Huge locust outbreak in East Africa reaches South Sudan
The worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years has reached South Sudan, a country where roughly half the population already faces hunger after years of civil war. The locusts have been seen in Eastern Equatoria state near the borders with Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. All have been affected by […]
Nigeria: Catholic Bishops denounce violence against Christians
“Human beings are being slaughtered regularly by terrorists who are suspected to have targeted the Christians. Security of life and property can no longer be guaranteed in Nigeria,” said Mons. Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor, Bishop of Awka, State of Anambra, in southern Nigeria. The Bishop of Awaka is the latest of Catholic bishops to denounce violence, […]
Philippines: On the side of the underdog
A Benedictine theologian, activist, missionary and intellectual, Sr. Mary John Mananzan speaks of the Philippines of the past and of today. From the former dictator Ferdinando Marcos to the President now in power, Rodrigo Duterte. The Church has always offered resistance and will continue to do so, taking the side of the poor. “The Church […]
Zimbabwe: Street children in Harare
Hundreds of children roam the centre of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, living in inhumane conditions. Many of them are second generation victims: their poverty is a consequence of being orphans. Their parents died from HIV and now they are all alone without family, living on the street and, in some cases, in a foreign […]
Oral Literature: the three questions
There was once a chief whose mind was troubled. He was troubled because he wanted to know the answers to three questions. The first question was this: when is the most important time? The second was: who is the most important man? The third was: what is a man’s most important action? The chief thought […]
Bangladesh: the mission of dialogue
After 45 years of missionary work in Bangladesh, Fr Bob McCahill continues pedalling on his bicycle to find and bring help to rural disadvantaged people. He tells us his story. After my ordination in 1964, I was assigned to the Philippines. For 11 years, I lived in remote areas, travelling often by motorcycle where there […]
Uganda: Beatification of Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli
On 22 November 2020, Italian Comboni priest Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli will be beatified in Kalongo in the north of Uganda. A story of dedication to the poor as a doctor and missionary. It was the summer of 1949 when a young doctor asked to enter the Congregation of the Comboni Missionaries. In his letter of […]
Cardinal Tagle to lead Evangelisation Congregation
Pope Francis has named Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, the Vatican department that oversees the Catholic Church’s missionary activities worldwide. The 62-year-old cardinal succeeds Cardinal Fernando Filoni, 73, who since 2011 had led the Vatican office overseeing the Church’s vast mission territories. Mission, evangelisation […]
Mexico: Calakmul, the lost city
Its name means “The Place of Adjacent Mounds.” This site was contemporary with Tikal and Palenque. Calakmul was at its peak between around 431 and 790 A.D., but it was already an important city in the late Pre-classic, with dated monuments being erected around 200 A.D. Calakmul was inhabited for 1500 years and was a […]
Uganda: the colour of the cows
In the Karimojong group living in north-east Uganda, the number of cows determined readiness for marriage. Among the Karimojong people marriage meant wealth for the girl’s family and pride to the man. They would not match-make their children and neither was there any kind of courtship. It was about strength and wealth. Once a young […]
