Bishop Zaidan highlights 'solidarity' with African faithful amid conflict, crises

(OSV News) -- As conflicts rage in several African nations, a U.S. Catholic bishop has underscored his support for African bishops and faithful.

"We reiterate our solidarity with the bishops and faithful of Africa, as they offer the world a profound witness of respect for human life and dignity amidst ongoing conflicts," said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, in a Sept. 24 statement.

Bishop Zaidan, who heads the St. Louis-based Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, noted that as of this year, "millions of our brothers and sisters on the African continent live displaced from their homes and communities, forced to flee due to conflict, religious and ethnic persecution, economic hardship and environmental crises."

More than 35 armed conflicts are currently raging across the African continent, according to the Swiss-based Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

"Cycles of deadly violence and resulting humanitarian crises continue to claim thousands of innocent lives in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and throughout the Sahel region," said Bishop Zaidan.

In addition, he said, "Due to the rise of extremist violence, Christians, Muslims, and other people of faith are increasingly targeted by campaigns of mass killings, abductions, and forced displacement.

"We remember, in particular, the hundreds of Christian civilians massacred in recent weeks and months in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern regions as well as in eastern Congo," he said.

Nigeria "continues to face a severe genocidal crisis, particularly targeting Christians and moderate Muslims in the Northeast, Northwest, and Middle Belt regions," according to the research and advocacy organization Genocide Watch, which founded in 1999 by genocide scholar and former State Department official Gregory Stanton.

In a July 17 Nigeria update report on its website, Genocide Watch noted that Islamic extremist groups, including Boko Haram and Fulani jihadists, are "responsible for systematic violence" -- yet "despite overwhelming evidence of genocidal acts, both the Nigerian government and key international actors remain in denial" about the atrocities, thereby "avoiding the legal and moral responsibilities that acknowledgment would require."

"We pray that government officials and people of all faiths may work together to bring lasting peace, justice, and security to the continent," said Bishop Zaidan in his statement.

He stressed that "lifesaving and life-affirming international assistance funding is a crucial complement to these efforts," and that "the Catholic Church and the U.S. government have a shared responsibility to promote the international common good and respect for human life by contributing to international humanitarian and development assistance."

Bishop Zaidan also called for Mary's intercession amid the bloodshed and anguish.

"In fraternal unity with the church in Africa, we ask Our Lady Queen of Peace to comfort all those afflicted by violence and grant all people of goodwill the courage to build peace both in their local communities and across borders," said the bishop.

Quoting Pope Leo XIV's June 17 address to Italy's bishops, he added, "May every community become a 'house of peace,' where one learns how to defuse hostility through dialogue, where justice is practiced and forgiveness is cherished."