Africa

• 26 February 2010
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Political crisis: new Independent Electoral Commission created, Bishops tell politicians not to take the people 'hostage' Abidjan (Agenzia Fides) – The new Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of the Ivory Coast, whose presidency has been entrusted to the opposition, has officially been established. It seems then that this may be the be ...
• 26 February 2010
  AFRICA/GHANA - Permanent Committee of Symposium of African Bishops meets Accra (Agenzia Fides) – From February 27 to March 3 Accra (Ghana) is hosting the meeting of the Permanent Committee of the Symposium of Bishops' Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM/SCEAM). According to a stat ...
• 25 February 2010
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Nuncio Montemayor to visit Guinea Bissau March 6-12 Bissau (Agenzia Fides) – Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, Papal Representative in Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Mauritania and Senegal (where he resides), is scheduled to visit Guinea-Bissau March 6 to 12. During the v ...
• 25 February 2010
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “The Doha Agreement is an important yet incomplete step towards peace,” the Bishop of El Obeid tells Fides Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – "It is an important yet incomplete step towards peace. It is still too soon to claim that peace has returned to Darfur," Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid told Fides in commenting on the f ...
• 25 February 2010
  AFRICA/KENYA - Bishops of Kenya in Lenten Message: rediscover the community spirit to address food shortage Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – Food shortage and recalling the idea of “Harambee” (Swahili for “together”), community effort in resolving problems are the focus of the reflection issued in this first week of Lent by ...
• 24 February 2010
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “A very significant agreement, an important step to restore peace in Darfur” Doha (Agenzia Fides) – "The agreement signed between the Sudanese government and the JEM is important because it is the strongest and most capable military group operating in Darfur," Fides was told by Vittorio Scelzo, ...
• 24 February 2010
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Darfur: main points of the Doha Agreement Doha (Agenzia Fides) – Amin Hassan Omar, chief negotiator of the Sudanese government and Ahmed Tugud, leader of the delegation of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM, the strongest rebel movement in Darfur) on Febru ...
• 23 February 2010
  AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - Church leaders say they welcome President's call for a national moral dialogue Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - “We welcome the prospect of a national dialogue on morality and morals in our country. President Zuma's proposal is a timely one. It is for all South Africans to participate in a collecti ...
• 23 February 2010
  AFRICA/CONGO DR - Bishop of Budjala calls for government intervention for refugees from the Equateur Province Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – Bishop Philibert Tembo Nlandu of Budjala (Democratic Republic of the Congo) has requested the support of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of basic social needs, Nzanga Mobutu, for the retu ...
• 22 February 2010
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - Two French aid workers kidnapped and later released by LRA guerrillas who attacked a Catholic Church; local inhabitants being held hostage Bangui (Agenzia Fides) – The Ugandan rebels of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) attacked the village of Rafai, in the southeastern Central African Republic, on February 18. "The information we have is still sketchy as ...
• 22 February 2010
  AFRICA/KENYA - Political stalemate in Kenya; Bishops call for a national solution before asking for intervention from international mediators Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – According to a statement from the Kenyan Bishops' Conference, taken from the Kenyan agency CISA, the Bishops "wish to advice against absconding cabinet meetings. This would mean a stalemate in ...
• 20 February 2010
  AFRICA/KENYA - Bishop of Marsabit tells Fides: in spite of climate change woes, people are not discouraged Rome (Agenzia Fides) – "The failure of the Copenhagen Summit has deeply disappointed us, as we have been experiencing the deadly effects of global warming for years now," Fides was told by Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki, ...
• 20 February 2010
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Bloody suppression of an opposition rally; "The population is suffering, but no agreement has been reached to end the country's political stalemate," say local sources Gagnoa (Agenzia Fides) – "Police and civil guard forces are controlling the city and the situation is calm," Fides was told by local sources from Gagnoa, in southwestern Ivory Coast, where yesterday, 19 February, an op ...
• 19 February 2010
  AFRICA/NIGER - “The situation is calm and the people do not seem worried,” missionary from Niamey tells Agenzia Fides Niamey (Agenzia Fides) - "The situation is calm. The schools are open and there do not seem to be any special security measures," Fides learns from a missionary of the Society of African Missions from Niamey, Niger's cap ...
• 18 February 2010
  AFRICA/KENYA - Archbishop of Mombasa says Lent is a perfect time to rediscover God's love for each one of us Mombasa (Agenzia Fides) – Lent “helps us to prepare ourselves for the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” writes Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa (Kenya), in his Lenten Message, a copy o ...