Africa

• 27 May 2003
  AFRICA/REPUBLIC OF CONGO - ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS PEACE IN POOL REGION. GUERRILLA LEADER ADMITS: “CIVIL WAR CAN NEVER BE SETTLED WITH WEAPONS” Brazzaville (Fides Service) – A decisive step has been taken for peace in the Republic of Congo. The leader of the Ninja guerrilla movement, Frederic Bitsangou, also referred to as Pastor Ntoumi, left his forest hiding ...
• 26 May 2003
  AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - “WE WANT THE TRUTH. WE ASK THOSE WHO HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THE SITUATION TO ACT FOR THE COMMON GOOD OR WE WILL BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR OWN PEOPLE. WE WILL BE CONDEMNED BY HISTORY”. APPEAL FROM RELIGIOUS ORDERS IN ZIMBABWE Harare (Fides Service) “ We want the truth. We ask those who have the power to change the situation to act for the common good or we will be held responsible for the destruction of our own people. We will be condemned ...
• 23 May 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - DEHONIAN MISSIONARIES WONDER WHY THE UNITED NATIONS MAKES NO EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION IN CONGO? Rome (Fides Service) – “We voice deep concern for the tragic events in recent weeks in eastern regions of the RDC and particularly in the Ituri region and surrounding areas”. The Dehonian Missionaries SCJ say this ...
• 23 May 2003
  AFRICA/RWANDA - KIBEHO MARIAN SHRINE MUST BECOME A BEACON OF PEACE FOR AFRICA: SAYS BISHOP MISAGO OF GIKONGORO Kigali (Fides Service) – “Kibeho Marian shrine must become a beacon of faith, hope and peace for the region of the Great Lakes and all of central Africa”. This is the wish voiced by Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikong ...
• 23 May 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - SMALL STEPS TOWARDS PEACE. REGIONAL SOLUTION FOR ARMED BANDITS ON BORDER WITH LIBERIA: BURKINA FASO AND IVORY COAST TO RESTORE MUTUAL COMMUNICATIONS Abidjan (Fides Service) – “Small step political activity is producing results” Father Lionello Melchiorri SMA says referring to the news of the Government Council meeting on 22 May in Bouake, the main city in the h ...
• 22 May 2003
  AFRICA/ANGOLA - TEN YEARS AFTER LIBERALISATION OF EDUCATION, STATE AND CHURCH REACH AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE BETTER SCHOOLING FOR ANGOLAN YOUTH Luanda (Fides Service) – “Much has been done, much remains to be done” says Bishop Luis Para Perez de Onaitra, President of the Angolan Catholic Bishops’ Commission for Education in the opening address at the 1st ...
• 22 May 2003
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - "DO NOT FORGET THAT 12 MILLION ETHIOPIANS RISK STARVATION” SAYS FATHER CESARE BULLO ANIMATOR OF A CAMPAIGN IN AID OF ETHIOPIA Addis Ababa (Fides Service) – “It is true that there are many emergencies in the world, but we cannot forget the 12 million Ethiopians who risk starvation” Father Cesare Bullo Salesian co-ordinator in Ethiopia tell ...
• 22 May 2003
  AFRICA/MOROCCO - ARCHBISHOP VINCENT LANDEL OF RABAT OFFER FIDES A PERSONAL REFLECTION ON THE EXTREMIST ATTACKS: “NOT CLOSED DOORS BUT MORE INVESTMENT IN OUR COUNTRY MUST BE EUROPE’S REACTION, OTHERWISE THE INFERNAL CYCLE WILL NEVER END Rabat (Fides Service) – After the May 16 terrorist attack in Casablanca the whole kingdom is in a state of shock. No one imagined that such a thing could ever happen in this country. But what is even more concerning is ...
• 21 May 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - IN WAR TORN CONGO A MIRACLE…CARITAS PEACE CONVOY RE-UNITES SEPARATED FAMILY MEMBERS Kinshasa (Fides Service) – A humanitarian river convoy carrying persons displaced by war to be re-united with families has safely arrived at its destination Bena-Dibele. The convoy, organised by Caritas Congo, left Kin ...
• 21 May 2003
  AFRICA/CONGO - MASSACRES, HUNGER, SCARCITY OF MEDICINES…ANGUISHED CALL FROM NORTH EAST CONGO Bunia (Fides Service) – “Supplies of food and medicine are running out, life in the city is becoming unbearable” a local priest in Bunia tells Fides Service. Bunia has been at the centre of fighting between Hema an ...
• 20 May 2003
  AFRICA/TOGO - BISHOPS CONCERNED ABOUT PEACE IN TOGO UNLESS FREE DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS ARE GUARANTEED Lome (Fides Service) – On June 1st there will be a presidential election in Togo a country situated on the Gulf of Guinea and which shares borders with Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. The election is important and there ...
• 20 May 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - “LOST YOUTH COMBAT NAMES COSA NOSTRA AND MAFIA ”…SAYS MISSIONARY WHO CRITICISES BEHAVIOUR OF FRANCE IN THIS TRAGEDY Abidjan (Fides Service) – “This is not yet authentic peace” a Comboni Missionary in Ivory Coast tells Fides Service. That country has been in the grip of ferocious civil war since September last year. “Despite th ...
• 19 May 2003
  AFRICA/UGANDA - FREE SINCE YESTERDAY EVENING ANOTHER HOSTAGE SEMINARIAN KIDNAPPED IN LACHOR ON 11 MAY Kampala (Fides Service )- Another of the seminarians kidnapped on 11 May by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Lachor, Uganda, is free. The news was confirmed to Fides Service by Archbishop John Baptist Odama of G ...
• 19 May 2003
  AFRICA/D.CONGO - TWO UN PEACEKEEPING SOLDIERS KILLED IN BUNIA, MARTYR CITY VICTIM OF CLASHES BETWEEN LENDU AND HEMA TRIBES Bunia (Fides Service) – Two members of the UN peace-keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo MONUC charged with monitoring the cease fire, were found dead about 70 km from Bunia in the north east Congo. The ...
• 16 May 2003
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - SALESIANS IN AFRICA: FIFTY PERCENT LOCAL MEN, A SOURCE OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE TO BE ENCOURAGED Yaounde (Fides/ANS) – “I think we can look with confidence to the future of Salesian Africa: almost half our confreres are local men. They are the fruits of our Project Africa” said Father Valentin de Pablo regiona ...