EU Bishops urge access to COVID-19 vaccines for all
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and Caritas Europa are urging the EU institutions to ensure vaccine access for all, promoting a “widescale vaccination not only for Europe’s own safety and protection, but also for global public health as a public good.” With COVID-19 vaccines finally being administered to populations […]
Comboni Brother Vittorio Fanti: a missionary painter
His house, in Pressano, near Trento in Italy, is like a mansion: a carved stone portal leads the visitor into a large internal courtyard. From there a solid dark marble staircase leads you into a large hall. Balconies and terraces add a touch of aristocratic distinction to the whole building. Vittorio, a grown-up boy, would […]
Oral Literature: how Giraffe acquired his Long Neck
Long, long ago, Giraffe did not have the long, elegant neck that he has now. In those days his neck was short and squat, resembling Rhinoceros’s powerful neck. It was a time of drought and famine. The waterholes had dried up, the land had been scorched by the sun and the grazing was threadbare. The […]
Uganda: the art of dance
For the Karimojong, a pastoral and semi-nomadic tribe living in the north-eastern regions of Uganda, dancing is part of life. An artistic expression to be found in the various situations and events of the community. Loud hand-clapping in time with the singing sustains the dance. A young man and woman enter the circle as they […]
The Sahel: “poverty nourishes jihadism”
An unstable region. “Young people abandoned to themselves find a solution to their problems in Jihadism. Jihadism feeds on injustice, poverty and misery”. The words of Father Arvedo Godina of the White Fathers who has spent over fifty years in The Sahel. The Sahel is one of the most unstable regions in the continent of […]
Reflection: the virus that took over the world
The human species thinks that it the smartest that ever evolved on this planet. We think we are smarter and more powerful than all other species. Have we now met our match by non-living entities, pathogens no less? They need a host to replicate and so they invade the cells of plants, animals and humans. […]
Comboni Brother Pietro Laffranchi: Desiring to Empower the Workers
He was born in 1899 in a small village in the region of Brescia, Northern Italy. Feeling the Lord was calling him to the mission, he insistently asked to join the Comboni Missionaries. He entered the novitiate in Venegono Superiore in 1925, making his first profession as a religious in 1928. During these first years […]
Oral literature: the Rabbit and the Tortoise
There was a frightful drought. The rivers after a while dried up and even the springs gave no water. The animals wandered around seeking water, but to no avail. Water was nowhere to be found. A great gathering of animals was held: Lion, Leopard, Hyena, Jackal, Elephant, all of them came together. What was to […]
Bolivia: the textiles of the Andes
The textiles of the Andean Valley stand out not only for the technical complexity of the weaving process or for the beauty of their colours and figures, but also because their artistic symbolism reveals the socio-political, cultural, economic and spiritual worldview of the Andean people. Once the wool is obtained from the sheep, alpaca, vicuña […]
Ethiopia: the Guji, a people in transformation
The Guji are an ethnic group of southern Ethiopia. They belong to the great family of the Oromo. Traditionally semi-nomadic, today they live more from agriculture than cattle-raising. A glance at some aspects of their life and culture. They are around five million people scattered around the most southerly area of the immense territory called […]
