Africa

• 27 January 2004
  AFRICA/ DEMOCRATIC CONGO - SUDDEN DEATH OF BISHOP PAUL MAMBE, BISHOP OF KINDU, FOR YEARS COMMITTED TO PROMOTING PEACE AND RECONCILIATION IN CONGO Bukavu (Fides Service ) – Bishop Paul Mambe, Bishop of Kindu and Vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CENCO) died suddenly during the night of 26 January 2004, Radio Maria Malkia wa Amani in Bukavu rep ...
• 27 January 2004
  AFRICA/UGANDA - NORTHERN UGANDA’S SILENT WAR MAKES NO SOUND Kampala (Fides Service) – The LRA Lord’s Resistance Army rebels continue to sack, kidnap and kill in northern Uganda. According to missionaries contacted by Fides whom we will not name for security reasons, “violen ...
• 22 January 2004
  AFRICA/CAMEROON - LOCAL CATHOLIC CHURCH LAUNCHES EDUCATION CAMPAIGN TO STRIKE CORRUPTION AT THE ROOT Yaounde (Fides Service) - The Catholic Church in Cameroon has begun a school programme to teach pupils respect for the common good in view of eliminating corruption in future. According to local Catholic News Agency DIA, ...
• 22 January 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - UN PEACEKEEPERS DETERMINED TO DISARM MILITIA IN ITURI, NORTH-EAST CONGO, WHERE FIGHTING CONTINUES Bunia (Fides Service) – There is no peace for Ituri. For more than a week armed groups have been attacking UN peacekeepers in north east Democratic Congo (RDC) where, since 1999 at least ten different militia groups fi ...
• 22 January 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU – PORTUGUESE SPEAKING BISHOPS CALL FOR MORE SOLIDARITY AMONG CHURCHES TO MEET CHALLENGES OF EVANGELISATION Bissau (Fides Service) – To meet more effectively the challenge of new evangelisation, the Catholic Bishops of Portuguese speaking countries have called for more solidarity among the local Churches. This emerged at the ...
• 21 January 2004
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - BISHOPS STATEMENT DENOUNCING CLIMATE OF INSECURITY AND WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE BRINGS POSITIVE REACTION Bangui (Fides Service) - “Reactions were positive to the Bishops’ statement. The message was welcomed by both government and people” local Church sources in Bangui, Central African Republic told Fides. In a recent ...
• 21 January 2004
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - MAIN REBEL MOVEMENT IN LIBERIA SPLITS: WILL PEACE PROCESS BE ENDANGERED? Monrovia (Fides Service) - “It is the old story of fighting over seats in the unity government”. SMA Father Mauro Armanino told Fides with regard to the news that Mrs Asha Keita-Conneh, wife of Sekou Conneh leader of ...
• 20 January 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - SLOWLY CALM RETURNS TO GAMBELLA AFTER FIERCE ETHNIC CLASHES. CONCERN FOR 16,000 PEOPLE IN FLIGHT TOWARDS SUDAN Gambella (Fides Service)- “The situation is slowly returning to normal” said Reverend Angelo Moreschi Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Gambella in Ethiopia. Gambella is situated about 800 km west of the capital ...
• 20 January 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU – POLITICAL PRIORITIES COMMON GOOD AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON FOR PORTUGUESE SPEAKING BISHOPS Bissau (Fides Service )- “The common good must be given first place by political parties”. This was the sense of an intervention by Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, Tomaz da Silva Nunes, at a Conference “Ethics and Poli ...
• 19 January 2004
  AFRICA/TUNISIA - BISHOPS OF NORTHERN AFRICA: “THE WITNESS OFFERED BY THE CHURCH IN MAGHREB IS NOT SEEN AS AGGRESSION BY THE LOCAL PEOPLE ”. ARCHBISHOP FOUAD TWAL ELECTED PRESIDENT OF CERNA. Tunis (Fides Service) - “In Christian-Muslim relations in Maghreb we have good reason to think that the witness to the Gospel of Christ offered by the Church, through which the local society receives the Good News, is ...
• 19 January 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - IS PEACE IN BURUNDI CLOSER? LAST RESISTING GROUP OF REBELS SITS AT NEGOTIATING TABLE WITH GOVERNMENT Bujumbura (Fides Service)- “If an agreement is reached between the FLN and the government Burundi’s dream of peace will come true” say local church sources in Bujumbura, where hope grows now that peace talks have ...
• 17 January 2004
  AFRICA/KENYA - STRONG SPIRIT OF ECUMENISM IN KENYA, LOCAL CHRISTIAN CONFESSIONS PREPARE TO CELEBRATE WEEK FOF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY Nairobi (Fides Service/Cisa) – The spirit of ecumenism is lively in Kenya and it has been for some years. The Nairobi Ecumenical Group has a long history of ecumenical meetings and collaboration, especially between th ...
• 16 January 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA AND BURUNDI - INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS FOR DEVELOPMENT HELP Rome (Fides Service)- “The situation has certainly improved: the last harvest was good and the food emergency is under control, but malnutrition is chronic as FAO and World Food Programme have announced. More than 7 mi ...
• 15 January 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - WE MUST NEVER STOP THE PATH OF LOVE! Rome(Fides Service) – Here is a message of hope and cheer sent to Fides Service by Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitega who is also President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Burundi. His words of love and hope ...
• 14 January 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - MACHETE SLAUGHTER CONTINUES: AT LEAST 18 PEOPLE MURDERED IN RECENT WEEKS. 40-60,000 ARMED YOUNG MILITARY RUN WILD Abidjan (Fides Service)-“Violence in the north west of Ivory Coast will not stop the peace process between government and rebels” local Church sources in Abidjan told Fides Service. “Sad to say these episodes come ...