U.S. bishops reiterate solidarity with faithful of Africa amid ongoing conflicts

Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. / Credit: Joe Bukuras/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 26, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The United States bishops have expressed their solidarity with the bishops and faithful in Africa “as they offer the world a profound witness of respect for human life and dignity amidst ongoing conflicts” on the continent.

In a Sept. 24 statement, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, said the bishops “pray that government officials and people of all faiths may work together to bring lasting peace, justice, and security to the continent.”

“In 2025, 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,” Zaidan wrote.

African nations have experienced extreme violence, war, and disease, which has left more than 15 million displaced in the sub-Saharan region. Zaidan emphasized that “cycles of deadly violence” are leading humanitarian crises to continuously “claim thousands of innocent lives in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and throughout the Sahel region.”

In Sudan, thousands have been affected by the country’s cholera outbreak, exacerbating the country’s existing humanitarian crisis, with nearly 100,000 reported cases and more than 2,470 related deaths (as of August).

Ongoing violent conflicts in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia also continue to escalate and have resulted in the deaths of thousands amid the ongoing wars.

“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,” Zaidan wrote. He particularly drew attention to “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.”

These acts of violence include a June attack by Islamist Fulani militants in northern Nigeria, which left around 200 Nigerian Christians dead. International aid organizations referred to it as the “worst killing spree” in the region yet.

“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,” Zaidan said, adding that the bishops “reaffirm that lifesaving and life-affirming international assistance funding is a crucial complement to these efforts.”

“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.”

“As our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has said: ‘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.’”