Africa
Why the future of the world’s largest religion is female – and African
By Gina Zurlo — March 24, 2022
(The Conversation) — Women’s contributions to global Christianity are immense, but scholars’ understanding is hampered by limited data.
War in ‘civilized’ Europe is nothing new. Here’s why white Westerners think otherwise.
By Kathryn Gin Lum — March 22, 2022
(RNS) — Europeans are supposed to be the ones who save ‘heathens’ from their bad behavior.
Russian Orthodox eye expansion in Africa, maybe Turkey as well
By Tom Heneghan — March 22, 2022
(RNS) — Sanctions that have threatened the Russian economy, experts say, could also put the brakes on any expansion by the Russian church.
We need equity and justice in vaccine distribution. The church can help.
By Myal Greene and Lanre Williams-Ayedun — February 18, 2022
(RNS) — Faith leaders can advocate for better distribution and lower resistance to getting vaccinated.
After moving out of their comfort zone, atheists in Kenya gain visibility
By Fredrick Nzwili — February 7, 2022
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — A small atheist organization in Kenya is gaining ground in this largely Christian nation as it tackles political ideologies and human rights matters, wading into debates outside its usual critiques of religion.
In Africa, hijab is no barrier to success in beauty pageants
By Fredrick Nzwili — January 12, 2022
(RNS) — Two young women have won prominent beauty titles while keeping their heads covered according to Muslim tradition.
US Catholic clergy shortage eased by recruits from Africa
By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu — December 27, 2021
(AP) — As fewer American-born men and women enter seminaries and convents, U.S. dioceses and Catholic institutions have turned to international recruitment to fill their vacancies.
African faith leaders combat misleading theologies that promise cures for COVID-19
By Fredrick Nzwili — December 6, 2021
(RNS) — A series of symposiums aims to educate clergy and unify their churches against faith healing and other practices.
Kenyan Muslim leaders demand government action on unexplained disappearances
By Fredrick Nzwili — November 16, 2021
(RNS) — Muslim leaders fear a government campaign against terrorism has transformed into war against Islam and Muslims.
In Somalia, a rare female artist promotes images of peace
By Hassan Barise — October 27, 2021
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Among the once-taboo professions emerging from Somalia’s decades of conflict and Islamic extremism is the world of arts, and a 21-year-old female painter has faced more opposition than most.
Across Africa, major churches strongly oppose LGBTQ rights
By Chinedu Asadu, Mogomotsi Magome, Rodney Muhumuza, and Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu — October 20, 2021
In Ghana, home to a diverse array of religions, leaders of major churches have united in denouncing homosexuality as a “perversion” and endorsing legislation that would, if enacted, impose some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ policies in Africa. In Nigeria, the umbrella body for Christian churches depicts same-sex relationships as an evil meriting the lengthy prison […]
Kenyan Methodists defy ban on campaigning at church, saying ‘humans are political’
By Fredrick Nzwili — September 22, 2021
(RNS) — One Christian official said resistance to church guidelines on political speech risks a repeat of electoral violence in 2008.
Nigerian herders kill 33, burn 4 churches days after kidnapping schoolchildren
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 16, 2021
(RNS) — 'This is religious persecution. We must call it that. I have 1,000 reasons to believe so,' said a local leader.
Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Congolese cleric and statesman, dies at 81
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 14, 2021
(RNS) — The former archbishop of Kinshasa is remembered as both a church leader and a statesman who fought fearlessly for human rights, and helped guide the nation through a turbulent political transition.
In Kenya, faith groups work to resettle youth returning from al-Shabab
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 2, 2021
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — More than 300 such youths who had traveled to Somalia for training as jihadists had been rescued and brought back to the country.
