Africa

• 26 November 2004
  AFRICA/KENYA - “The tragic murder of missionary Father Hannon, yet another sign of great insecurity in the area” says report from Ngong diocese Nairobi (Fides Service) - In a official statement from the Bishops’ House signed by the Bishop Cornelius Schilder Ngong diocese announced the brutal murder of an Irish missionary Father John Hannon: “It is with deep ...
• 26 November 2004
  AFRICA/ETIOPIA - Ethiopia decides to bury the hatchet and accept the border line marked by the international commission. Now it is up to Eritrea to give a positive answer Addis Ababa (Fides Service)- “Ethiopia has decided for the war on hunger and poverty rather than real war” local sources in Addis Ababa told Fides commenting the decision taken by the government of Ethiopia to accept ...
• 25 November 2004
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - Long wave of a cyclone in March now has Madagascar in grip of hunger. Exasperation triggers bomb explosion as protest. Antananarivo (Fides)- “People are literally starving and in this situation acts of violence in protest can be an extreme and violent sign of widespread desperation” said Father Leonardo, head of the Salesian House in ...
• 25 November 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Voices of hope mixed with fear of war in Bukavu Bukavu (Fides Service) -“People in Bukavu knew about the visit by a United Nations delegation and they were interested. But unfortunately, because the delegation was delayed and only stayed a few hours the delegates, t ...
• 25 November 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - All that was feared has happened: when domestic tension override international interests. Another of Africa’s cease fire agreements violated Khartoum (Fides Service)- “Only a firm intervention by the international community can stop the war in Darfur” Bishop Macram Max Gassis, of El Obeid (Sudan), told Fides commenting the violation of the cease fire in ...
• 25 November 2004
  AFRICA/KENYA - Nyahururu diocese mourns Vicar General Nairobi (Fides Service)- The diocese of Nyahururu is mourning its Vicar General, Rev. Daniel Kariuki. Here is the statement issued by the diocese: “Our diocese of Nyahururu is again in mourning. Father Daniel Kariuki, ...
• 24 November 2004
  AFRICA/UGANDA - People are still dying in northern Uganda despite recent negotiations Gulu (Fides Service)- “We are waiting with great expectation. There is an atmosphere of cautious hope, although the situation is still unsettled” said a missionary in Gulu, in northern Uganda ravaged for many years t ...
• 24 November 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Darfur recent developments Rome (Fides Service) - There are reports of fresh fighting in the western Sudan region of Darfur tormented by months of civil war. Today, 24 November, the Sudan Liberation Army one of the two anti-government rebel moveme ...
• 23 November 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - “I am grateful to the Pope for this act of confidence in me” the newly appointed Bishop of Bokungu-Ikela in Congo told Fides Rome (Fides Service)-“I am deeply moved by my appointment as Bishop of the diocese of Bokungu-Ikela” Capuchin Father Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, O.F.M. Vice-Provincial of his religious Order in Democratic Congo told Fi ...
• 23 November 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Cease fire in Darfur violated. Government declares state of emergency Khartoum (Fides Service)- Peace seems unattainable in Darfur, the martyred north western region of Sudan where a violent civil war has raged for many months. On Sunday 21 November fresh fighting caused some 30,000 people ...
• 23 November 2004
  AFRICA/MADAGASCAR - The figure of the priest, the Year of the Eucharist and Africa’s Year of the Bible, the fight against AIDS were some of the topics discussed by the Catholic Bishops of Madagascar during their recent plenary assembly Antananarino (Fides Service) - The Catholic Bishops of Madagascar recently met in the capital Antananarino, for the annual assembly of the local Church Bishop Gustavo Bombin Espino of Tsiroanomandidy reported to Fides. T ...
• 22 November 2004
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - Africa: pouring of refugees from one state to another continues to threaten stability in countries such as Liberia, trying to recover from a dramatic civil. At least 13,000 Ivorians have fled to north eastern Liberia Monrovia (Fides Service)- “So far the flow of Ivorian refugees has not caused tension although local radios have appealed to United Nations forces in Liberia to be on guard to prevent Ivorian militia from recruiting am ...
• 22 November 2004
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - “The fight was with poachers not Sudanese guerrillas” local sources told Fides commenting an army intervention in which 16 people were killed after an attack on a village a hundred kilometres from the Sudanese border Bangui (Fides Service) -“Local media and government authorities say it was a battle with poachers, not Sudan guerrilla groups” said local Church sources in the Central African Republic where on Friday 19 November 16 ...
• 20 November 2004
  AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - Invasion of locusts combined with lack of rain destroys 90% of harvests in northern Burkina Faso Ouagadougou (Fides Service) -Harvests in northern Burkina Faso will be 90% less because of an invasion of locusts. The situation is most serious in the province of Oudalan, which has borders with Mali and Niger. The wors ...
• 20 November 2004
  AFRICA/TANZANIA - Great Lakes Summit participants sign declaration of commitment to work for “A region of lasting peace and security”. Catholic Bishops of Tanzania urge them to take the “path of dialogue” Dar es Salaam (Agenzia Fides)- - Transform the Great Lakes region in an “area of lasting peace and security” was the goal established today 20 November by African heads of state taking part in the first Internationa ...