U.S.-led effort needed for Burundi peace process, U.S. bishop says

Published: 2004-01-13

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The United States should lead an international effort to support the peace process in Burundi, a U.S. bishop said after visiting the African country. Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., chairman of the U.S. bishops' international policy committee, said people there "remain in a state of shock, grief and mourning following the murder of Archbishop Michael Courtney," papal nuncio. Bishop Ricard visited Burundi Jan. 2-4. Archbishop Courtney, 58, whom the Vatican said was about to be named papal nuncio to Cuba, died Dec. 29 after being struck by numerous bullets shot at the car in which he was riding while returning from Bururi to Bujumbura, Burundi's capital. Bishop Ricard called on the Burundian government to bring Archbishop Courtney's killers to justice.

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