Africa

The Central African Republic is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world. For years, it has been ravaged by civil war, tribal conflicts and a lack of prospects for young people. It was here that a Capuchin priest decided to start something that might have sounded too crazy to many — a music school.

Each day, Dominic Villeneuve extols God for accompanying him as he steps into a Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane to conduct humanitarian missions within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Register staff discuss the dangerous skies in Africa for missionaries as well as the ongoing persecution of Christians in Nigeria. Also, a mens' prayer breakfast starts up as well as some faith and rivalry on the football field.

Fr. Oliver Ortese has a message for Catholics and Christians around the world who stand in solidarity with persecuted Nigerian Christians.

The Church in Nigeria, ravaged by kidnappings of clergy, is mourning Fr. Mathew Eya, killed Sept. 19 as he was returning to his parish of St. Charles in Eha-Ndiagu, in Enugu state.

The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need expressed its "deep concern and solidarity" with the families of the victims of a brutal attack carried out on the night of Sept. 8-9 in Ntoyo in the area of St. Joseph of Manguredjipa Catholic Parish, which is in the Congolese province of North Kivu.

As of Sept. 5, Open Doors International’s “Arise Africa” petition has garnered a striking 225,000 signatures, almost a quarter way to its goal in a groundswell of support for oppressed Christians in sub-Saharan Africa.

Pope Leo XIV offered his prayers for the dead after days of heavy rain triggered a landslide in a remote area of Sudan, and he prayed for all involved in the ongoing search and rescue operations.

At least 43 people, including children, were killed July 27 in a brutal overnight attack on a Catholic church in Komanda in eastern Congo.

A Nigerian priest kidnapped by Boko Haram in June has been released, OSV News has learned.