Oral Literature: How the hare lost his tail
One day in the long, long ago the hare was walking through the forest. He was a good farmer and was on his way to inspect his mealie lands. In those days he was like all the other creatures of the wilds: he had a long tapering tail, a well-formed nose and a strong, sturdy […]
Tropical Coral Reefs: Under Threat
Due to their great biodiversity, tropical coral reefs are often likened to rainforests. They are indeed ecosystems of supreme relevance, In spite of their incalculable value to humanity, they are under threat all over the world. Apart from global warming, the main harm is caused by overfishing and pollution. For 450 million years, corals have […]
Reflection: Peace and Climate Justice is Needed to Save the Planet
The world is afire again, the flames heartbreakingly consume shrubs, trees and forests in Australia, Portugal, Brazil, and recently in California and Siberia and elsewhere too. The world community has reacted in protest to the hundreds of fires burning the Amazon rainforest. These are destroying the habitat of thousands of endangered species and the communities […]
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 […]