Africa

• 17 July 2003
  AFRICA/SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE - SITUATION UNCERTAIN FOLLOWING COUP: IS OIL THE TARGET? Sao Tome (Fides Service) – There is confusion in Sao Tome and Principe, the small island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, after the army staged a coup during the night of 15 July. The rebel military led by the head of the ...
• 16 July 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - TRUCE IN BUJUMBURA AFTER DAYS OF SHELLING, BUT FOR HOW LONG? CONCERN OVER DESPERATE CONDITIONS OF THOUSANDS OF DISPLACED PERSONS Bujumbura (Fides Service) – Calm has returned to Bujumbura capital of Burundi after the artillery attack on Tuesday 15 July targeting mainly the district of Gihosha. “There are only sporadic shootings in outlying are ...
• 16 July 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - DECADE OF WAR - BACKGROUND Bujumbura (Fides Service ) – Civil war in Burundi exploded in 1993. The conflict involves the mainly Tutsi army and the mainly Hutu guerrilla a tribe which is the majority in the country. The root of the conflict is m ...
• 16 July 2003
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - FROM HELL IN THE CITY TO HEAVEN OF NEW LAND: PRIEST RUNS PROGRAMME TO HELP ANTANANARIVO’S RURAL REFUGEES Antananarivo (Fides Service) – Every year thousands of country people pour into Antananarivo the capital of Madagascar in search of work. Most have been driven to the city by dire poverty caused by severe drought in th ...
• 15 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - TRAGIC GROWING PHENOMENON OF STREET CHILDREN: CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES HAVE THREE HOMES IN KISANGANI FOR LITTLE PEOPLE NOBODY WANTS Kisangani (Fides Service) - A roof over their heads, regular meals, a chance to learn to read and write and acquire a skill. All this is provided for about 87 girls and boys who have found a new home in Catholic institut ...
• 15 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - THOUSANDS SEEK SHELTER IN THE CAPITAL, HUMANITARIAN SITUATION DETERIORATES PEOPLE ARE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE HOPING FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING FORCE Monrovia (Fides Service) – “The humanitarian situation gets worse every day” a missionary in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, told Fides Service. Over the past weeks Monrovia has been the scene of heavy fighting betwe ...
• 14 July 2003
  AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - 60 MILLION AFRICANS SUFFER FROM HIV/AIDS: 2ND AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT LAUNCHES CALL TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY Rome (Fides Service) – During the 2nd Summit meeting of the African Union, AU held recently in Maputo, Mozambique, for the first time the Africa Leaders put health emergencies HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria as a priority o ...
• 14 July 2003
  AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - AFRICAN UNION MEETING REVEALED “A WILL TO HAVE AN AFRICAN POLICY FOR AFRICA” ARCHBISHOP OF BEIRA TELLS FIDES SERVICE Maputo (Fides Service) – “The African Union Summit meeting in Maputo affirmed an African policy for Africa” says Archbishop Jaime Pedro Gonclaves of Beira referring to the meeting of African heads of states 10-12 J ...
• 14 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - COUNT MORE ON LAY CATHOLICS FOR NEW EVANGELISATION AND PROMOTE JUSTICE AND PEACE: TWO MAIN OPTIONS IDENTIFIED BY CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ PLENARY ASSEMBLY Kinshasa (Fides Service) – “The Church in Congo wants to count more and more on the laity in view of new evangelisation” the spokesman for the Catholic Bishops of Congo Father Valer Shango told Fides Service. This ...
• 14 July 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - TRUCE IN BUJUMBURA BUT IT IS FEARED FIGHTING MAY START AGAIN ANY TIME Bujumbura (Fides Service) – “We had a night of calm after a whole week of fighting” local sources in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi, told Fides Service. “Yesterday evening rebel militia of the Front of National Li ...
• 11 July 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - BY 2005 CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIFE IN AFRICA SHOULD BE A REALITY MISSIONARIES OF AFRICA SUPERIOR GENERAL FATHER RICHARD FRANCOIS TELLS FIDES SERVICE Nairobi (Fides Service) – “Before the end of 2005 we will establish the Continental Conference for Religious Life in Africa” Father Richard Francois Missionaries of Africa Superior General tells Fides Service, chai ...
• 11 July 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - FOR FIVE DAYS BUJUMBURA HAS BEEN IN GRIP OF FIERCE FIGHTING. CARITAS CENTRES OVERFLOWING WITH INJURED AND DISPLACED PERSONS Bujumbura (Fides Service) - “From where we are we cannot hear the artillery firing, but for five days National Liberation Front rebels FNL have been attacking Bujumbura” a local missionary told Fides Service. “The ...
• 10 July 2003
  AFRICA/MALAWI - MALAWI’S FIRST CONVENT OF CLOISTERED NUNS: INCESSANT PRAYER TO COMFORT ONE OF WORLD’S HUNGRIEST AND POOREST COUNTRIES Zomba (Fides Service) – Malawi will soon have its first Convent of enclosed nuns, Discalced Carmelites. The official inauguration of a Carmelite church and convent at Zomba will take place on 15 October, feast of Saint ...
• 10 July 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - IN NAIROBI A HISTORY MAKING MEETING TO SET UP A CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE OF RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN IN AFRICA Nairobi (Fides Service) – “Africa may soon have an All-Africa association of all Religious men and women”. This was affirmed by Consolata missionary Father Vincenzo Salemi, co-ordinator of a Meeting for Religious M ...
• 10 July 2003
  AFRICA/ETHOPIA - “THESE PEOPLE NEED SOMEONE TO TAKE THEIR SIDE”: DESPERATE APPEAL FROM SALESIAN SISTERS IN ZWAY Zway (Fides Service) – For the people of Zway it is normal to see their children die. In this year of hunger, the only thing that is different is the number of those who die: it is higher. We found one father who had l ...