Africa

• 1 August 2003
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - “ALTHOUGH CEASE FIRE HOLDS BOTH ARMY AND REBELS PREPARE FOR WAR. REBELS, DIVIDED AMONG THEMSELVES, COULD EVEN EXPLODE IN ARMED CONFLICT” MISSIONARY TELLS FIDES SERVICE Abidjan (Fides Service) – “If I did not live in Ivory Coast I would say that it is the most beautiful country in the world, at least according to the official statements of the government” a missionary in Bouake no ...
• 31 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - FOUR THOUSAND SHELTER AT CONSOLATA MISSION AT BUCHANAN. TRAGEDY AT MONROVIA SPORTS STADIUM Monrovia (Fides Service) – There are at least 3 or 4 thousands displaced persons sheltering inside the compound of the Consolata Mission at Buchanan, the main port of Liberia about 90 km from the capital Monrovia. This ...
• 30 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - DESPITE UNITY IN KINSHASA THE ITURI SITUATION IS STILL A PRIORITY IN VIEW OF LASTING PEACE Kinshasa (Fides Service) – “We are pleased that the new government has decided to send security forces to Ituri to re-establish law and order, on the condition that they are given the proper means for their mission a ...
• 30 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - “GENERATOR FUEL SUPPLIES RUNNING OUT, LAST FOOD AND MEDICINE ” ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC HOSPITAL SOS Monrovia (Fides Service) – “People are fleeing southwards as LURD (Liberian United for Reconciliation and Democracy) rebels advance a St John of God Hospitaller Brothers missionary doctor at St Joseph’s Catholic ho ...
• 29 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - WHY DOES THE WORLD HESITATE TO INTERVENE? CONSOLATA MISSIONARIES IN LIBERIA LAUNCH CRY OF ALARM. MISSIONS HAVE ALSO RUN OUT OF SUPPLIES Monrovia (Fides Service) – “We are concerned for our Sisters at Buchanan” say Consolata Sisters in Harbel, some 50 km south of the Liberian capital Monrovia. “The MODEL rebels, (recently formed Movement for Demco ...
• 29 July 2003
  AFRICA/KENYA - NAIROBI 2 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN SLUMS WITHOUT WATER, SANITATION, ELECTRICITY Nairobi (Fides Service) – “In Nairobi there are 130 slum communities that are home to over 2 million people. The residents of Nairobi’s informal settlements constitute 55% of the city’s total population and yet t ...
• 28 July 2003
  AFRICA/CONGO - BABUYU AND BABEMBE TRIBES MAKE PEACE, PROMISE RECIPROCAL FORGIVENESS FOR WRONGS SUFFERED AND TALKS TO LAY BASIS FOR LASTING PEACE Kinshasa (Fides Service) – There is a ray of hope for peace in the civil war which since 1998 has killed between 2 and 4 million people in Congo. Through mediation by the local Catholic Church a tribal conflict which h ...
• 28 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - ST JOHN OF GOD CATHOLIC HOSPITAL ISSUES SERIOUS WARNING: “THOUSANDS MAY DIE BECAUSE OF FOOD AND WATER SHORTAGE ” Monrovia (Fides Service) – “The rebels have penetrated the city centre: innocent civilians are fleeing as mortars and bullets rain everywhere” a missionary doctor at the St John of God Catholic Hospital in Monrovia ...
• 25 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - WE WERE 6 NOW WE ARE 165 SAYS SISTER HELENA KOTANDOLA ONE OF THE FIRST SISTERS OF THE CONGREGATION OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI FOUNDED 50 YEARS AGO IN TSHUMBE DIOCESE Tshumbe (Fides Service) – “It is a great joy to see our family grow day by day” says Sister Helena Kotandola one of the foundresses of the diocesan congregation of Saint Francis of Assisi which celebrated it 50th a ...
• 24 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - REBELS ATTACK FRANCISCAN MISSION; ST JOHN OF GOD HOSPITALLER BROTHERS IN MONROVIA REPORT: THREE IN A BED, CHILDREN DYING FROM LACK OF FOOD, ANAEMIA, MALARIA Monrovia (Fides Service) – “We were deeply concerned for our Sisters and for the suffering that this tragic situation is causing the people of Liberia. The Sisters are unhurt and they will continue their pastoral and ...
• 23 July 2003
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - FIRST HAND REPORT FROM THE CAPITAL OF LIBERIA Monrovia (Fides Service) – “Up to five minutes ago we could hear the sound of shelling coming from the port and the east side of the city” a missionary in the Liberian capital Monrovia, whose name we withhold for s ...
• 21 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - BEING BOTH PATRIOTIC AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF ‘ENEMY’ PEOPLE AT WAR: CHALLENGES FACING EVANGELISATION IN CONGO. INTERVIEW WITH ARCHBISHOP OF KISANGANI Kinshasa (Fides Service) – The Lord is challenging his disciples in Africa of the Great Lakes region to live the Gospel radically”. Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani said this in an in an interview wi ...
• 18 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - FIRST PASTORAL VISIT BY CARDINAL CRESCENZIO SEPE: THE CHURCH IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO BEGS NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN Vatican City (Fides Service) – From 7 – 13 July Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, made his first pastoral visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo during which ...
• 18 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - ARCHBISHOP OF KISANGANI PAX CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT ASKS FOR UN MANDATE IN ITURI TO BE PROLONGED Kinshasa (Fides Service) – Pax Christi International PCI has launched an appeal for the extension of operations of the United Nations and the European Union to Ituri, in the north east of Democratic Congo. In a letter ...
• 17 July 2003
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - ANOTHER MASSACRE IN ITURI REGION. TERRIFIED PEOPLE SEEK SAFETY IN PARISHES AND FOREST Bunia (Fides Service) – “We have reliable confirmation that at least 24 people were killed four days ago in that area” local Church sources in Bunia, main town of Ituri region in north east Democratic Congo, commen ...