Zimbabwe Vastly Better than Last Year, U.S. Bishop Says

Catholic News Service reports Zimbabwe is no longer a "desperate" place. "There is food in the shops, people are in the supermarkets buying things," said, Bishop Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla. Ricard says he sees a "level of hope" that was nonexistent last year, when hyperinflation, drought and political corruption still devastated the country. Ricard and Steve Hilbert, Africa policy adviser in the U.S. bishops' Office of International Justice and Peace, visited the country Aug. 26-28 for the first time since 2008. "It was startling to see the number of people on the streets" of the capital, Harare, Hilbert said. "Zimbabwe a lot has changed for the better." The unity government remains fragile, but Zimbabweans are hopeful that upcoming referendums will lead to a new, permanent constitution to safeguard the country's progress.