Father Maccalli was serving in a parish in Bomoanga, Niger, when militant extremists from Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, a branch of al-Qaida in Mali, kidnapped him in September 2018.
Africa
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Is Nigeria’s new business reform law a threat to religious freedom?
President Buhari’s push to corporatize religious houses is causing tension with religious leaders who accuse him of bias against Christians.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
World Food Program wins Nobel Peace Prize as hunger surges
The committee also said it hopes the prize will highlight the need to strengthen global solidarity and cooperation in an era of go-it-alone nationalism.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Town rejoices as Italian missionary, other hostages freed in Mali
Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, said the release of Father Maccalli as the church is preparing to celebrate World Mission Sunday Oct. 18 “is a great sign of hope for us, for Africa and for the universal church.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
CRS report says poverty, not religious conflict, causes Sahel violence
Although Catholics comprise a small percentage of the total population in Sahel, the church is respected by the population “regardless of their faith and is seen as a neutral, objective and nonpolitical actor across the region,” said the CRS report, titled “Steps Towards Peace.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Conference takes stock of progress in AIDS fight during COVID-19 pandemic
Cardinal Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told the conference Sept. 24 that the world had made great progress in responding to HIV.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Bishops hail new declaration eliminating state religion in Sudan
Sudanese people can now “worship and practice their various religious beliefs without fear,” said the general secretary of the Sudanese bishops’ conference.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Covid-19 robbed refugees ‘of the little that they had,’ says Salesian
Carrying her hungry baby on her back in the traditional African baby wrap, 38-year-old Adol Majok struggled in the long line of people waiting to get food rations and other essential items distributed by Catholic groups.
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Aid making its way to flooded communities in northeastern Africa
“Tens of thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed,” Persiana Kamberaj, head of programs for Catholic Relief Services in Khartoum, said, adding that flooding has ignited an urgent need for humanitarian aid.
Posted inFaith, News
Godfather of Kenyan running teaching life lessons during pandemic
Brother O’Connell, 72, a native of Mallow, Ireland, has turned many young runners into Olympic and world champions.