Africa

• 12 May 2003
  AFRICA/UGANDA - REBELS ATTACK LACHOR SEMINARY: LOCAL BOY SEEKING SHELTER FROM REBEL TERROR KILLED, FORTY ONE SEMINARIANS TAKEN HOSTAGE, ARCHBISHOP ASKS THE WORLD TO PRAY Kampala (Fides Service) – Forty one pupils at Lachor minor seminary (northern Uganda) were taken hostage by guerrillas of the Lord Resistance Army LRA during the night 10-11 May. The rebels also shot dead a local boy w ...
• 9 May 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - AT LEAST 20,000 HOMELESS AS TORRENTIAL RAINS CONTINUE: WEAKENED BY DROUGHT AND A FOOD CRISIS PEOPLE NOW FACE FLOODS Nairobi (Fides Service) – There is no let up in the torrential rains which have been causing havoc in Kenya since the end of April. “The worst situation is in Baringo district in north Kenya” writers for CISA Catho ...
• 9 May 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - VIOLENT FIGHTING IN ITURI REGION, PRIEST KILLED IN BUNIA Kinshasa (Fides Service) – Violent fighting is reported in Bunia, in the Ituri region in north east Democratic Republic of Congo. The city has been attacked by thousands of Lendu warriors armed with fire, spears and ma ...
• 9 May 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - UNITED NATIONS SAY 85 MILLION DOLLARS URGENTLY NEEDED FOR 3 MILLION VICTIMS OF WAR Abidjan (Fides Service) – At least 3 million people are at risk because of war in Ivory Coast. This is reported by Carolyn McAskie, United Nations’ special envoy to Ivory Coast. According to the United Nations in I ...
• 8 May 2003
  AFRICA/UGANDA - MARGINALISATION AND NO ASSISTANCE FOR REFUGEES WITH AIDS Kampala (Fides Service) – Refugee camps in Kyangwali, northern Uganda have no structures to treat people with AIDS. Displaced persons with HIV/AIDS or who fear they may be infected, are left to themselves and no one of ...
• 7 May 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - NOW THE NIGHTMARE OF MALARIA HANGS OVER A MILLION HOMELESS AS FLOODS INUNDATE EASTERN REGIONS OF KENYA Nairobi (Fides Service) – At least one million people have been driven from their homes by severe floods in the eastern regions of Kenya. The provinces most affected are Nyanza and West province. A journalist of a loca ...
• 7 May 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - FLOODS STILL AN EMERGENCY: COUNTRY ASKS ITSELF HOW CAN SUCH DISASTERS BE AVOIDED Nairobi (Fides Service) – It is still difficult to estimate precisely the number of people killed and the damages caused by floods which stuck Kenya at the end of April. So far about thirty people are reported to have ...
• 7 May 2003
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - SLOW RETURN TO NORMALITY: MISSIONARIES PICK UP THE PIECES AT SACKED AND LOOTED MISSIONS Bangui (Fides Service) – “The situation in Bangui is now stable” a Comboni missionary in the Central African Republic, who prefers for security reasons to remain anonymous, tells Fides Service. “Since Francois Bo ...
• 6 May 2003
  AFRICA/SENEGAL - VOICES OF WOMEN, CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM, AGAINST INTRODUCTION OF ISLAMIC RULES IN SENEGAL’S NEW CODE OF THE FAMILY Dakar (Fides Service) – Increasingly heated the debate in Senegal with regard to a new family code. A number of Muslim associations aim to include rules of Islamic law; a possibility which meets with opposition from Ch ...
• 5 May 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - HOW TO PUT AN END TO AFRICA’S WARS: SEMINAR AT CONGO’S CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY 7-11 MAY Kinshasa (Fides Service) – In Africa there are many, too many forgotten wars. At present conflicts are bringing death and destruction to Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, Ethi ...
• 5 May 2003
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - BAFIA - BISHOP ATHANASE BALA RESIGNS, REV. JEAN MARIE BALLA, APPOINTED BISHOP Vatican City (Fides Service) – The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has, (15 April 2003) accepted the renunciation of the Pastoral Government of the diocese of Bafia, Cameroon, presented by Bishop Athanase Bala, C. S ...
• 5 May 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - “CEASE-FIRE? REAL PEACE IS NOT SIMPLY THE ABSENCE OF FIGHTING. PEOPLE WANT A DECENT LIFE, LOOTING MUST STOP” SAY MISSIONARIES IN IVORY COAST Abidjan (Fides Service) – “People can’t take anymore. The situation must change. It is not possible to live a situation of anarchy for months on end.” This is how missionaries in northern Ivory Coast describe the ...
• 2 May 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - REV. LAURENT SONDITYA APPOINTED RECTOR OF REGINAE PACIS SEMINARY BUTEMBO-BENI Vatican City (Fides Service) - Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples has appointed (11 April 2003) rector of Reginae Pacis seminary Butembo-Beni Rev. Laurent Sonditya. ...
• 2 May 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - BISHOPS TELL NATIONAL LEADERS: WE HOPE YOU WILL BE GUIDED BY A SPIRIT OF DIALOGUE AS YOU CREATE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS WHICH WILL REASSURE ALL BURUNDIANS Bujumbura (Fides Service) – The Catholic Bishops of Burundi have launched yet another heartfelt plea for peace in their country, following their message to the nation in March (see Fides 25 March 2003). Addressing once ...
• 2 May 2003
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - CHANGEOVER OF PRESIDENTS AS AGREED WITH ALTERNATION OF HUTU AND TUTSI AN EXAMPLE OF STABILITY FOR THE REST OF AFRICA Bujumbura (Fides Service) – “The ceremony for the handing over of power between presidents, outgoing Tutsi Pierre Buyoya and incoming Hutu Domitien Ndayizeye, took place on May 1 in relative calm” local sources in ...