Country 'a black hole'

Bishop says world must help rebuild 'functioning authority' in Somalia

Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who also serves as apostolic administrator of Mogadishu, Somalia.

The international community must contribute to reconstructing a "functioning authority" in Somalia, said the bishop who serves as administrator of the country's only Catholic diocese.

After 21 years of "practically anarchy," Somalia "has become a failed state, a black hole," said Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who took over as administrator of the diocese in neighboring Somalia in 1989, when the bishop of Mogadishu was killed.

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