I spent two weeks in June in the Republic of Congo representing the Canadian Religious Conference as part of a five-person delegation called The Women of Courage. The delegationöÏÓãÊÓƵapp name was deeply inspiring and humbling.

VATICAN CITY - A Catholic church where Sunday Massgoers were just leaving was among dozens of buildings flattened by a series of explosions triggered by a fire at a military munitions depot in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

Government officials suspect a short-circuit set off the fire at the military storage facility early March 4, causing huge fires and a series of explosions that devastated Mpila, a neighborhood on the eastern edge of Brazzaville, causing the collapse of several buildings, including St. Louis Catholic Church, according to news reports.