Africa. Forecast 2025. A challenging year for democracy
This year is likely to be another difficult one for democracy in Africa. In the Sahel, at least three elections have been postponed. Elsewhere, there is a risk that they will not be fair or that they could spark violence, while a growing number of rulers are changing the rules to stay in power indefinitely. […]
Bolivia. The birth of a Quechua and Aymara child
The ancestral rituals that accompany the birth of a Quechua and Aymara child. The role of the midwife. The great joy of the family and the community. The birth of a baby is preceded by several preparations among the Quechua and Aymara communities. During her pregnancy, the expectant mother makes diapers, clothes, and a new […]
Guatemala. The birth of a child in a Maya community
The birth of a child is particularly significant to the Maya because it represents a connection with the divine will. The nawal, or spirit guardian, is attached to a person at birth, linking the profane with the sacred world. When a woman realises she is pregnant, she visits her father to give him the news […]
Mission Diary. The youngest of all
Father Claude Nkwe Lugiri talks to us about the challenges he has to face in the new parish entrusted to him. After four years of work in my country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, I was assigned to the Central African Republic, where I had done a two-year period of missionary service a few years […]
Mission Diary. Sr Eulalia: “To honour my name”
A love for nature. Ready to accept life’s challenges. Twelve years of missionary life in Zambia transformed her mentality and spirituality. Sister Eulalia Capdevila Enriquez speaks to us. My parents gave me the name Eulàlia, a name which implies an entire life program. Since I was little, I learned that it derives etymologically from ancient […]
Reflection. The Joy of Co-Belonging
We belong to each other. We must not act as though we have no resources and energies to count on. Our intellectual heritages and spiritual traditions provide enormous valuable assets on which we can build. We are not helpless. How little do we realize that we have immense resources and live immersed in a sea […]
Africo American Pastoral. Father Savoia: “Giving Dignity”
The Comboni missionary, Father Rafaello Savoia is one of the main pioneers of Afro-Latin American pastoral care. Starting from the Gospel, he made his commitment to the dignity, development and evangelization of black people the commitment of his entire missionary life. He arrived in Ecuador in 1968 and his first appointment as a 26-year-old missionary […]
Nicaragua. Garifuna. Silent and silenced minority
The Constitution and laws ought to protect their rights. In reality, this is not the case: because of the confiscated lands, 70% of these Afro-indigenous people live below the poverty line, their language is in danger of extinction, and a systematic violation of even the minimum guarantees is being implemented. The Garifuna are an Afro-indigenous […]
Afro-Ecuadorians. A state of emergency
Successive governments have failed to improve the political and economic conditions of Afro-American groups. Drug-related crime is making their conditions even worse. Afro-Ecuadorians represent approximately 7-10% of Ecuador’s total population. This means that there are between 1.2 and 1.75 million Afro-descendants in a country of approximately 17.5 million people. Most of this population is concentrated […]
Afro-Colombians. The difficult change
The new progressive executive is the spokesperson of los nadies, the marginalized, the “nobodies”, including Afro-Colombians. Many reforms are designed to create greater social justice. But they clash with a parliament in the hands of the opposition. After more than two hundred years of republican history characterized by political violence and conservative and oligarchic governments, […]