Catholic bishops

The Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (CEM), which brings together Catholic bishops from around the country, said that “forgetting” of the population of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, by the state powers is one of the causes of armed conflict in the region.  [Please see below, the full  text of the CEM letter of the brothers and sisters of Cabo Delgado, in Portuguese], 

“The cause of so much suffering has deep roots in the time when the population was forgotten,” the CEM said. The violence in Cabo Delgado is inflicting “atrocities” on the population in the face of the inability of the Mozambican government to stop the action of the armed groups that are carrying out attacks in the province, notes CEM.

“Our hearts are filled with sadness to know of so many atrocities being practised in your province,” the Mozambican Catholic bishops said. The violence in Cabo Delgado is forcing children to walk in the bush and seek refuge outside their homes, without food or any means of subsistence and with a bitter heart, they said.

ALSO READ: Watch: Pope Francis prays for Cabo Delgado at Easter Urbi et Orbi Message 2020 | Full text

CEM praised the solidarity of many families who live in safe areas, each of whom have given shelter at their home to more than 20 to 30 people forced to flee the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado province. The CEM is committed to mobilising aid from inside and outside the country for humanitarian assistance to victims of the armed violence in the province. The bishops praised the bishop of Pemba, capital of Cabo Delgado, Luiz Fernando Lisboa, for his constant alerts to the difficult situation in which the people of the province live.

Cabo Delgado, the Mozambican province housing the largest private investment in Africa for natural gas exploration has been under attack since October 2017 by insurgents, classified since the beginning of the year by Mozambican and international authorities as a terrorist threat. In two and a half years of conflict, it is estimated that at least 600 people have died and about 211,000 have been affected, being forced to take refuge in safer places, losing their homes, and other assets. The Catholic Bishops of Mozambique wrote a letter to their brothers & sisters of #CaboDelgado. They express their solidarity, say they do not know what is the cause of so much suffering (though they recognise it has profound roots), and they publicly support the Bishop of Pemba pic.twitter.com/B0lt3HjVPR

— Eric Morier-Genoud (@emorier) June 15, 2020

FILE PHOTO: Catholic Bishops of Mozambique  with Pope Francis  on 5 September 2019, during the Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis - Meeting of Pope Francis with Bishops, Priests, Religious, Consecrated and Seminarians, Catechists and Animators of Mozambique, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Maputo, 5 September 2019 . FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY:  [File photo: Rádio Pax - Emissora Católica da Beira / Facebook]]