Frederick Nzwili

The violence has resulted in at least 12 deaths, widespread destruction of foreign-owned businesses and homes and thousands of migrants fleeing South Africa or seeking shelter in community centers, mosques, churches and police stations.

Catholic bishops in Uganda have urged the people to remain calm after the government postponed the annual Martyrs Day celebrations, following an Ebola outbreak in the East African region.

As xenophobic attacks continued to unfold in South Africa, Catholic bishops in Africa urged the government to quickly tame the violence, amid reports of deaths and injuries.

Thousands of people are missing in South Sudan. Church leaders are shining a light on this scourge on the second anniversary of a Catholic priest's disappearance.

Nigeria's return to the U.S. list of countries of "particular concern" over Christian persecution has drawn mixed reactions from church leaders and triggered a heated debate in Africa's most populous nation. President Donald Trump announced the designation Oct. 31 and threatened to halt all aid to Nigeria and launch military action, upon the government's failure to stop the killings.

Joined by interfaith leaders, the bishops said Africa cannot be subject to foreign interests but must be the architect of its own future.

African and European bishops say European leaders are prioritizing their own countries' benefits from African land deals, ahead of creating a system that is equitable and positive for African communities. 

As an uneasy calm returned to the Congolese city of Goma, following a unilateral ceasefire declared by the rebels, people began burying the dead, and agencies rushed aid to thousands of displaced civilians, now camping in churches and schools.

Sudanese Catholic Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali of El Obeid Dec. 2 described narrowly escaping execution in his country, where he has remained with the faithful amid a deadly war between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Despite the Sudanese civil war that’s devastated the region, the All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Khartoum is still standing. But its compound is now a graveyard, with a vandalized altar and missing pews, which have been chopped by soldiers for firewood, according to Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo.

Ethiopian Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa has expressed deep sorrow at the deadly landslide in Gofa Zone, in the southern part of Ethiopia, where the death toll has reportedly reached 257. Humanitarian agencies, including those that are faith-based, have scrambled to rush emergency relief to Kencho Shacha Gozdi, a remote village in the Gofa Zone, following the first landslide that struck July 22.

The Kenyan capital descended into chaos June 25 as protests over legislation dubbed a finance bill left several dead and dozens injured. The country's bishops called for peace and urged the president not to accede to the measure aimed at raising revenue by levying additional taxes.

As minerals fuel deadly conflicts in Africa, a leading cardinal urged local churches to ensure that Africa's abundant resources contribute to the benefit of its populations instead of hurting them.

At the close of an inaugural summit on climate change hosted this week by the African Union and the government of Kenya, activists who had demanded more than carbon credits and other glossy solutions to deal with climate justice issues rejected the declaration issued Sept. 6 by the political and corporate leaders in attendance. 

Eritrean authorities have freed Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim after 75 days in prison.

Leaders from nearly 200 nations are meeting for the Dec. 7-19 U.N. Biodiversity Conference known as COP15. With scientists warning that the loss of nature is accelerating at dangerous speeds, Catholic activists are urging nations at the biodiversity conference in Montreal to act to protect life on earth at all levels.

As the U.N climate change conference unfolds in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Catholic bishops in Africa are warning that there cannot be climate justice without land justice.

Eritrean authorities are continuing to detain Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim of Segheneity, who was arrested at the Asmara International Airport Oct. 15.

A Vatican diplomat in southern Africa warned that deprivation and poverty among the laity could obstruct Pope Francis' vision of synodality in the region, where the challenges are widespread.