WASHINGTON D.C. JULY 24, 2018 (CISA)– The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has approved $1.4 million in funding for projects in Africa including the construction of new radio transmitters to facilitate the spread of Christian educational campaigns.
The USCCB subcommittee on the Church in Africa approved 54 grants in July. The funds are to be delivered via the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.
“Through the generous support of the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa, the Catholics of the United States show that we stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Africa and recognize their courageous commitment to peace, justice, reconciliation, and Christian hope throughout the continent,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin CSsR, of Newark, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Church in Africa.
In Lesotho, USCCB will support Radio Maria in establishing three new transmitting stations, to facilitate educational faith programs nationwide.
In Wa Diocese, Ghana, this grant will support the diocese to organize training for the Diocesan and School Child Protection Teams, clergy, religious and pastoral agents. They will hold workshops, which will convey information and create sensitivity on protection of children and vulnerable adults, promote creation of safe environments for children, offer skill development, and help the diocese develop policies, as well as liaise with government and civil society on child protection.
The funding also comes as good news for Rwanda, where the Episcopal conference remains hard at work fostering reconciliation and peace through educational campaigns despite lingering rebel incursions in the south.
“We recognize their courageous commitment to peace, justice, reconciliation and Christian hope throughout the continent,” added Cardinal Tobin.
“This grant will allow the conference to translate conflict prevention materials into the local language of Kinyarwanda to be used within Catholic schools across the country,” the USCCB said in a statement.
Additional areas of funding include seminarian and religious formation, evangelization, family ministries, and lay leadership training.
