As presidential elections approach in Somalia, the bishop who serves as apostolic administrator sees signs of hope, but he says changes are needed.
Since 1991, the presence of the Catholic Church in Somalia, already small, largely disappeared across the country as parts of Somalia came under the control of a more fundamentalist Islamic authority while other large sections of the country were taken over by al-Shabab, an Islamist militant group.
Bishop Giorgio Bertin, the apostolic administrator of Mogadishu and president of Caritas Somalia, has worked largely below the radar from outside of the country, first in Nairobi and later from Djibouti, where the diocesan offices were eventually relocated.
