Tawanda Karombo

More than 27 million people across southern Africa are afflicted by a historic drought — triggered by El Niño and exacerbated by climate change — and a devastating food crisis that is the worst the region has seen in decades.

An August visit to the Vatican by Lazarus Chakwera, president of Malawi, brought mixed reaction from Catholics in the African country. 

Amid recent crackdowns on antigovernment protests in Zimbabwe and Nigeria, bishops in those countries are criticizing government officials for arrests, detentions and torture of civic and opposition activists.

Since January 2023, about 500 people in Zimbabwe are believed to have died from cholera. The infection is spreading throughout the region, especially in areas where clean water is not available.  

Climate change and economic hardships are not only making life difficult for ordinary citizens in Malawi, but also they are posing challenges to the church, as humanitarian and Catholic agencies step up interventions.

In a pastoral letter, Zimbabwe's Catholic bishops urged calm as the country prepares for a presidential election Aug. 23: "The contest for the highest office in the land ... should not divide us as a nation."

Throughout Africa, the supply of secondhand clothing from Western countries far outpaces the demand, and the trade's environmental hazards extend into river, ocean, urban and forest ecosystems across the continent.

Nigeria’s elections come amid violence, poverty and lawlessness. But Catholic bishops and priests in Nigeria are not losing hope for a better Nigeria after the elections.

An unexpected, deadly cyclone in Mozambique kickstarted its climate emergency preparedness. Now, a multilayered strategy is helping the country adapt to and withstand intense weather conditions tied to climate change.

Environmentalists say Nigeria's leading presidential candidates have put climate change on the backburner of the campaign agenda. Instead, the politicians prioritize economic revival in their messages, said campaigners.

Many Zambians rely on charcoal for a living. Yet charcoal production in Zambia drives high rates of deforestation. With help from Catholic Relief Services, a group of Zambian youth is campaigning against charcoal.

Economic challenges in southern Africa are disrupting the work of priests and other Catholic religious groups, forcing many to cancel or postpone crucial church programs.

Companies are turning African communal lands into commercial crop production fields, via controversial land deals. Communities are taking a stand, backed by Catholic bishops and development organizations.

Catholic-run hospitals in Zimbabwe face staff shortages and power outages as the country deals with high inflation. "We have to keep going to work even when the conditions are very difficult to keep working," one doctor said.

After a gunmen killed about 40 parishioners during Mass at St. Francis Parish in Owo, the atmosphere across many Catholic parishes in Nigeria has transformed into one of fear and trepidation, priests told NCR.

Security and safety risks for priests and Catholic humanitarian workers have escalated in Ethiopia at a time when millions of citizens need aid and relief in a conflict raging for 14 months. 

Despite a recent escalation in violence across South Sudan, including a spate of attacks against clergy, Catholic leaders in the country continue to hope that Pope Francis will be able to finally visit.

Although many African nations have abolished use of the death penalty in the past decade, Botswana's government claims it can be a good deterrent to prevent violent crimes; some parts of South Africa's society are calling to reinstate it, too.

A recent court victory against a copper mine highlights what activists say is widespread lack of enforcement of environmental regulations in the lucrative, polluting business of mining in Africa.

With communication and access to Ethiopia's Tigray region cut off, Catholic relief and other humanitarian agencies are having difficulty responding to those in need there and in refugee camps in neighboring Sudan.