The Voice of the suffering in Africa

“Our perception is that she is trying to stabilize the fragile democracy. Democracy is hard won and it took 60 years to get to where the country is today.”

"We appeal to their conscience. We do not have any weapons. Our weapon is the Word of God. We are men of the Word of God. We go and knock on the gate to the hearts of these men and women. The people can either accept this or not. It is our job and duty to tell them: thou shalt not kill."

Tony Zender, who oversees projects in a number of English-speaking African countries for international papal charity Aid to the Church in Need, recently visited Zambia. It is a politically stable nation, though it has far to go in terms of development and lifting its people out of poverty.

The specter of Boko Haram may have fallen from the headlines, but a painful echo of its reign of terror in northeastern Nigeria endures. The group mainly killed men, leaving behind countless widows and orphans in dire straits.

Dust and mud brick houses everywhere—as far as the eye can see. The houses are indistinguishable in color from the ground on which they stand. Trees are few and far between.

In the wake of an attack on a Catholic seminary, the leader of the Church in the Democratic Republic has issued an appeal about “the alarming security situation” in his country.