South Sudan: Quality Education To Break The Vicious Circle Of Poverty & War
The Loyola Secondary School (Lss) in Wau, South Sudan, is a school, but also a shelter. It is a place where boys and girls can find serenity and build the future, beyond violence and war. “The quality of education is an important factor in breaking the cycle of poverty, and our hope is that the […]
Reflection: Lent – “We Meet Along The Way”
In the light of the Pope’s Message for Lent, Brother Michal Davide Semeraro, Benedictine monk, “rereads” the three Lenten practices – prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Prayer as openness to transcendence, fasting as “discipline” and almsgiving as an opportunity to understand that “in every woman and in every man is hidden a poor person who is […]
Guatemala: Bishop Ramazzini – “We Are Not The Owners Of Nature, But Its Custodians”
“Assuming responsibility for an ‘Integral Ecology’ in our lives poses challenges for us, both as individuals and as an institutional Church, and it also implies the adoption of coherent behaviours”, said Álvaro Ramazzini, Bishop of the diocese of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. He shares some of his considerations… The first challenge is making Christians aware of what […]
Philippines: Shepherding Drug Users
Sr. Nenet Daño, a Good Shepherd sister and licensed social worker, has passionately undertaken the task of helping drug users and pushers, in an attempt to protect them from imminent death, following the government’s war on drugs. Here is Sr. Nenet’s story of her mission to help the victims of the anti-drug campaign. After emerging […]
Martyrs Of Love
The decree of beatification of 19 “martyrs” killed in Algeria in the 1990s, including the seven monks of Tibhirine and the former Bishop of Oran Pierre Claverie, was signed on Friday 26th January. “Each of them was an authentic witness of Christ’s love, of dialogue, of openness to others, of friendship and fidelity to the […]
Colombia: The Art Of Weaving – The Wayuu People
An indigenous group proud of its craft tradition. They have survived through preserving their language and their strong weaving traditions. The Wayuu people live in the desert peninsula of La Guajira at the northern tip of Colombia and the territory shared with Venezuela. According to legend, and to the stories told by the women of […]
Nigeria: Violence Between Fulani Herdsmen And Farmers
Nigeria’s bishops have challenged government authorities to resolve the country’s violent disputes, especially after recent attacks by Fulani herdsmen have resulted in over 168 deaths just this year. A recent statement from the Catholic bishops, focused on clashes between herdsmen and farmers, a spate of kidnappings and the large number of internally displaced persons and […]
Syria: Sowing Seeds Of Hope
The shooting has stopped in Aleppo. The city is totally destroyed. The difficult process of reconstruction. The traumas of the children. The Church is involved helping people. “The children have felt the effects of this absurd war. Every day there is death and destruction before their eyes. They sleep very little at night. They still […]
Youth Is A Symbol Of The Future
The challenge for the Church in Africa is clear – it must “welcome this youth with open arms, with all the questions and all the anguishes it raises, with the lively concern to educate it to discernment”. Globally, the current generation of youth is the largest in history, with as many as 1.2 billion people […]
Christian Persecution Is Growing: 215 Million Worldwide
According to the 2018 Open Doors Report, persecution has expanded geographically and numerically. The threat of religious or ideological nationalism is serious, especially in Asia and Africa. More than 215 million Christians suffer from intolerance in the world (about 1 in every 12, or 8.6%), 3060 Christians were killed, 1922 imprisoned, 793 churches targeted. These […]
