Africa

• 29 January 2004
  AFRICA/SIERRA LEONE - CHILD SOLDIERS IN SIERRA LEONE: DEEPLY TRAUMATISED BUT NO HATRED IN THEIR HEARTS, SAYS MISSIONARY Freetown (Fides Service) -“Now that the process of disarming child soldiers has been completed there is the difficult stage of reinsertion in normal life” Father Giuseppe Berton, Xaverian missionary in Sierra Leone t ...
• 29 January 2004
  AFRICA – EDUCATION IS A RIGHT, BUT IN AFRICA THERE ARE CLASSES WITH 100 PUPILS AND NO BLACKBOARD Kinshasa (Fides Service ) – When the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa achieved independence they all gave absolute priority to education as a means not only to avoid but also to eradicate poverty. Every country has the ...
• 29 January 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - IVORY COAST WOULD WELCOME THE UNITED NATIONS, EVERYONE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE UN INVOLVEMENT. CATHOLIC BISHOPS URGE PEOPLE TO PRACTICE MODERATION TO HELP RETURN OF PEACE Abidjan (Fides Service )- “The news that the United Nations may take a more active role in the peace process has been welcomed by all in Ivory Coast” a local Church source in Abidjan, told Fides with regard to the ar ...
• 28 January 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - MURDERED NUNCIO ARCHBISHOP COURTNEY COMMEMORATED TOMORROW A MONTH AFTER TRAGIC AMBUSH, WITH A SOLEMN MASS IN BUJUMBURA CATHEDRAL Bujumbura (Fides Service). There is still deep grief all over the country for the violent killing of Archbishop Michael Aidan Courtney, papal nuncio in Burundi, killed in an ambush on 29 December 2003 (see Fides 30 Decem ...
• 28 January 2004
  AFRICA/LIBERIA – CAPUCHIN FATHERS’ VEHICLE STOLEN: THIEVES’ RANSOM DEMAND TYPICAL OF LIBERIA’S STATE OF CONFUSION Monrovia (Fides Service )- “People are disillusioned with the country’s political vicissitudes; they have other problems, where to find food for the evening meal” a local Church source told Fides commenting the req ...
• 27 January 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - “WE HAVE COME TO LEARN FROM YOUR HOPE”. CARDINAL PATRICK O’BRIAN, PRIMATE OF SCOTLAND TELLS THE MARTYRED ARCHDIOCESE OF BUKAVU Bukavu (Fides Service )- To the delight and deep appreciation of Congolese Catholics Cardinal Keith Michael Patrick O’Brian, Primate di Scotland, Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, chose to make his first visit ...
• 27 January 2004
  AFRICA/ DEMOCRATIC CONGO - SUDDEN DEATH OF BISHOP PAUL MAMBE, BISHOP OF KINDU, FOR YEARS COMMITTED TO PROMOTING PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN CONGO Bukavu (Fides Service ) – Bishop Paul Mambe, Bishop of Kindu and Vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CENCO) died suddenly during the night of 26 January 2004, Radio Maria Malkia wa Amani in Bukavu rep ...
• 27 January 2004
  AFRICA/UGANDA - NORTHERN UGANDA’S SILENT WAR MAKES NO SOUND Kampala (Fides Service) – The LRA Lord’s Resistance Army rebels continue to sack, kidnap and kill in northern Uganda. According to missionaries contacted by Fides whom we will not name for security reasons, “violen ...
• 22 January 2004
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - LOCAL CATHOLIC CHURCH LAUNCHES EDUCATION CAMPAIGN TO STRIKE CORRUPTION AT THE ROOT Yaounde (Fides Service) - The Catholic Church in Cameroon has begun a school programme to teach pupils respect for the common good in view of eliminating corruption in future. According to local Catholic News Agency DIA, ...
• 22 January 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - UN PEACEKEEPERS DETERMINED TO DISARM MILITIA IN ITURI, NORTH-EAST CONGO, WHERE FIGHTING CONTINUES Bunia (Fides Service) – There is no peace for Ituri. For more than a week armed groups have been attacking UN peacekeepers in north east Democratic Congo (RDC) where, since 1999 at least ten different militia groups fi ...
• 22 January 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU – PORTUGUESE SPEAKING BISHOPS CALL FOR MORE SOLIDARITY AMONG CHURCHES TO MEET CHALLENGES OF EVANGELISATION Bissau (Fides Service) – To meet more effectively the challenge of new evangelisation, the Catholic Bishops of Portuguese speaking countries have called for more solidarity among the local Churches. This emerged at the ...
• 21 January 2004
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - BISHOPS STATEMENT DENOUNCING CLIMATE OF INSECURITY AND WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE BRINGS POSITIVE REACTION Bangui (Fides Service) - “Reactions were positive to the Bishops’ statement. The message was welcomed by both government and people” local Church sources in Bangui, Central African Republic told Fides. In a recent ...
• 21 January 2004
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - MAIN REBEL MOVEMENT IN LIBERIA SPLITS: WILL PEACE PROCESS BE ENDANGERED? Monrovia (Fides Service) - “It is the old story of fighting over seats in the unity government”. SMA Father Mauro Armanino told Fides with regard to the news that Mrs Asha Keita-Conneh, wife of Sekou Conneh leader of ...
• 20 January 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - SLOWLY CALM RETURNS TO GAMBELLA AFTER FIERCE ETHNIC CLASHES. CONCERN FOR 16,000 PEOPLE IN FLIGHT TOWARDS SUDAN Gambella (Fides Service)- “The situation is slowly returning to normal” said Reverend Angelo Moreschi Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Gambella in Ethiopia. Gambella is situated about 800 km west of the capital ...
• 20 January 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU – POLITICAL PRIORITIES COMMON GOOD AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FOR PORTUGUESE SPEAKING BISHOPS Bissau (Fides Service )- “The common good must be given first place by political parties”. This was the sense of an intervention by Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, Tomaz da Silva Nunes, at a Conference “Ethics and Poli ...