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Bishop in Mozambique Says “Together for Cabo Delgado” Campaign Bearing Fruit

Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa of Pemba Diocese in Mozambique.

The Bishop of Mozambique’s Pemba Diocese, which covers the crisis-stricken Cabo Delgado Province has, in a news report, acknowledged with appreciation the solidarity campaign dubbed “Together for Cabo Delgado.”

In the Wednesday, September 16 news report, Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa says the solidarity campaign “is growing because more and more people are becoming aware of what is happening in Cabo Delgado and the people are becoming more and more supportive.”

“There has been more help from both individuals and groups. Many people have organized themselves in groups to help victims of the crisis in Cabo Delgado,” Bishop Lisboa has been quoted as saying in the report.

Through the campaign, the Bishop says, various groups have offered assistance including “a group of ladies in Maputo, a group of young people at the country level, a group of businessmen.”

Launched in July by the leadership of Pemba Diocese, “Together for Cabo Delgado” solidarity campaign aims at strengthening the work of humanitarian workers who are responding to the crisis in Mozambique’s northernmost Province. 

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“The campaign also strives to raise awareness among Mozambicans about the situation in Cabo Delgado,” Bishop Lisboa who is the Local Ordinary of Pemba Diocese told journalists during the launch of the campaign. 

Violence in Mozambique’s Province of Cabo Delgado has been ongoing since 2017. As a result of the crisis, over 600,000 people have been affected with more than 200,000 displaced, according to Reliefweb.

Besides Mozambicans, Dioceses from other nations are also showing support for the “Together for Cabo Delgado” campaign, Bishop Lisboa, a native of Brazil, says and explains, “This campaign has also grown in interest. We have been contacted by people in Portugal, Spain, and Italy who want to help Cabo Delgado.”

“The campaign is already running in Europe, in the Archdiocese of Braga in Portugal which is a partner of the Diocese (Pemba). The Archdiocese is raising support for the suffering people of Cabo Delgado,” the member of the Passionists (C.P.) adds.  

He recalls the initial drivers of the campaign and its evolution saying, “At first, it was the initiative of the Missionary Centre of the Archdiocese of Braga but Caritas Portuguese and many other organizations joined together and started this campaign also at European level.”

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Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.