CNA: Catholic missionary priest nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

By Courtney Mares  Catholic News Agency

Rome Newsroom, Feb 11, 2021 / 12:00 pm MT 

Fr. Pedro Opeka. Credit: Anne Aubert/Amici di Padre Pedro via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

(CNA).- A Catholic missionary priest in Madagascar known for serving the poor living on a landfill has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. 

Fr. Pedro Opeka, 72, is a Vincentian priest from Argentina who has worked with the poor in Madagascar for more than three decades. He founded the Akamasoa humanitarian association in 1989 as a “solidarity movement to help the poorest of the poor” living on the site of a garbage dump. 

 Janez Janša, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, has announced that he nominated Opeka for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his dedication to “helping people living in appalling living conditions.” 

The Akamasoa association (meaning “good friend”) has provided former homeless people and families with 4,000 brick houses and has helped to educate 13,000 children and young people. 

Pope Francis visited Opeka’s “City of Friendship” built atop a rubbish dump on the outskirts of the capital city of Antananarivo during his apostolic visit to Madagascar in September 2019. 

Pedro Pablo Opeka was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1948. His parents were refugees from Slovenia who emigrated after the inception of the communist regime in Yugoslavia. 

At the age of 18, he entered the seminary of the Congregation for the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul in San Miguel, Argentina. Two years later, he traveled to Europe to study philosophy in Slovenia and theology in France. He then spent two years as a missionary in Madagascar. 

In 1975, he was ordained a priest at the Basilica of Lujan, and in 1976 he returned to Madagascar, where he has remained to this day. 

Upon seeing the desperate poverty in the capital city of Antananarivo, especially at the landfills where people live in cardboard boxes and children compete with pigs for food, he decided to do something for the poor. 

With help from abroad and the work of the people of Madagascar, he founded villages, schools, food banks, small businesses, and even a hospital to serve the poor through the Akamasoa association. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, Opeka has been working to help families who have fallen even deeper into poverty as a consequence of coronavirus measures. 

“The situation is difficult for families, for the poor who have many children. We do not have rice. We do not have water. We need water and soap,” Opeka told Vatican Radio in April 2020. 

Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries. Opeka expressed his gratitude to Pope Francis for his appeal for rich countries to cancel the debt of poor countries in light of the pandemic. 

 

“It is necessary if we want to live in dignity,” he said. 

This is not the first time that Opeka has been ominated for the peace prize. Slovenian Parliament representatives also nominated the priest in 2012. 

Among the other nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize this year are the Black Lives Matter movement, the World Health Organization, Greta Thunberg, Donald Trump, Stacey Abrams, Jared Kushner, Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, and Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. 

A Catholic lawyer who helped found the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong has also been nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Martin Lee Chu-ming, 82, has been demonstrating for universal suffrage in Hong Kong for nearly 40 years. 

Lee was the founding chairman in 1990 of Hong Kong’s first pro-democracy party, the United Democrats of Hong Kong, and led the party’s successor, the Democratic Party, while serving in the territory’s legislature for more than two decades. 

Last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner was the United Nations World Food Program. This year’s winner is expected to be announced next fall.

MAPUTO HOLY MASS WITH POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis in Mosambique (Aftica)

African Credo - I Believe

SIGNIS Award Winning Catholic Hymn. It is a melodious song composed by Jude Nnam (The Oracle) featuring CACA.Description

We Labored for Souls in Africa Bringing Peace in the Name of Christ!

While our Catholic missionaries survived all hardships bringing the Good News to every people on earth including the continent of Africa, WOLVES come and snatch souls to Satan. Missionaries of Felix Y. Manalo's church the Iglesia Ni Cristo® - 1914 should go to places and countries NOT YET "CHRISTIANIZED" and bring their fake version of Christianity there and not to places we Catholics already labored.  We Catholics tirelessly toiled to bring souls to Christ while INC™  just come and harvest what they never labored ~ wolves in sheep' clothing indeed!

Participants of the Inter-Diocesan Conference on Cross-border Peace and Eevangelisation, Lodwar in Kenya 

The Catholic Church in Eastern Africa to spearhead disarmament

Bishops and participants attending the 6th Annual Inter-Diocesan Conference on Cross-Border Peace and Evangelization held at St. Teresa Pastoral Centre, Turkana, Kenya have resolved to begin a peaceful disarmament process of small arms and light weapons mostly used by pastoralists around Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan borders.

Rose Achiego – Nairobi, Kenya

Vatican News

In a press statement issued to the media this week, Kenya’s Bishop of Maralal Diocese, Virgilio Pante, who is also the Chairperson for the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB)-Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Seafarers announced that that the process of peaceful disarmament would soon begin. The initiative would be an effort to wean-off pastoralist communities of their small arms that have caused so much havoc and suffering in the border areas of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Church committed to disarmament

“We will no longer remain silent. We will no longer remain indecisive, and we will no longer be fearful. We are committed to highlighting the suffering caused by small arms in the daily lives of our people,” said Bishop Pante. He was flanked by the Bishop of Lodwar, Dominic Kimeng’ich, who is the Vice Chairperson of the KCCB-Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Seafarers.

According to the Bishops, peaceful disarmament can only be done in an environment of trust, collaboration and commitment for the respect and protection of human life.

Governments need to provide alternative livelihoods

While acknowledging the efforts of the governments of Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia in their continuous peacebuilding initiatives both at the national level and across the borders, the Bishops of Maralal and Lodwar called on governments in the region to do more in sensitising pastoral communities on the need to embrace peaceful co-existence and peaceful disarmament.

“The governments should ultimately provide alternative or complementary livelihoods for the citizens living in the conflict-affected areas,” Bishop Pante and Kimengi’ch said

Religious leaders and civil society should address the root causes

The Bishops further other invited religious leaders and members of Civil Society Organisations in the region to identify and address the root causes of what has been ailing communities of the border areas over the years.

They also called upon grassroots communities to collectively reject the attraction of armed violence as a solution to their problems.

“We encourage you to work with all stakeholders to reaffirm the value of human life and work together to counter the pervasive culture of violence. It will be for the benefit of all of us to commit to peaceful disarmament,” the prelates said.

Small arms in the hands of communities have caused destruction

As reported by Regional Centre for Small Arms (RECSA) the region hosts 8 million out of an estimated 36 million small arms and light weapons. The weapons are in the hands of civilians.

As a result of the endemic conflicts, the border regions host the highest number of refugees and displaced persons on the African continent.

The proliferation of small arms heighten insecurity

According to the statement, demand for Small Arms and Light Weapons is driven by the ineffective provision of security by governments, commercialisation and politicisation of livestock raiding, marginalisation by governments, a need for the disarmed to rearm; and, cultural practices.

The proliferation of these small arms has caused thousands of deaths and injuries, displacement and forced migration of people, hampered development, loss of hundreds of livestock among pastoralist communities, heightened insecurity, loss of productivity, reduced economic output and insurgencies.

Holy Mass with the Pope in Central African Republic

POPE FRANCIS WELCOME CEREMONY IN UGANDA, AFRICA

POPE FRANCIS in KENYA (AFRICA)

Muslim mob burns Catholic church in Sudan capital

Photo Source: chron.com/AP News

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — A Muslim mob set ablaze a Catholic church frequented by Southern Sudanese in the capital Khartoum, witnesses and media reports said on Sunday.

The church in Khartoum's Al-Jiraif district was built on a disputed plot of land, but the Saturday night incident appeared to be part of the fallout from ongoing hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan over control of an oil town on their ill-defined border.

Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent months over the unresolved issues of sharing oil revenues and the disputed border.

Last week, South Sudanese troops seized Heglig, which the southerners call Panthou, sending Sudanese troops fleeing. The Khartoum government later claimed to have regained control of the town.

The witnesses and several newspapers said a mob of several hundred shouting insults at southerners torched the church. Fire engines could not put out the fire, they said.

One newspaper, Al-Sahafah, said the church was part of a complex that included a school and dormitories. Ethiopian refugees living in the Sudanese capital also used the church...

Catholic Relief Services needs support for Africa drought relief

News Source: EWTN , give to donations to Catholic Relief Services

A malnourished Somali child sits next to makeshift tents at a camp for people who have been displaced by drought in Mogadishu on August 9, 2011. (Source: The Globe and Mail by AFP/Getty Images)

Two leading Catholic bishops have asked their fellow bishops to encourage pastors and parishioners to support Catholic Relief Services' emergency relief efforts in the Horn of Africa, suggesting that churches hold a second collection to address the need. 

"Every day we are seeing more and more heartbreaking news about the drought and famine in Somalia and the eastern parts of Africa. We see millions of people being forced from their homes, leaving behind what meager possessions they had, and walking for days over rough terrain," Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson wrote.

Archbishop Dolan heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, while Bishop Kicanas chairs the board of Catholic Relief Services.

Catholic Relief Services "can use all the help we can offer in this current tragic situation," they said.

"Through CRS our generosity could literally feed thousands and provide them clean water, shelter and other life-saving goods. Over time, CRS will be able to expand already proven drought mitigation and other development programs that unfortunately are now only available in a handful of villages." 

Over 12 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need urgent humanitarian assistance because of one of the worst droughts in decades. Lack of rainfall, attributed to the weather cycle phenomenon known as La Niña, has caused failed crops, livestock deaths and critical shortages in food and water. 

"There are parents whose little children have died, and children who have been orphaned. They are suffering from hunger, thirst, disease, and drought," the two bishops said. "It is a humanitarian crisis that cries out for help to Christians throughout the world." 

Catholic Relief Services has worked in East Africa for decades and is responding to the present emergency. The relief agency is expanding its food distribution program to 1.1 million people and is working closely with local partners to provide basic necessities to highly vulnerable displaced families. 

"The Holy Father, on several occasions, has asked Catholics to respond generously to the desperate needs of our brothers and sisters in East Africa," Archbishop Dolan and Bishop Kicanas said.

Pope offers prayers for crisis in Libya

VATICAN CITY (CNS— Pope Benedict XVI said the “worrying news from Libya” in the past few days caused him “deep trepidation and fear,” and he kept the North African country’s people in his prayers during his Lenten retreat March 13-19.

As U.S., British and French military launched strikes against Libya’s air defenses yesterday and again this morning in a U.N.-approved effort to protect pro-democracy protesters from retaliation by Col. Moammar Gadhafi, the pope said he was following the events with great concern and praying for those involved in “the dramatic situation.”

Speaking to pilgrims gathered today in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday recitation of the Angelus, the pope said, “I address a pressing appeal to those who have political and military responsibilities” so they would take steps to ensure the safety of defenseless citizens and provide emergency assistance to those in need.

He also prayed that “peace and concord would soon reign over Libya and the entire north African region.”

Stories from Sudan

Jill Rauh, outreach coordinator for the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development (JPHD,) was part of a Catholic Relief Services delegation to Juba, Sudan, for the Sudanese Catholic bishops’ launch of the 101 Days of Prayer for a Peaceful Referendum in Sudan. She recounts some of her experiences below. (Source: USCCB Media Blog)

Last week, all over Sudan, the Catholic Church celebrated the launch of 101 Days of Prayer for a Peaceful Referendum in Sudan. Parades, masses and interfaith prayer services in dioceses across the country were attended by thousands of people. With a delegation from Catholic Relief Services, I was blessed to witness the lively and hopeful celebrations in Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan.

But what left the most lasting impression were the stories of the people with whom I spoke—stories filled with longing for peace after decades of civil war.

Hannah, a young woman working her way through college, shared about her father’s death at the hands of rebels in a rural area of Sudan.

Willy, a father with young children, described the pain of being separated from his family, who are across the border in Uganda. He fears a return to war and will not bring them home to Sudan until he is certain of peace.

Priscilla described her life growing up in a refugee camp after her family fled from violence. The camp provided safety, but Priscilla mourns the loss of years of social development, especially lost educational opportunities.

Taban expressed the sentiments of so many Sudanese: “If you ask me what peace is, I cannot answer. I do not know what peace is like. But I long to know it.”

The Church in Southern Sudan has been one of the only stable institutions during decades of civil war in Sudan, and the Catholic bishops there are leading the efforts for peace. Many fear that war will return if the January 9, 2011 referendum on independence for southern Sudan goes badly.

The USCCB has urged our government to help Sudan find peace. In partnership with Catholic Relief Services, USCCB has pledged to support the Church’s efforts for peace in Sudan. Catholics in the U.S. are invited to Pray, Learn, Advocate, and Give in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Sudan. College students are being trained to serve as ambassadors to educate and involve fellow students on campus in efforts for peace. All Catholics can send a message to the President urging him to do everything he can to guarantee a peaceful and stable Sudan.

Franciscan Order Sees Massive Increase In Cameroon

CATHOLICISM IN CAMEROON, AFRICA

Benedict XVI received the Letters of Credence of Antoine Zanga, the new ambassador of Cameroon to the Holy See
(freeforum)

KONIGSTEIN, GERMANY, (EWTN News / CNA) - Membership in a small Franciscan order is booming in Cameroon after only ten years in the country. One of its brothers says its spiritual commitment has a "deep social impact" in the life of its members and in the life of the African country.

The Franciscans of the Emmanuel, founded in Montreal, Canada in 1985, has 75 members. About 60 of them are now based in Cameroon.

Speaking to the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in a visit to its headquarters in Germany, Br. Denis-Antoine said the order arrived in the African country after a diocesan priest from Nkongsamba city in the west read about the order in a newspaper and requested that they help a group of parishioners who desired to live the spirituality of St. Francis.

"At the request of the (diocesan) bishop, we came and started to form a fraternity of lay members. With time, the groups have expanded, established themselves and multiplied," he reported.

Several of the young lay members soon asked to become friars. Br. Denis-Antoine said he arrived in Cameroon with a young lay brother from Canada to begin the first house of formation there.

"With the help of benefactors, including ACN, the brothers built the friary with 18 bedrooms and the facilities for the community and its mission," he explained.

The growing community in Nkongsamba has 17 friars in formation to become consecrated members. Eight are already professed.

They are being trained for duties in health care, catechesis, agriculture and farming. The community is also involved in parish work such as youth and prison chaplaincy. It ministers to the poorest members of society.

At the local bishop's request, the Franciscans have established a spiritual center to host retreats and formation sessions for groups from across the country.

The order's service has also expanded into the neighboring dioceses of Bafoussam and Douala. In Douala the order recently began a lay fraternity composed mainly of young adults.

There are plans to open a friary there next year. Br. Denis-Antoine told ACN that these will help the Franciscans' regular mission and will take charge of an existing orphanage of 30 children. The order is also working to establish a dispensary and a maternity house in one of Douala's poor neighborhoods.

"The main message that we want to leave to you is that we are there, present with the people, hoping to give them this testimony of the life of the Gospel in the footsteps of our father, St Francis," the Franciscan brother continued.

He explained that a spiritual commitment to the evangelical life has a "deep social impact" both in the life of individuals committed to it and in the life of society.

He also expressed "heartfelt gratitude" for the help of ACN, which supported the order's first friary in Cameroon and its spiritual center.

"Thanks to ACN and all the benefactors for the previous help received and for listening to this new call for support, giving us the opportunity to be your hands and heart to the people of Africa."