Witnesses: Shabbaz Bhatti, A Voice That Cries in the Wilderness
Shahbaz Bhatti was the Pakistani federal minister for minority affairs. He was shot dead driving from his mother’s Islamabad home. His assassins have never been brought to justice. He was a committed Catholic. Pakistan is the second largest Islamic state in the world. It is a country with widespread poverty and yet it is a […]
Oral Literature: Why Hippos Don’t Eat Fish!
When the Good Lord N’gai made his plans for all the creatures upon his earth, he made the hippopotamus as an animal of the forests and plains. However, the hippopotamus was greedy and, finding plenty of food all round him and no enemies to worry about, he grew fatter, and fatter and fatter. The fatter […]
Chad: Cereal Banks
In Chad, a missionary who has lived in the country for over 53 years created a Cereal Bank, which has proved very successful. Today, 346 banks have formed a federation with as many as 35,000 members benefitting 350,000 people. The project is still growing right where the harvest is more precious than gold. “Our purpose […]
Catholic Church in Morocco: A ‘bridge’
A church that wants to be a ‘bridge’ between the Christian and Islamic worlds. Deeply involved in the field of immigration. Cardinal Cristobal Lopez, Archbishop of Rabat speaks to us. He had only been a bishop for a year and a half when, on 5 October, he was made a cardinal. “It is clear that […]
Africa: Religious Sisters and Fathers on the front lines against COVID-19
A number of congregations are helping to combat the pandemic. Their services range from providing key COVID-19 messages over the radio to opening sharing their own resources of food and hygiene facilities with those most in need. In Zambia, sisters from six congregations have teamed up and taken to local airwaves to bolster their government’s […]
Ecuador: Denisse’s School Under a Tree
In a popular quarter of Guayaquil, a girl of sixteen has started an open-air school for the many children who cannot follow their lessons online due to the pandemic which is still claiming many victims in Ecuador. With more than 69,000 confirmed cases and 5,000 deaths, Ecuador is one of the epicentres of the pandemic […]
Civil Unrest on the Rise Globally
According to the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) report, global civil unrest is on the rise, as every region of the world has experienced hundreds of civil unrest events over the last decade. The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in its 2020 report said a key trend identified in this year’s […]
Save the Children: Around 10 Million Children May Never Return to School
Deep budget cuts to education and rising poverty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could force at least 9.7 million children out of school forever by the end of this year, with millions more falling behind in learning, Save the Children warns in a new report. Girls are likely to be much worse affected than […]
Young People Lead the Protest Against Racism, Discrimination and Social Inequality
More and more young people are joining protests around the world and are playing an increasingly important role in fighting against racism, discrimination, and social inequality. Is it possible that eight minutes and 46 seconds can change the world? From London to Lisbon, Berlin to Pretoria, as well as Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and […]
Brazil: Close to the People
Brazil is the country struck hardest by Covid-19. Comboni Father Saverio Paolillo has sent us some reflections on rethinking our lifestyles. The Covid-19 pandemic is ravaging Brazil. It has become the country with the second largest number of victims after the United States, with over 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirmed cases. The figures are […]
