Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
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, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, West Sahara, Zimbabwe (See Fides Dossier).
In this situation the local Churches are not onlookers they work assiduously to assist the stricken people and search for paths to restore peace.
One of the most affected countries is the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than one million people have been killed in a bloody war since 1998. In an attempt to understand the causes of Africa’s conflicts the faculty of economy and development at the Catholic University of Kinshasa has organised a Seminar 7-11 May. Themes for discussion include, finding solutions for situations of conflict and identifying the consequences of war on African economies. Special attention will be given to Congo’s experience in settling of disputes and different ways of boosting the economies of countries which have lived a war.
The study Seminar will open with an address by Cardinal Frederic Etsou, Archbishop of Kinshasa, also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of D. Congo, followed by interventions by a Congolese representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and a special representative of the UN Secretary General to MONUC UN Mission in Congo.
Participants at the Seminar will include local ministers and politicians, as well as diplomats from the Republic of Congo, Angola and South Africa, all countries which have lived or are living a situation of war. LM (Fides Service 5/5/2003 EM lines 28 Words: 290)
