Herbs & Plants. Zanthoxylum chalybeum. The future pharmaceutical applications.
It is a tropical plant that thrives in the medium to low altitudes of dry woodlands or grasslands. Laboratory tests indicate that the plant is also effective against several diseases, including malaria, sickle cell anaemia, diabetes, and worms. Zanthoxylum chalybeum, also called ‘knob wood’ in English, is a deciduous spiny shrub. In Greek, Zanthoxylum means […]
African Culture. The Elders. They are a blessing.
Respect for elders is a core value in the African culture. It comes from the mentality which values the past more than the future. Some people call it a mythical mentality that looks towards the past more than towards the future. In this mentality, things that happened in the past are held in high esteem. […]
Mission Diary. Father Simon: “Sharing my vocation.”
Father Simon Agede has been a vocations promoter in Lusaka, Zambia, for a little over a year. He talks to us about the difficulties and joys of this work, meeting so many young people. I am Ghanaian by birth and have been working in the Comboni Province of Malawi-Zambia since 2022. Although our circumscription includes […]
The Council of Nicaea. The Creed of Hope
This year marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). It was the first ecumenical gathering to seek a fuller understanding of the faith. Beyond its theological significance, it has also shown that common discernment is a way of hope for a pilgrim Church of the Jubilee. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII […]
Witnesses of Jubilee. Sr. Dorothy Stang. A message of hope for the Amazon.
On February 12, 2005, Brazil was stunned by the news that Sister Dorothy Stang had been assassinated. That morning, the gunmen hired to kill her found her alone on a trail in the middle of the Amazon forest. When the armed youths blocked her way, and having already received death threats, she saw the immediate […]
Herbs & Plants. Annona Reticulata. A powerful fruit plant with medicinal benefits.
It is a fruit tree or shrub. The tree is commonly referred to as ‘custard apple’. The plant has enormous nutritional and medicinal benefits. It’s a low, erect tree, with a rounded or spreading crown and trunk of about 25-35cm thick and grows to a height that ranges from 5-10m. Its leaves are deciduous, alternate, […]
Kenya. Providing a future and dignity
The Kariobangi Women Promotion Training Institute helps young women by giving them skills in tailoring, dressmaking, hairdressing and catering. The Comboni Missionary Sisters have been running the project since 1992. The roar of welding machines, the shouts of mechanics working in a garage, motorcyclists, small shops selling motorcycle parts and second-hand clothes, and food vendors […]
Mission Diary. Walking with the youth
In Guatemala, Father José Pérez carries out his missionary service with young people, helping them learn about missionary life and discern the specific vocation to which God calls them. When I arrived in Guatemala in November 2022, I was assigned to Casa Comboni, a community for missionary and vocational promotion, where there is also a […]
Jubilee Reflection. What is there to hope for?
The Jubilee’s invitation to hope appears audacious in a world laden with numerous challenges. However, it is precisely hope—a gift from God—that enriches our journey through life with meaning and encourages us to dream beyond our confined realities. Various conflicts and wars are raging throughout the world, economic turmoil and the cost of living are […]
Witnesses of Jubilee. Uganda. Lukwiya Matthew.
Twenty-five years ago, a young doctor died of Ebola. “I am ready for anything but, God willing, I would like to be the last one to die of Ebola”. At the beginning of October 2000, at Lacor Hospital (Gulu, North Uganda) a great alarm was raised. Ajok Christine, aged 20, a student nurse, was the […]