Latest stories: Lockdown

Mauritius’ Religious Leaders Commit to Help People Adversely Affected by COVID-19 Lockdown

Members of the Council of Religions in Mauritius have pledged to continue reaching out to the people of God who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 lockdown in the Indian Ocean Island nation.

South African Diocese Launches Initiative to Bring People Back to Church after Lockdown

South Africa’s Aliwal Diocese is planning a five-week program on reflections that are aimed at bringing people back to Church after a protracted COVID-19 lockdown in the country.

Catholic Teacher in South Sudan Worried Prolonged Lockdown May Lead to Early Marriages

As schools in South Sudan remain closed in adherence to a fresh lockdown in the East-Central African nation, a Catholic teacher in the country’s Yei Diocese is concerned that the situation exposes school going children to various challenges including early pregnancies and marriages.

Meet Kenyan Nun Behind Thriving Disability Program for Girls amid COVID-19 Restrictions

At a one-roomed house in Satellite, an informal settlement located outside Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, a 23-year-old girl living with disability claps her hands excitedly and throws herself freely at Sr. Rose Catherine Wakibiru, a Kenyan nun who has been visiting girls living with disability at their homes since the Kenyan government directed closure of all learning institutions last month.

Mission School in South Sudan Converts Classrooms into IDP Camps amid Lockdown

A Catholic Mission School in South Sudan’s Archdiocese of Juba is hosting over seven hundred persons displaced by intercommunal clashes as schools remain closed in the East-Central African country.

Kenyan Diocese Launches Program to Address Teenage Pregnancies among Poor Coastal Families

The leadership of Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Malindi in partnership with Karibuni Onlus NGO has, on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child celebrations, launched a program that will see 500 girls from Kilifi County, a coastal town in the East African country, benefit from an array of interventions aimed at ending teenage pregnancies that are reportedly rife in the region.

Learners Risk Losing Interpersonal Relationships in Virtual Learning: Cleric in Uganda

Virtual learning, though handy in filling education gaps created by the COVID-19 restrictions across the world, poses the danger of denying learners the important in-person learning and interaction with other students and their teachers, a missionary Cleric ministering in Uganda has told ACI Africa.

Bishops in South Africa Pen Gratitude for Lenten Collection Despite 60 Percent Plunge

Members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) have sent a message of gratitude to the people of God under their care for “being faithful to the Church” during this challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic and for contributing towards the conference’s coffers despite the harsh economic times.

Ugandan Nun’s Orphanage Impacting Thousands of Congolese Refugees amid COVID-19 Lockdown

For months, Sr. Pasqua Binen Anena, a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHS) based in Uganda, watched helplessly as thousands of new arrivals at Pariginya Refugee Settlement roamed around the settlement located in the northern part of the East African country in search for means of survival.

At Virtual Prayer Meeting, South African Nun Urges Women to “become life giving”

At an online prayer meeting organized to express solidarity with women who are suffering from solitude and isolation occasioned by COVID-19 restrictions, the South African Nun at the helm of Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has urged women who are part of organizations to foster spiritual solidarity and share “life giving” experiences amid coronavirus challenges.

How COVID-19 Robbed the Poor of the Little They Had before Lockdown in Uganda

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a self-enrichment tool in the hands of the mighty and powerful, according to a Salesian of Don Bosco (SDB) Cleric ministering among refugees in Uganda who has bemoaned the sorry state of the vulnerable groups in the East African country that he says have been robbed of the little they had before lockdown.

As Lockdown is Eased in South Africa, Prelate Urges Vigilance, Says “virus still present”

Days after South Africa’s President eased some COVID-19 restrictions put in five months ago to minimize the spread of the virus, the Archbishop Cape Town has urged the people of God in his Diocese to remain vigilant and continue taking necessary precautions because the coronavirus has not yet been eliminated from the country. 

Ghanaian Religious Psychologist Concerned about “alarming” Mental Disorders amid Lockdown

A Religious Brother of the St. Augustine Order in Ghana has described statistics by the World Health Organization (WHO), which indicate that 650,000 Ghanaians are suffering from severe mental disorders, as alarming, a situation he says needs to be urgently addressed.

Catholic Women in South Africa Organizing Online Prayers to Bridge Lockdown Solitude

The South African arm of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO), an international entity for Catholic women groups, is organizing for prayers slated for later this month to express solidarity with women who are suffering from solitude and isolation that comes with the COVID-19 lockdown, an official has told ACI Africa.

Cleric in South Sudan Calls on Government to Reopen Schools amid COVID-19 Lockdown

The Secretary General of the South Sudan’s Yei Diocese has backed calls by international agencies to re-opening learning institutions in the country, saying that keeping pupils at home during the COVID-19 lockdown only exposes them to danger.

How COVID-19 Has Affected DR Congo Residents: UK-Based Catholic Aid Agency

The leadership of the development and humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) has, in a report explained how COVID-19 has affected people living in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Bishop’s Initiative Keeping South Sudanese Pupils Engaged amid COVID-19 Lockdown

The Holy Trinity Peace Village initiative founded by Bishop Paride Taban has become an oasis of hope to vulnerable populations in South Sudan and is now reaching out to school-going children who relied on the Centre for their educational needs before COVID-19 lockdown was declared in the East-Central African nation.

How Jesuit Refugee Service in Angola Has Adjusted in the Wake of COVID-19

Officials of the international refugee organization of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) based in Angola have had to adjust their approaches in order to meet the needs of beneficiaries in the wake of COVID-19, one of the officials has said.

Church Leaders in Ghana Petition for Increase of Public Mass Duration after Lockdown

Leaders of various Christian groups in Ghana have petitioned the President of the West Africa country, Nana Akufo-Addo to reconsider the government directive that church services be conducted within one hour.

Church in Ethiopia, Musicians Collaborate in Campaign against Domestic Violence

The leadership of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia is collaborating with some of the country’s musicians in a campaign dubbed Zim Alilim, which aims at creating awareness about the challenge of domestic violence, which has worsened in recent times because of COVID-19 lockdown.