Liberia
Liberia – Incendio in una scuola. 27 vittime
Rivista Africa

Sono 27 le vittime accertate a causa dell’incendio scoppiato nella notte tra martedì e mercoledì in un collegio annesso alla moschea della cittadina di Payneville, nel nord-ovest della Liberia, nei sobborghi della capitale Monrovia. Nell’istituto coranico risiedevano decine di bambini che avevano una media di poco superiore ai 10 anni di età secondo quanto riferito anche dalla BBC. (...)

Liberia
Archbishop Michael Francis Intellectual Discourse Launched
Daily Observer

(Joeraisee I.P. Joe) Faith and Justice Network (FJN), a local-based religious and human rights organization on Thursday, August 8, 2019 officially launched the Archbishop Michael K. Francis Intellectual Discourse on Social Justice and Peace. FJN was established to promote an ecumenical social justice advocacy strategy for just governance and citizens’ participation in public policy formulation and implementation. (...)

Liberia
Liberia's Catholic sex abuse scandal

La Croix

Pope's directive on need for quick probing of such cases cited by investigative journalist. Allegations of sexual harassment and abuse are continuing to traumatize Liberia's Catholic Church, according to a report on the RFI Africa news website. The scandal erupted in August last year when estranged Father Gabriel Sawyer sent an email to Pope Francis with allegations against Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of Monrovia who is based in Liberia's capital. (...)

Liberia

Liberian priest's wide-ranging accusations against two bishops include sexual harassment

CNA

Liberian Church leaders have visited the Vatican after a priest claimed to have been mentally and psychologically abused by two bishops, reportedly in retaliation against him for refusing sexual relations. Father Gabriel Sawyer, who has since left ministry and attempted to marry, made the accusations against Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of Monrovia and Bishop Andrew Karnley of Cape Palmas in an Aug. 15, 2018 letter to the apostolic nuncio to Liberia, Archbishop Dagoberto Campos Salas. Archbishop Zeigler declined comment to Front Page Africa, while Bishop Karnley characterized Sawyer’s claims as “a campaign of lies and falsehoods against me.” (...)

Liberia
Liberia: Police Monitor Allegations of Sexual Harassment and Power Abuse Within the Catholic Church
FPA

(Tecee Boley) The Liberia National Police say it is closely monitoring allegations of clerical homosexuality within Catholic Church. Police Spokesman, Moses Carter said Liberian laws will be enforced if anybody is found culpable of violations. “The Catholic Church is an institution. If any individual in the Catholic Church commits an act it does not becloud the entire church said individual must be made to face the full weight of the law.” Article 14.73 on Involuntary sodomy of the Liberia Penal Code says, (...)

Liberia

Liberian bishops summoned to Rome over alleged sex scandal

Crux

(Elise Harris) Last week representatives of the Liberian bishops’ conference traveled to the Vatican to address accusations from a local priest that two of the country’s bishops were guilty of soliciting him for sex. Bishop Anthony Borwah, President of the Liberia Bishops’ Conference, traveled to Rome to meet with Vatican officials after Father Gabriel Sawyer, a parish priest from Monrovia, raised accusations against the current Archbishop Lewis Zeigler, who heads the archdiocese, and against Bishop Andrew Karnley of Cape Palmas - located on Liberia’s southern coast - of sexual advances and abuses of power. (...)

Liberia
Defying the Pope, Knights of Saint John Liberia Expel Fayiah
FCA

(Tecee Boley) The most powerful fraternity within the Liberian Church has expelled journalist Rhodoxon Fayiah for calling for investigation of Archbishop Lewis Zeigler and Bishop Andrew Karnley and frowning on the treatment of Father Gabriel Sawyer, a priest who recently made explosive allegations of sex-based assaults and abuse of power against him by the two top clergy men. (...)

Liberia
Liberia: Priest Tells Catholics Allegations of Sexual Harassment are False
Front Page Africa

One of the priests in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in Liberia has blasted parishioners for what he terms as a betrayal of the church. The Administrator of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Rev. Father Alphonsus Momoh told parishioners in the Sunday service of his church that accusations by Fr. Gabriel Sawyer that Archbishop Lewis Zeigler and Bishop Andrew Karnley had bullied and abused him for more than a decade years after he rebuffed their sexual advances, were nothing but an effort to taint the church. (...)

Liberia
Liberia: Catholic Church Scrambles to Cover Up Sex Abuse Scandal
Front Page Africa

(Tecee Boley) Five days after this paper first reported allegations of sex-based assault and power abuse inside the Catholic Church, the church hierarchy, including the Pope’s representative in Liberia, have remained silent but there are signs the church is racing to find ways to tamp down a furor created by the story. Archbishop Lewis Zeigler, one of two church leaders accused of making sexual passes (...) 

Catholic Bishops Accused of Homosexuality, Abuse of Power In Liberia

Vaticano
Il cordoglio del Santo Padre per le vittime della frana in una miniera a Gbanipea (Liberia)
Sala stampa della Santa Sede

Pubblichiamo di seguito il telegramma di cordoglio per le vittime della frana in una miniera avvenuta nei giorni scorsi a Gbanipea, in Liberia, inviato a nome del Santo Padre Francesco dal Cardinale Segretario di Stato Pietro Parolin al Vescovo di Gbarnga, S.E. Mons. Anthony Fallah Borwah:

Telegramma

The Most Reverend Anthony Fallah Borwah

Bishop of Gbarnga

His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the injury and loss of life caused by a mudslide in Gbanipea, and he expresses his heartfelt solidarity with you and all those affected by this tragedy. He prays for those who mourn the loss of their loved ones and the emergency personnel who assist the victims. Upon all the Holy Father invokes the divine blessings of strength and healing.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Secretary of State

Liberia
Manifestazioni a Monrovia sostenute da organismi ecumenici.  La piaga della violenza sulle donne in Liberia
L'Osservatore Romano

(Francesco Ricupero) Continuano le manifestazioni pacifiche in Liberia contro il persistente fenomeno della violenza contro le donne. Centinaia di ragazze e di madri sono scese in strada nella capitale liberiana, Monrovia, per sensibilizzare l’opinione pubblica su un tema che da anni coinvolge l’intero Paese africano. L’iniziativa, che rientra nell’ambito dei “Black Thursday” (Giovedì nero), è stata promossa da diverse confessioni religiose membri del World Council of Churches (Wcc).

Spagna
Silas Siakor, el hombre que lucha contra la deforestación en Liberia

Abc.es

El activista, premio Mundo Negro a la fraternidad 2019 : «La lucha de los pueblos africanos contra el expolio de sus recursos naturales es un mensaje poderoso contra las multinacionales». El activista Silas Siakor (Liberia, 1970) ha protagonizado una lucha decidida contra la corrupción y la tala ilegal del bosque en su país, Liberia. Su trabajo en defensa del medio ambiente le ha hecho merecedor del Premio Mundo Negro a la Fraternidad 2019, el galardón que concede anualmente la revista comboniana. El bosque tropical de Liberia es uno de los entornos naturales más importantes de África occidental. Además alberga casi la mitad de las especies de mamíferos que hay en el continente africano, incluyendo la mayor población de elefantes de bosque.

El activista liberiano Silas Siakor pide a Europa una normativa contra el "expolio" de las multinacionales en África (europapress)
Encuentro con los medios de comunicación del activista liberiano Silas Siakor (revista ecclesia)

Liberia
Vatican Envoy Presents Letter of Credence to President Weah

frontpageafricaonline.com

As he received Letter of Credence from a Vatican Envoy, the President of the Republic, H. E. George Manneh Weah, has acknowledged the meaningful role the Catholic Church continues to play over the years in Liberia. President Weah specifically pointed to the Vatican’s continued prayers for peace and prosperity on behalf of Liberia, which has led to stability and national harmony. Receiving the Letter of Credence from Ambassador Rev. Monsignor Dagoberto Campos Salas Monday, December 10, 2018, the Liberian leader thanked the Vatican for the good job it has done in Liberia. (...)

Stati Uniti
Liberia: Five American Nuns Killed Under Woewiyu’s Command, Former US Ambassador Testifies
FPA

(Jackson Kanneh and Tecee Boley) The saga of five American nuns killed at the height of the Liberian civil war took center stage Wednesday as the trial for Mr. Thomas Jucontee Woewiyu entered its third day at the Federal Court in Philadelphia. -- Ambassador James Bishop, a former US envoy to Liberia testified that the nuns were murdered by Sam Bockarie widely known as “General Mosquito” during Operation Octopus, under Mr. Woewiyu’s command. (...)

Liberia
“Diamo tempo al Presidente Weah di agire perché le sfide sono immense” dice Mons. Borwah
Fides

“Il nuovo Presidente è stato eletto dai giovani che si sentono trascurati dalla leadership nazionale” dice Sua Ecc. Mons. Anthony Fallah Borwah, Vescovo di Gbarnga e Presidente della Conferenza Episcopale della Liberia, in un colloquio con l’Agenzia Fides in occasione della visita ad limina. (...)

Liberia
Liberia: Catholic Bishop Supports Dual Citizenship
Front Page Africa

Catholic Bishop Francis J. Karnley has joined scores of Liberians in and out of the country to support a dual citizenship law. Bishop Karnley said enacting dual citizenship will provide other nationals the chance to enjoy similar privileges appreciated by Liberians in other countries. The debate on dual citizenship is one of several discussions that have taken the center stage in Liberia, with some supporting while others expressing firm opposition.  (...)

Liberia
Liberia: Catholic Church Bishop Calls for Prosecution of Warlords
FPA

The Catholic Church of Liberia has reemphasized the need to prosecute perpetrators of Liberia’s 14 years of civil war. Though talking Catholic Bishop Andrew J. Karnley said the prosecution of those who facilitated the civil war through the establishment of a war crime court would pave way for true reconciliation in the country. (...)

Liberia
Les victimes du massacre de l’église Saint-Peter demandent justice

lemonde.fr

Quatre survivants ont porté plainte aux Etats-Unis contre Moses Thomas, qu’ils désignent comme responsable de la mort de 600 civils en 1990. Ils ne sont, littéralement, qu’une poignée de Libériens soupçonnés de crimes de guerre à devoir rendre des comptes devant la justice. C’est peu au regard des atrocités commises durant les deux conflits civils (1989-1997 puis 1999-2003), pour lesquels l’ONU dénombra pas moins de 200 000 morts. Ouvert en 2006, le processus judiciaire semble pourtant s’accélérer. Lundi 12 février à Philadelphie, un nouveau dossier s’est ouvert. (...)

Liberia
Liberia: Justice and the civil war legacy on 25th anniversary of nun deaths
AfricaTimes

Friday marked the solemn anniversary of the deaths of five American nuns killed during Liberia’s first civil war, all of them as missionaries with the Sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in 1992. It’s been 25 years since Sister Mary Joel Kolmer and Sister Barbara Ann Muttra died on a road between Gardnersville, a suburb of Monrovia, and the neighboring community of Barnersville. Witnesses say on that fateful October 20, as fierce fighting under former Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor drew closer, the women were killed at a checkpoint while trying to get an employee home safely. (...)

Liberia
Bishop urges faithful not to accept gifts from politicians

Radio Vaticana

Liberia’s Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Cape Palmas, Andrew J. Karnley has directed the faithful not to accept gifts from politicians seeking their vote. On 25 October 2017, Liberians will vote in Presidential and Legislative elections across the country. Africa’s first female President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who has led the country for the past ten years is not seeking a further mandate. Below is an article by Michael T. Biddle (Harper, Liberia): 'No parish in the Diocese of Cape Palmas is to accept a gift from politicians, Bishop Andrew Karnley has urged the faithful. (...)