Reflection: How We Can Save the Planet and Ourselves
The ongoing burning of the rainforests in Brazil under the newly elected president Jair Bolsonaro is an indication of the destructive power of a dictatorial leader. He is allowing thousands of hectares of rainforest to be cut down and burnt. Toxic fumes engulf many Brazilian towns. He is changing the forest into grazing lands for […]
A Comboni Father Ezekiel Ramin: A patron Saint for the Amazon Synod
A patron Saint for the Synod. Brazilian bishops ask the Pope that he be Father Ezekiel Ramin, Comboni priest killed in the Amazon region. Ahead of the Synod for the Amazon, 200 Brazilian bishops wrote a letter to Pope Francis asking him to recognize as martyr the Comboni Italian missionary Ezekiel Ramin, assassinated in 1985, […]
Oral Literature: The ambitious Ants
Ants are the busiest creatures in the world. Every ant has a full time job, with no holidays and no half-days off Ants like to work, and they don’t like much else. The biggest and strongest ants build whole cities for themselves, complete with compartments like deep shelters to which they can retreat if any […]
African Witness: South Africa – Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli
Chief Albert John Mvumbi (“Continuous Rain” in Zulu) Luthuli, a leading figure in South Africa’s struggle against apartheid and Africa’s first Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was a product of Christian mission schools. His father, John Bunyan Luthuli, was a missionary interpreter in Rhodesia, and Albert, supported by a scholarship and his widowed mother’s earnings as […]
Bolivia: The Yatiri, the one who reads the sacred coca leaves
The wise man of the Andean communities, who has the task to pass down the wisdom and knowledge to future generations. The yatiri can be called in different ways, such as jampiri (healer), yachaj (the one who knows), aysiri, shaman, and other names depending on the region and the community. Yatiris are the continuators of […]
New Zealand: In the shade of the palms
The Maori of New Zealand have a sacred vision of nature. Traditional patterns used in their wood carving, tattoos and amulets are often inspired by the natural environment. The Maori were the first settlers of New Zealand. They arrived there on their wakas, wooden boats suitable for sea sailing. The term Maori is used to […]
RD.Congo: Beatification of twenty martyr missionaries on track
Fifty-seven years after their tragic deaths, the Roman Catholic Church of Congo has started the process of beatification of the twenty missionaries assassinated by government soldiers on the 1 January 1962. Last June, the bishop of Kongolo diocesis, in the Tanganyika province, Mgr Oscar Ngoy wa Mpanga announced that he had initiated the process of […]
African Witness: Kenya – Wangari Maathai, Freedom Fighter
Through her Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai mobilised thousands of women to plant millions of trees in Kenya. With this brainchild, she showed that any initiative counts—and it can count a lot—and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. A practising Catholic, she was a member of the Legion of Mary throughout her life. Cancer […]
Herbs & Planta: Brassica oleracea (Cauliflower)
Cauliflower (Family Brassicaceae) is scientifically referred to as Brassica oleracea. Its head resembles that of broccoli and it’s only the white fleshy head (Curd) which is usually eaten. There are many edible Cauliflower types differentiated by the colour of the fleshy head which can be green, purple, light yellow and white. Cauliflower heads can be […]
Uganda/Buganda: The Twins are special children
In Buganda, an ethnic group lives in the Central Region of Uganda; twins are imagined to be special of children; many baganda believe that twins are semi gods while others say that they are spirits in the form of human beings; that is the reason many twins and their parents receive special treatment and respect […]