Vocation Story: Father Opiyo Constanz, Becoming Friends of God and of Humanity
From a tragic experience a new vocation was born. Ordination under the shadow of Coronavirus. The desire to work with young people. A Ugandan Comboni Missionary speaks with us about his vocation journey. The desire to serve God as a priest started quite early when I was a little boy. While at St. Joseph’s College […]
Locusts and Coronavirus: Similarities
The speed with which they spread, the lack of management preparation and the possibility of a “second wave”. Billions of locusts attacked the fields of Africa and Asia while, in parallel, Covid-19 reaped a harvest of victims all over the world. The similarities between the two phenomena are impressive. We may start with the speed […]
Displaced Children: The Right to Education
An entire generation of children globally have had their education disrupted due to the pandemic. Children who have been forced to flee their homes are at most risk. Ten reasons why we should support displaced children’s right to education: 1 – This emergency comes on top of an existing learning crisis Even before the Covid-19 […]
Brazil: Hélder Càmara, The Bishop of the poor
“I believe in the force of the truth. I believe in what is called a moral liberating force.” Dom Hélder Càmara, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife was one of the great prophets of the Catholic Church. Hélder Càmara was born in 1909, the eleventh of thirteen children, into a family of modest means. He soon […]
The misuse of facial recognition technology
The misuse of automated facial recognition technology is not limited to authoritarian countries such as China, North Korea and Myanmar. It is also happening in democracies, such as the United States or India. Automatic facial recognition (AFR) uses cameras to record faces in a crowd. These images are then processed to create a unique biometric […]
Mission Diary: A Prison that Triggers Life
A student Comboni missionary from Uganda shares his pastoral experience with young people in the Kamiti prison in Kenya. Since 2016 I have been in Nairobi, Kenya, studying theology at the seminary. On Sundays I go to a prison in Kamiti, which is located on the outskirts of Nairobi. I visit the section of […]
Nigeria: Coronavirus Pandemic Eclipses Other Healthcare Challenges
Many have expressed fears about the ability of Nigeria’s healthcare system to handle the spread of COVID-19 in the nation. The reason is simple: Nigeria’s health sector has been one of the weakest in the world. The country, despite being Africa’s largest economy, was in 2017 rated 187 out of 190 countries in World Health […]
Witnesses: Cardinal Van Thuan, Freedom to Pray
Cardinal Van Thuan was arrested in 1975 and spent 13 years in prison, nine of them in solitary confinement in Hanoi. He used his time not only for personal prayer but also to write a reflection that continues to inspire. Van Thuan had been appointed as Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon just seven days before South […]
Mission Diary: The Library of Hope
The library is called “Youth, hope of tomorrow.” The idea of instilling the love of reading and to offer the students an appropriate space to study. A Comboni Sister talks about this project. It is three in the afternoon and I need to open the library. Marcelina and her sister Susan are waiting for me […]
Oral Literature: The Hyena, the Goat, the Leopard and the Hare
The hyena’s home was near a river, and he owned a little canoe of which he was exceedingly proud. Most hyenas are very greedy and this one was no exception. He also happened to be very hungry, for he had not eaten for several days. So early in the morning he climbed into his canoe […]