CALTANISETTA, Italy – Italian youth lead the lively Sunday worship at St. Pius X Catholic Church in this southern Sicilian town with the help of an African migrant picking up the playful rhythm on a drum.

VATICAN CITY – In the prayer video for May, Pope Francis challenged the Catholic community to pray that the continent's Christians will witness to reconciliation, justice, and peace.

JOHANNESBURG – Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement, said it will build up young people to contribute to peace and justice in Africa, noting that children are the continent's greatest resource.

KHARTOUM, Sudan – The bishops of two African nations wracked by years of war and cycles of violence called for forgiveness among the sparring factions so that the countries can move forward for the betterment of their people.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – South Africa's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court could encourage a large-scale African exodus from the court and entrench impunity, warned the justice and peace commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference.

TORONTO – Before Pope Francis even thought of declaring a Jubilee Year of Mercy, one ship in Africa was already proclaiming this message.

ABUJA, Nigeria – A lack of reliable data on human trafficking in Africa hinders aid reaching people who desperately need it, said the continental coordinator for Caritas Internationalis.

Most of the more than 10 million Ethiopians now dependent on direct food handouts will survive the country’s worst drought in 60 years, but how they survive will depend on the generosity of Catholics abroad.

NAIROBI, Kenya – Religious leaders and humanitarian activists are urging the government to treat the mostly Muslim Somali migrants who are facing expulsion from the Dadaab refugee camp with dignity.

NAIROBI, Kenya – An Anglican priest has joined two gay men and two lesbians in a suit against the state over discriminatory laws that they see as encroaching on the rights and freedoms of sexual minorities in the East African country.

OTTAWA – Canadian plans to export abortion to Africa “reeks of colonialization and it reeks of cultural imperialism,” a Nigerian scientist told a gathering of MPs and senators.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church is not a fancy medical clinic for the rich, but a "field hospital" that – often literally – provides the only medical care some people will ever receive, Pope Francis said.

Once again Africa is reeling from a hunger crisis and appealing for humanitarian aid. And once again the world’s sated nations have a moral duty to generously respond.

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNS) – Two Nigerian bishops called on the government to hasten its efforts to free 219 school girls who were abducted by insurgents two years ago.