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As minerals fuel deadly conflicts in Africa, cardinal calls for pastoral approach
… call for respecting African mineral resources that he issued during his African pilgrimage to Congo and South Sudan at the beginning of 2023. During the visit in Kinshasa, the Congolese … accused Rwanda of signing an agreement with the European Union to plunder resources in eastern Congo. Speaking during Mass in memory of victims of the war in eastern Congo and peace for the country, the cardinal inquired whether the agreement was not to be …
Mar 14, 2024
Oregon Catholic bishop declines to implement pope's decree allowing same-sex blessings
… of the document too. So did the African bishops." Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa in Congo brought his concerns to Rome, which led to a statement "on behalf of the entire Catholic …
Feb 21, 2024
Pope invites Anglican woman bishop to Council of Cardinals meeting
… Omella Omella of Barcelona; Seán O'Malley of Boston; Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo; Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India; Sérgio da …
Feb 6, 2024
Pope: Christians must rekindle hope in fighting today's forms of slavery
… Labor Office. Some 40,000 of them are working in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, extracting coltan, which is needed in making smartphones, tablets and computers, tools …
Feb 1, 2024
Catholic agencies react amid prediction that 9 countries face emergency food insecurity
… remembers meeting the 2-year-old at the camp for people displaced by fighting in eastern Congo. The deputy country representative for the British Catholic aid agency CAFOD said the child … not know her husband's whereabouts; he fled in another direction when attackers came. Eastern Congo "has really been torn apart by ... continued conflict, which has definitely affected the … marked by "very acute malnutrition and excess mortality." Some households in eastern Congo also will be at the emergency level. These projections include allowances for delivery of …
Feb 1, 2024
New Mexico Archbishop Wester calls Catholics to work for nuclear abolition
… embrace nonviolence in solving conflict. From religious leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighborhoods in her hometown of Washington, D.C., people are coming together to seek …
Jan 31, 2024
Love is the only path to Christian unity, pope says
… peace, remembering particularly the people of Israel and Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, South Sudan and Congo. When St. Paul asked God what he was supposed to do, the pope said, the Lord told him, "Get …
Jan 26, 2024
Series shines light on spiritual strength of Catholic sisters in conflict areas
… about or by sisters in Sudan , Nigeria , Myanmar , South Sudan , Nicaragua , Haiti , Chad and Congo , among other places. We've also focused on efforts by sisters to help foster peace and … from, and what surprised you in that process? … Joyce : Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia and the Holy Land were among the most challenging. It wasn't so much a … insightful column was by Sr. Rose Namulisa Balaluka from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sisters can see the suffering and they continue to do what they can to alleviate it, …
Jan 4, 2024
Pope Francis, 'Laudate Deum,' Catholic sisters: EarthBeat's top stories of 2023
… a high-level summit. (The pope later had to cancel this trip due to health issues.) … 7. … Congo is being 'martyred' for its natural resources. Will Pope Francis challenge the US, China? … … (Jan. 31, 2023) Catholic environmental experts and advocates hope Pope Francis' visit to the Congo draws attention to how competition for the country's minerals harms the environment and the …
Dec 29, 2023
The pope's 2023: A year of health challenges, travel and the synod
… quotations from Benedict. The first of five foreign trips Francis made in 2023 took him to Congo and then on an ecumenical peace mission to South Sudan. The trip with the Anglican …
Dec 26, 2023
NCR's Newsmaker of 2023: Jeannine Gramick, tireless advocate for LGBTQ Catholics
… untethered from reality. In February, days before a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, Francis condemned the continuing criminalization of homosexuality in some …
Dec 14, 2023
Vatican panel celebrates declaration of human rights anniversary at UN's agency in Geneva
… pontiff's approach to migration at a time of mass population displacements in Gaza, Ukraine, Congo and elsewhere in the face of war, climate change and demographic decline. She added that …
Dec 11, 2023
Pope, Council of Cardinals discussed the role of women in the church
… of Québec; Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona; and Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo. Bishop Marco Mellino serves as the council's secretary. The Vatican press office said the …
Dec 6, 2023
From afar, Pope Francis helps inaugurate first-ever Faith Pavilion at UN climate summit
… climate COPs. Jesuit Fr. Rigobert Minani, at COP28 representing the Ecclesial Network of the Congo Basin, added that he believed the Faith Pavilion has already helped to give faith-based …
Dec 4, 2023
Pope Francis cancels trip to Dubai for UN climate conference
… due to mobility issues. Later that year, he postponed a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan for related concerns, but that voyage later took place in 2023. The Holy …
Nov 28, 2023
Remembering Bénézet Bujo, who offered a vision of African theological imagination
… in the contributions of Fr. Bénézet Bujo, a theologian from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who was a professor of theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and died Nov. …
Nov 21, 2023
Pope's climate crisis message in 'Laudate Deum' reverberates in Africa
… people themselves hardly benefit," said Ottaro, as he highlighted the conflict in Eastern Congo, which fueled a scramble for mineral resources. According to Fr. Edward Obi, a specialist …
Oct 16, 2023
Synod elects members to oversee synthesis report
… of the commission. The members elected to serve are: Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa, Congo; Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France; Cardinal Gérald Lacroix of Québec; …
Oct 12, 2023
Roundtables hope to spread examples of Catholic teaching on active nonviolence
… Four September roundtables included testimonies from people in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Congo, Kenya, Honduras and Brazil, as well as those working alongside migrants on the U.S.-Mexico …
Oct 6, 2023
Sisters offer lifesaving care at Kakuma Refugee Hospital
… more than 200,000 refugees from South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia and Uganda. The Kalobeyei settlement, just outside Kakuma Refugee Camp, …
Sep 4, 2023