ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Somali couple with three children is seeking a new life in Minnesota thanks to a Catholic Charities’ resettlement program that cites a Christian imperative for its work.

While Canada resettled more than 35,000 refugees from Syria over the last 12 months and brought refugee processing times down to eight months for privately sponsored refugees from Lebanon, refugees in Ethiopia languish more than six years in the system and Church groups are discouraged from sponsoring Africans.

As the world focuses most of its attention on Syria, East Africa and its nine million refugees — 26 per cent of the worldöÏÓãÊÓƵapp refugee population — is facing another wave of failed states, civil wars and ethnic cleansing.

A serious breakdown between the powerful Roman Catholic Church and the government in Burundi is raising concerns over stability in the East African nation, as senior government officials accuse the Church of sponsoring violence.