Some have suggested that the attack may have been a warning for the Catholic Church to keep out of the political disputes in South Sudan.

Church leaders in Africa are urging more attention be paid to the problem of spousal abuse during the pandemic.

Archbishop Utembi said with the reemergence of the hemorrhagic fever, the anti-Ebola measures had to continue. He said government medical teams had moved to the areas where the cases had been reported.

A rash of attacks on churches in Burkina Faso is exposing the growing challenge of containing Islamist violence across Africa’s Sahel region.

Congo is preparing for a crucial vote to elect a successor for President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since 2001.

Talks between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar in Khartoum in neighboring Sudan entered the home stretch with negotiators fine-tuning the final chapter on power-sharing arrangements and governance.

The group calling itself the League of Defense of the Church alleged there was inaction by Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui as the church faced attacks, with Christians and priests being killed.

Speaking at a recent Nairobi conference of religious leaders from Africa, Europe and Asia, Cardinal John Onaiyekan insisted interfaith dialogue is key to ending the deadly conflicts — even if it means sitting down with ruthless killers.

An Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month has led Roman Catholics to stop administering several sacraments temporarily in an attempt to keep the deadly disease from spreading.