Africa

• 30 May 2005
  AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - While in Zimbabwe the grip of hunger is ever tighter, the government invests in modern technology to close communications frontiers. The opposition calls for solidarity denouncing vexation and violence against the poor. Neighbour countries increasingly affected by food crisis Harare (Fides Service)- “Make war on poverty rather than on the poor” said representatives of the Christian Churches in Zimbabwe in an appeal in which they joined the opposition and civil society in calling on the go ...
• 28 May 2005
  AFRICA/NIGER - Many more than 4 million lives at stake. Drought and locusts bring on serious food shortage. Niamey diocese calls for help and solidarity Niamey (Fides Service)- “The situation is more desperate that anyone could imagine and it threatens to become a catastrophe before the world realise what is happening” Fides Mgr Laurent Lompo from Niamey diocese in N ...
• 28 May 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - “For 45 years and the last 15 in particular the people of Congo have suffered because of civil war and serious disorder. We call for violence to stop from which ever side it comes” says President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Congo Kinshasa (Fides Service)- “We call on those responsible to stop all violence” said Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Democratic Congo, calling on the ...
• 27 May 2005
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Concern in Guinea Bissau after performances of former Presidents Kumba Yala and João Bernardo Viera Bissau (Fides Service)-“There is apparent calm, but tension remains” said local Church sources in Bissau, capital of Guinea Bissau where the reported occupation of the Presidential Residence by former president Kumba ...
• 27 May 2005
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “The situation in Darfur has not improved, Janjaweed Arab militia raids on civilians continue” Laura Boldrini of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees told Fides Khartoum (Fides Service)- “Unfortunately the situation in Darfur has not improved” United Nations High Commission for Refugees spokesperson Laura Boldrini told Fides. “Armed incursions on civilians on the part of t ...
• 25 May 2005
  AFRICA/ CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - “With the election of the new President the international community has no excuse: it must assure the country urgently needed financial aid” Bangui (Fides Service)- “Now that Central Africa has a regularly elected President and a Parliament there can be no excuses, the international community must take measures to send financial aid because the country has ...
• 25 May 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Catholic Bishops of Togo thank French Bishops for closeness and solidarity x Lome (Fides Service)- “We are extremely concerned for the situation of human rights in Togo” the International Federation of Human Rights Organisations said in a letter addressed to Kofi Annan United Nations Secretar ...
• 25 May 2005
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - “People’s trust in the Church derives from the years of the civil war when the clergy stayed by their people” says the President of the Burundian Bishops’ Conference Rome (Fides Service)- “People trust the Church, this is why priests and religious will be among those watching to see the election is fair and free” said Bishop Jean Ntagwarara of Bubanza who is President Burundian B ...
• 24 May 2005
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - Growing expectation for results of May 15 election: both majority and opposition claim victory. Official results on 8 June Addis Ababa (Fides Service)- In Ethiopia there is growing expectation for the results of parliamentary elections on May 15. “The results will not be announced until June 8 but all the political groups have already clai ...
• 24 May 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Sixty per cent of the country’s healthcare centres are Catholic hospitals” says Bishop of Kisantu in south west Congo Kinshasa (Fides Service)- “If we love our people we must not allow the sale of medicine which is out of date, counterfeit or too costly” said the Catholic Bishop Fidèle Nsielele of Kisantu in an interview with a loc ...
• 23 May 2005
  AFRICA/CÔTE D' IVOIRE - There is new hope in western Côte d'Ivoire but the spectre of ethnic war is still there Abidjan (Fides Service)- “The situation is improving every day. Basic services are beginning to work again and state administration has resumed” Capuchin Fathers in the diocese of Man told Fides. “Our mission is ...
• 23 May 2005
  AFRICA/KENYA - The rich North is like the ‘rich man’ but ‘Lazarus’ Africa deserves real aid not scraps. Bishops of Kenya Letter Pastoral on external debts of poor countries Nairobi (Fides Service)- “Kenyan debt is the cause of oppression, of poverty, we dare say of neo-modern slavery” the Catholic Bishops of Kenya said in a Pastoral Letter “On the Burden of International Debt” date ...
• 21 May 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - The number of Togo refugees in Ghana and Benin is stable says UN High Commission for Refugees Rome (Fides Service)- The flow of refugees from Togo towards Benin and Ghana, which rose to a total 32,000 from the 26,084 registered last week, appears to have stabilised according to the UN High Commission for Refugees ...
• 21 May 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - East Congo: violence on civilians “An unbearable situation. The international community must intervene” Bukavu (Fides Service)- Sad faces of people who have suffered too much welcomed a caravan of Peace and Solidarity as it reached Kaniola, local sources said with regard to the caravan sent by the city of Bukavu to the tow ...
• 19 May 2005
  AFRICA/ZAMBIA - Catholic diocesan radio station Radio Musi O Tunya in Livingstone resumes broadcasts Livingstone (Fides Service)- The local Catholic radio station, Radio Musi O Tunya opened by Livingstone diocese informed us that it has been able to resume broadcasts being closed some months ago. The radio was issued wi ...