Witnesses: Charles de Foucauld, Spirit of the Desert
One century after his death as a martyr, the priest who brought the Gospel to new places and lived among the Tuareg people in the Algerian desert will soon be proclaimed a saint. Blessed Charles de Foucauld will soon be canonized. A little more than a century after his death, a miracle attributed to his […]
India: The Diocese of Bagdogra
The serious crisis in the tea plantations. Alternative forms of working. Commitment to education. The role of the laity. We discuss these topics with Mons. Vincent Aind, Bishop of Bagdogra. The district of Darjeeling, in the region of Western Bengal, is one of places most famous for the quality of its tea. Traditionally, Darjeeling is […]
The Catholic Church in Algeria: Weavers of Brotherhood
“This is no longer the time for clashes between believers. Following the example of our martyrs, we are apostles of dialogue and peace in an Islamic land.” A conversation with the Archbishop of Algiers, Mons. Paul Desfarges. The Basilica of Our Lady of Africa looks out over the blue Mediterranean from the top of a […]
The Arms Trade is Killing Thousands of Women and Children
The United States, Russia, and China, despite being in the middle of a pandemic that is killing hundreds of thousands and infecting over a million, continue to build up their armed forces and supply weapons to nations of the Saudi-led coalition making war on the Houthi in Yemen. The drums of war are beating ever […]
Global Witness records the highest number of land and environmental activists murdered in one year
Global Witness has just revealed the highest number of land and environmental defenders murdered on record in a single year, with 212 people killed in 2019 for peacefully defending their homes and standing up to the destruction of nature. The NGO’s annual report also shed a light on the urgent role land and environmental defenders […]
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 […]