Synod for the Pan-Amazon region: To meet indigenous leaders
For the first time, 17 representatives of the indigenous peoples participate at the Synod for the Pan-Amazon region. They represent 390 ethnic groups, and most of them have been directly involved in the long, in-depth pre-synodal consultation process. Yésica Patiachi Tayori is a bilingual teacher of the indigenous Harakbut people. She lives in the Apostolic […]
African Witness: Alan Paton
“There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa.” […]
Oral Literature: The Hippo and the Elephant
Once upon a time it so happened that there was a Hippopotamus and an Elephant living in the same ancient forest, in the same ancient land which had been called home by all manner of bird and beast since a time beyond counting. Although they came from different families, the Hippo and the Elephant were […]
Reflection: Let the children rise up and speak
That is what is now happening across the world and ever since that brave child Greta Thunberg, 16 years old, went on strike from school one Friday to sit in front of the parliament house in Sweden with her sign board calling for students to strike for the climate. Millions of people have joined her […]
Amazonia: “Fear does not apply to us”
In a small town near the heart of the Brazilian Amazon region, two Sisters help support the poor agricultural workers in their struggles for land and better living conditions. In a simple wooden house on an unpaved street in the violent town of Anapu, near the heart of the Brazilian Amazon region, live Sr. Jane […]
World Mission Sunday: “Mission is part of our identity as Christians”
This year World Mission Sunday will be celebrated on 20 October. Under the theme “Baptised and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World.” A synthesis of his message. In his message, Pope Francis writes: “For the month of October 2019, I have asked that the whole Church revive her missionary awareness and commitment […]
Martyr of Amazonia: Emrya Wajãpi
Emrya Wajãpi, leader of the Wajãpi people, was killed on 23rd July in Amapá, a region bordering French Guyana. The killing has been described as the “fruit of hate campaigns perpetrated against Indigenous peoples”. According to witnesses he was stabbed to death by a number of gold miners who entered the protected reserve of the […]
The land with the golden sun
Turning the Sahara Desert into a giant solar farm could power Europe 7,000 times over. But how would we keep the panels clear of sand? If the Sahara desert were a country, it would be fifth biggest in the world – it’s larger than Brazil and only slightly smaller than China and the US, covering […]
Organised crime and poor policy behind Africa’s looming drugs crisis
Africa faces a substantial increase in illegal drug use fuelled by organised crime and ineffective policy. In the next 30 years, sub-Saharan Africa will see the world’s biggest surge in illicit drug users with its share of global drug consumption projected to double. This is according to new research and analysis of Africa’s drug trade, […]
Indigenous peoples are key stakeholders
Though humankind cannot afford to lose the Amazonian forests, deforestation is progressing fast. Research shows that officially recognised indigenous territories serve as protective barriers. National governments must promote this cause. Recent trends of backing away from environmental protection, for example in Brazil, will only cause massive harm at the continental and even global level. For millennia, […]
