Amazon: Faith, Solidarity, Action
As part of the global ecumenical community we, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with churches and communities across the Amazon region. The ecological crisis of the rainforests calls for ongoing efforts by ecumenical partners to achieve peace and justice at local, national, regional and international levels. It is in this context we endorse and support […]
Resistance and Prophesy in Amazonia
Instead of the model of plunder, the Amazonian communities propose that of co-existence with nature. And Pope Francis stands by their side. “For us they are important names. Our city is called Açailândia, the land of the açaì, the Amazon fruit most full of life. Mother Earth, like all mothers, gives us our name. Our […]
Vocation Story: “God surprises me”
Perseverance and Faithfulness will carry us all the way long. All is a gift from God. Be grateful, do what you can and remain faithful to the call of Jesus. That will bring you to the good end. A Comboni Brother from Germany tell us his story. I am a 72 years old. I belong […]
Martyr of Amazonia: Father Ezekiel Ramin
“I love you all and I love justice. Let us not approve violence, even if we are treated violently. The Father who is speaking to you has received death threats. Dear brothers, if my life belongs to you, so will my death “. As the old jeep moves swiftly along the narrow, dirt road through […]
Brazil: Indigenous People, the risk of extinction
Miners, loggers, developers invade indigenous lands. With them came violence and diseases. Consolata Missionary Brother Carlo Zacquini was ministering among the Yanomami people in a remote area of Brazil, near the border with Venezuela, when gold miners invaded their lands. After a violent confrontation in which miners killed four Indians and the Yanomami killed four […]
Amazon Synod: To proclaim the Gospel in Wapishana
Language is more than just a way of communicating. It opens a window into indigenous cultures and enables to help indigenous people maintain their identity. In an open-sided circular building beside the Catholic chapel in this Amerindian village, Scarboro Father Ron MacDonell was explaining how the tongue, the teeth and the vocal cords work together […]
Vocation Story: To be Witness of the Gospel
“I was searching for a direction in my life, a direction which I hoped, could lead me somewhere closer to God…I was searching for this presence with the wrong initial perspectives… and it took me a while to understand that I was getting lost”. A Comboni Brother, Paolo Rizzetto, tell us his story. I lived […]
Kenya: To prepare future leaders
This year, the Institute of Social Ministry in Mission, at Tangaza College in Nairobi, celebrate 25 years since its foundation. The story of the Institute of Social Ministry in Mission (ISMM) begins with one great visionary, a Comboni Missionary, Father Francesco Pierli. He had completed his term as the General Superior of the Comboni Missionaries […]
Martyr of Amazonia: Sr. Dorothy Stang
On 12 February 2005, the whole of Brazil was stunned by the news that Sr Dorothy Stang had been assassinated. That morning, the gunmen contracted to kill her found her alone on a track in the middle of the Amazonian forest. When the armed youths blocked her way, and having already received death threats, she […]
South America’s Amazon: culturally diverse, globally vital
When Pope Francis came face to face with more than 2,000 Amazonian indigenous people in Peru in January 2018, he told them the place where they live is holy ground, and that they and the Amazon region are important to the Catholic Church and the entire world. For most of October, more than 100 bishops […]
