church contributes towards national development in Namibia, oasis of stability in southern Africa” Catholic Bishops tell Fides Rome (Fides Service)- “Namibia is an example of stability for the whole of Africa” a group of Namibian Catholic Bishops told Fides yesterday in an interview in the Vatican. Archbishop Liborius Ndumbukuti Nashenda of ...
• 7 June 2005
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - Dramatic telephone call from Duékoué: “How long can the miracle last? More than 15,000 people now sheltering at our mission” Duekoue (Fides Service)- The number of refugees being sheltered at the Salesian mission in the western Côte d'Ivoire town of Duékoué has risen to 15,000 (see Fides 2 and 3 June 2005), a Salesian priest told Fides ov ...
• 7 June 2005
  AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - National Mission Office of the Italian Bishops’ Conference meets Italian Missionaries operating in Burkina Faso Ouagadougou (Fides Service) - On June 3 at the St Camillo Centre in Ouagadougou run by the Camillians there was a meeting between the National Mission Office of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and Italian missionaries ...
• 7 June 2005
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - The tragic situation in Madagascar prisons. Trinitarian Father Angelo Buccarello former prison chaplain in Antananarivo Rome (Fides Service)-“This is a story which is not new and which keeps on repeating itself” said Trinitarian Father Angelo Buccarello former prison chaplain in Antananarivo capital of Madagascar, with regard to worse ...
• 6 June 2005
  AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - “We are still a young democracy which must give more attention to moral values and social justice”: Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier Archbishop of Durban told Fides Rome (Fides Service)- “South Africa is still a young democracy which must learn to find rapid solutions to urgent problems such as how to achieve greater social justice and give more attention to moral values” Cardi ...
• 6 June 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Increasing number of Togolese seek safety in other countries, says UN High Commission for Refugees Rome (Fides Service)- The number of people fleeing from Togo to Benin continues to rise. Over 1,000 new arrivals were registered last week the United Nations High Commission UNHCR for refugees said in a report sent to Fi ...
• 6 June 2005
  AFRICA/CHAD - Chadians called to the polls to amend the country's Constitution N’Djamena (Fides Service)- Not many people are expected to vote in the constitutional referendum today 6 June, in Chad in which citizens are called to approve amendments to the constitution which if passed will allow P ...
• 3 June 2005
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - Land dispute sets fire to west Côte d'Ivoire. Christian forgiveness is the only path to peace Abidjan (Fides Service)- “This is a tribal conflict triggered by land claims” said a local source in Côte d'Ivoire where the death toll resulting from violence in the western region of Duékoué, continues to rise ( ...
• 3 June 2005
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - Local elections: “An important test for the future of our democracy”. Tension, shooting and possible intimidation, hand grenade explosion kills voter at polling station Bujumbura (Fides Service)- “These local elections are a fundamental test for the electoral process which will culminate with presidential elections at the end of the Summer” a local source told Fides with regard to ...
• 2 June 2005
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - Fides hears missionary’s tragic story of massacres in western Côte d'Ivoire: “We have opened our mission to shelter some 12,000 men, women and children running for their lives” Duekoue (Fides Service)- “I witnessed terrible scenes, at least 41 poor bodies abandoned in the middle of the road and no one to bury them” said a Catholic missionary in Duekoue western Côte d'Ivoire where during th ...
• 2 June 2005
  AFRICA/BENIN - Four wards, two rooms for medical staff, two store rooms for medicines and food: Camillians hope to open new hospital for people suffering from AIDS Davougon (Fides Service) - The Camillan community in Davougon, Benin, said that if the promised funds arrive it hopes to open a new hospital for people with AIDS before the end of the year. The new Centre will have four ...