Africa

• 2 April 2004
  AFRICA/EGYPT - Concerns voiced by Cardinal Stephanos II Ghattas, Patriarch of Alexandria of Copt Catholics Cairo (Fides Service) - Cardinal Stephanos II Ghattas, Patriarch of Alexandria of Copt Catholics has denounced discrimination against Christian churches in Egypt in an article published by the “The Southern Cross” we ...
• 2 April 2004
  AFRICA/ANGOLA - 338 Street children find a Home at the Arnold Janssen Centre in Luanda which has cared for orphaned children and victims of violence since 1993 Luanda (Fides Service) - Children who live on the streets, children victims of violence in the family find a home at the Arnold Janssen Catholic Children’s Centre in Luanda, capital of Angola. The Home was opened in 1 ...
• 2 April 2004
  AFRICA/GREAT LAKES - Burundi and Rwanda: repatriation of refugees marks important step on the path towards reconciliation in these two countries. Many had not seen their home country for 10 years Rome (Fides Service)- Some 500,000 Burundi refugees remain in camps and settlements or have spontaneously settled in Tanzania, and UNHCR hopes to help approximately 150,000 of them return home this year. Since 2001, ap ...
• 1 April 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO RD - “Government minimises Sunday’s assault to save peace process: an act of responsibility to guarantee the country a better future” missionary in Congo told Fides Kinshasa (Fides Service)- Mystery still surrounds the attack in Kinshasa (capital of Democratic Republic of Congo) at three in the morning last Sunday 28 March when gunmen assaulted army barracks, a naval on the River Co ...
• 1 April 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Bishops of Guinea Bissau issue statement after elections: “Electorate demonstrated maturity. Political leaders, take a lesson from the people!” Bissau (Fides Service)- The voters showed great civic maturity although the organisation left much to be desired. This was the gist of a Message issued by the Catholic Bishops of Guinea Bissau after political elections o ...
• 1 April 2004
  AFRICA/UGANDA - “The international community must intervene to help the exhausted people of Uganda exposed to daily vexation by numerous gangs of gunmen”: Superiors of Comboni Missionaries launch appeal following the murder of Italian missionary Father Fulvi. Rome (Fides Service) - “In view of the situation of insecurity and poverty caused by the bloody civil war which exploded in the 1980s we feel it is our duty to make a heartfelt appeal to the international community in ...
• 31 March 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - From Sudan Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid comments for Fides the arrest of Hassan al-Turabi Khartoum (Agenzia Fides)-“The arrest of Turabi does not surprise me” Bishop Macram Max Gassis, Catholic Bishop of El Obeid, Sudan, told Fides commenting the arrest during the night of Hassan al-Turabi, opposition Isl ...
• 31 March 2004
  AFRICA/UGANDA - Comboni missionary found dead at mission house in Gulu, northern Uganda Gulu (Fides Service) - An Italian missionary, Comboni Father Luciano Fulvi, has been found dead in his room at Layibi mission in Gulu, northern Uganda. The priest was last seen going to bed at 9 yesterday evening, 30 Mar ...
• 31 March 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Dramatic impasse. Dialogue between the President and the Opposition stalls. Ivory Coast stands at crucial point in history Abidjan (Fides Service)- “We have reached a dramatic unprecedented impasse. This is a crucial moment for Ivory Coast ” a local Church source in Abidjan, economic capital of Ivory Coast told Fides. The Ivorian Preside ...
• 31 March 2004
  AFRICA/ANGOLA - “Angola on the path to Hope”: Catholic Bishops of Angola issue pastoral letter on 2nd anniversary of peace agreement Luanda (Fides Service)- To mark the second anniversary of peace agreement the Catholic Bishops of Angola have issued a Pastoral letter “Angola on the Path to Hope” in which they reflect on the country’s social, eco ...
• 29 March 2004
  AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk forward. Get up and vote. Get up, take an interest in your country” Southern African Bishops Conference urge people in view of elections next month Pretoria (Fides Service) - “ Get up, roll up your mats of tiredness and disappointment. Get up and walk forward. Get up and vote. Get up, take an interest in your country.”. This was the call launched by the Southern ...
• 29 March 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO RD - Calm returns to Kinshasa after violence on Sunday night in which two government soldiers were killed and several injured Kinshasa (Fides Service)- Calm has returned to Kinshasa after episodes of fighting in the early hours of Sunday March 28. “City traffic is back to normal and people have gone to work ” a local church source in Kinsha ...
• 29 March 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Opposition to hold another demonstration today. “Situation calm for the moment” local sources tell Fides Abidjan (Fides Service)- “People want a return to normality, they want peace, no more violence, dead and wounded” a local Church source in Abidjan economic capital of Ivory Coast told Fides after disorder, on March 2 ...
• 27 March 2004
  DOSSIER - AFRICA/UGANDA - “I was a girl soldier”: the story of Paska Rome (Fides Service) - Paska was only 14 when she was recruited to fight in the civil war in Uganda. Today she is a woman and she is still fighting, but she is fighting for peace in her country. Paska found the way out o ...
• 27 March 2004
  DOSSIER - AFRICA/UGANDA - In 18 years of civil war rebels have enlisted 35,000 children. AVSI Association of Volunteers for International Development assists children who escaped their captors Kampala (Fides Service) - In 18 years of civil war in northern Uganda, more than 35,000 children have been abducted and forced to right by the Lord’s Resistance Army LRA. “The figure is realistic although precise fig ...