Africa

• 19 December 2003
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - PRISON SENTENCE FOR FORMER PRESIDENT IS A BOOST FOR THOSE WHO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR PAST CRIMES, BUT THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION REMAINS TO BE SOLVED Antananarivo (Fides Service )- “The sentence is a boost for those who demand justice for crimes committed in the past ” Father Cosimo Alvati, head of Radio Don Bosco in Madagascar told Fides with regard to a five yea ...
• 19 December 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - AFTER SO MANY CHRISTMASSES OF WAR AT LAST CONGO PREPARES FOR A CHRISTMAS AT PEACE: ON 1 JANUARY A NEW ‘MOTHER OF GOD’ PARISH WILL OPEN IN MUHUNGU ENTRUSTED TO XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES Bukavu (Fides Service ) - Father Luigi Lo Stocco, Xaverian missionary head of Radio Maria Queen of Peace in Bukavu, Democratic Congo, sent Fides a report on preparations for Christmas. “After many Christmasses with th ...
• 18 December 2003
  AFRICA/UGANDA - ARCHBISHOP OF GULU ILLUSTRATES FOR FIDES JOINT CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO WAR STRICKEN PEOPLE IN NORTHERN UGANDA: “TRUST IN GOD, PRAY CONSTANTLY FOR PEACE WHICH COMES ONLY FROM GOD”. Gulu (Fides Service)-“The purpose was to launch a Christmas message of hope and reconciliation” Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu (Northern Uganda), told Fides with regard to a visit of solidarity made by religio ...
• 18 December 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST – SIGNS OF HOPE FOR PEACE, BUT CARE MUST BE TAKEN TO PREVENT PREVAILING OF LOGIC OF VIOLENCE Abidjan (Fides Service)- “We hope this Christmas will be different from the last when because of the curfew we had to celebrate midnight Mass at three in the afternoon” a local Church source in Abidjan told Fides. In ...
• 17 December 2003
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA – ALL IS QUIET IN GAMBELLA AFTER RECENT ETHNIC CLASHES. AT LEAST 200 HOMELESS PEOPLE FIND SHELTER AT SALESIAN MISSION AND HUNDREDS MORE ARE IN DANGER OF STARVATION Addis Ababa (Fides Service)- All is quiet in Gambella, in south east Ethiopia, the scene of ethnic clashes last week (see Fides 16 December 2003). “Army troops dispatched by the government restored order and are now pa ...
• 16 December 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - PEACE AMONG POLITICAL LEADERS MUST BE FOLLOWED BY PEACE AMONG HEARTS Abidjan (Fides Service) - Slowly but surely withdrawal of heavy arms continues from the strip of no man’s land which divides army controlled territory from the zone in the hands of the New Forces rebels. Fides was told ...
• 16 December 2003
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - AFRICA STILL IN THE GRIP OF TRIBALISM: RIVAL ETHNIC GROUPS CLASH IN WESTERN ETHIOPIA. MISSIONARIES ASSIST REFUGEES Addis Ababa (Fides Service)- It is still very difficult to have a precise picture of what is happening in the Gambella region, about 400 km west of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for several days the scene of tribal ...
• 15 December 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - PAUSE IN UN DISARMAMENT PROGRAMME. BAD PLANNING CAUSES MALCONTENT AND SHOOTING: TOO MANY TROOPS WANTING TO TURN IN RIFLES IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY AND EDUCATION Monrovia (Agenzia Fides)- “It was a false start” Father Mauro Armanino, SMA Provincial Superior in Monrovia, told Fides with regard to the pause in the Liberian disarmament process ordered by the United Nations after ...
• 12 December 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - GUN BATTLE IN FRONT OF ABIDJAN TELEVISION STUDIOS MAY THREATEN DISARMAMENT PLAN STARTING TOMORROW Abidjan (Fides Service )- “Unfortunately the episode came as no surprise” a local Church source told Fides with reference to the shooting incident this morning December 12 outside the national television studios in A ...
• 12 December 2003
  AFRICA/SUDAN - CARDINAL WAKO: “THE WILL TO PUT AN END TO THE WAR IS EVER STRONGER BUT SO IS THE FEAR THAT ONCE AGAIN HOPES FOR PEACE WILL BE DISAPPOINTED ” Rome (Fides Service)- Cardinal Wako, Archbishop of Khartoum is in Rome with the Bishops of Sudan on ad limina visit to the Pope. In a conversation with Fides the Sudanese Cardinal stressed the importance of harmony among ...
• 12 December 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - CATHOLICS PLAN CHRISTMAS SOLIDARITY FOR RETURNING REFUGEES NOW THAT GOVERNMENT AND REBELS HAVE MADE PEACE Bujumbura (Fides Service)- “As we prepare for Christmas we are thinking above all of the thousands of refugees who are coming back from Tanzania” a priest in Bururi diocese, in Burundi, told Fides. The priest, whom w ...
• 11 December 2003
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - “THE PLACE OF THE LAITY IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH” PASTORAL LETTER TO CATHOLICS IN NKONGSAMBA DIOCESE Yaounde (Fides Service)- The participation of the laity in the triple function of the Church (sanctifying, doctrinal and pastoral) is the main theme of a Pastoral Letter “The place of the faithful in the mission of the ...
• 10 December 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - FIRST AFRICAN GATHERING OF DON BOSCO FORMER PUPILS: AN IMPORTANT STEP Nairobi (Fides/Ans) – The first ever African gathering of former Don Bosco pupils opened on 29 November at the YES Don Bosco Centre in Nairobi and closed on 4 December. With Alex Dockers, Vice President of the World Fe ...
• 10 December 2003
  AFRICA/RD CONGO - WOMEN FIRST VICTIMS OF WAR AND FIRST AGENTS OF PEACE: THE ACTIVITY OF A CATHOLIC CENTRE FOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT FOR PEACE INITIATIVES IN LUBUMBASHI SOUTHERN CONGO Kinshasa (Fides Service) - Women and children are always the first victims of war, exposed to all sort of violence from all sides. Among the wars where women are seriously affected, the conflict in the Democratic Republi ...
• 9 December 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - YOUNG GUERRILLAS DEMAND BETTER CONDITIONS TO DISARM: SHOOTING CONTINUES IN SOME PARTS OF MONROVIA Monrovia (Fides Service )-“Difficulties encountered with regard to the disarmament operation are a sign that the process to peace is still long” Father Mauro Armanino SMA Superior Provincial in Monrovia, capital of L ...