Africa
In remote parts of Uganda, a fight to stop preachers from discouraging medical care
By Doreen Ajiambo — November 28, 2018
KATAKWI, Uganda (RNS) — Earlier this month, a 27-year-old Pentecostal pastor was arrested after interceding to stop the medical care of a severely ill 9-year-old girl.
African clergy press pharmaceutical companies to close gap on child-HIV drugs
By Fredrick Nzwili — November 21, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — The call came on Universal Children’s Day, established by the United Nations in 1954 to promote international awareness of children's issues worldwide and improve their welfare.
In Kenya, a pastor’s refusal to marry an HIV-positive bride stirs debate over AIDS stigma
By Fredrick Nzwili — November 13, 2018
(RNS) — Pastor Jesse Karanja, the leader of Mizpah House of Prayer Church, insisted a couple take tests for HIV and pregnancy as guests waited in the church.
Cameroon clergy condemn killing of American missionary
By Paul O'Donnell — November 1, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Charles Wesco, a clergyman from Indiana, died barely two weeks after arriving in the country, allegedly caught in crossfire between rebels and government soldiers.
Urging peace, faith leaders risk being caught up in Zimbabwe’s electoral dispute
By Doreen Ajiambo — October 22, 2018
KAMPALA, Uganda (RNS) – Many residents in this southern African nation are accusing religious leaders of continuing to fuel violence and failing to address what they say was an improper vote.
Congolese Pentecostals see Denis Mukwege, Nobel Prize-winning doctor, as a ‘blessing’
By Bob Smietana — October 18, 2018
(RNS) — The doctor has dedicated his award to women all over the world harmed by conflict and suffering violence every day.
Tired of war, South Sudanese pray for latest peace deal
By Doreen Ajiambo — October 17, 2018
JUBA, South Sudan (RNS) — Thousands of Southern Sudanese are gathering in churches and mosques in cities and refugee camps to pray for the end of a civil war that has raged since 2013.
‘Acknowledging reality,’ a splinter church in Kenya ordains married Catholic priests
By Tonny Onyulo — October 16, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Attracted by the prospect of serving God while raising a family, Catholic priests have left the mainstream faith for the Renewed Universal Catholic Church.
Uganda’s faith leaders wade into country’s alarming drug crisis
By Doreen Ajiambo — October 1, 2018
KAMPALA, Uganda (RNS) — In a nation plagued by alcohol and drug abuse, faith leaders urge the government to partner with the church to raise awareness and treat young addicts.
Deaf Tanzanians are left to forge their own worship
By Doreen Ajiambo — September 27, 2018
BAGAMOYO, Tanzania (RNS) — For hearing-impaired worshippers here, Sunday mornings are often filled with disappointment, as worship services that accommodate them with sign language are few.
In Nigeria, fears that a crackdown on Muslim group will court another Boko Haram
By Ali Abare Abubakar — September 24, 2018
ABUJA, Nigeria (RNS) — Muslims on the ground and experts in Washington worry that the detention of a Shiite cleric and the killings of his followers will provoke the Islamic Movement of Nigeria into waging war.
Fear of Ebola keeps the faithful at home in Congo
By Doreen Ajiambo — September 17, 2018
KAMPALA, Uganda (RNS) — In a bid to contain the virus, thousands of churches remain closed in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kenyan religious leaders fight to rescue young girls from child marriage
By Tonny Onyulo — September 11, 2018
SAMBURU, Kenya (RNS) — Beading is a form of sexual enslavement that lets older men engage in intercourse with young girls, even when they do not intend to marry them.
Banned from meeting in church, Rwandan worshippers gather at home
By Tonny Onyulo — September 6, 2018
KIGALI, Rwanda (RNS) — An estimated 8,000 churches and 100 mosques have been closed in what some say is a human rights violation, but which the government defends as a move to require clergy to meet modest standards for education.
Bobi Wine case heightens tensions between Museveni and Uganda church leaders
By Doreen Ajiambo — September 4, 2018
KAMPALA, Uganda (RNS) — Uganda’s government is trying to prevent faith groups from becoming another voice in the country to speak out against its president’s human rights violations.
