African bishops want U.S. church to pay more heed to their continent

Published: 2003-11-03

NEW YORK (CNS) -- A delegation of African bishops in the United States to attend the meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington Nov. 10-13 will appeal to American bishops to increase their attention to the continent, a delegation member said in a New York interview. Bishop Nicolas Djomo Lola of Tshumbe, Congo, said he and his fellow prelates will ask the conference to establish an Africa desk and institute an annual collection like the one it has for the church in Latin America. Among other tasks, they would like the desk to coordinate diocese-to-diocese partnerships to link the U.S. church more closely with the African church, he said. They also will urge the U.S. bishops to use whatever influence they have with the Bush administration to put more pressure on African political leaders to settle their conflicts without war, he said. "The American government is now the only superpower in the world, and it can make a difference," he said.

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