Message from Pope Francis for Lent
The Pope has centred his Lenten message for 2024 on the Book of Exodus, choosing the theme “Through the desert God leads us to freedom”. It is a time to act. “When our God reveals Himself, His message is always one of freedom,” Pope Francis says in the opening of his Message for Lent 2024. […]
Mission Diary. Ecuador. The desire to stay
“I arrived in Ecuador in 1983 and I’m still here, more than 40 years later. I came with a dream I still have but I feel that my strength is decreasing and when I look around, I see situations that make me feel bad. I believe that this pain is part of the mission and […]
Oral Literature. How God created Kamuriu similar to Himself
In the beginning, Nyambe, the creator of the world, lived on Earth with his wife Nasilele. At that time, the world was empty and deserted. There was only land surrounded by water. After many, many years spent alone, walking alone, singing alone and eating alone, Nasilele became bored with her loneliness and, one day, said […]
Mission Diary. To create unity in a divided world
“The experience at the Helwan girls’ school has been very enriching and has helped me passionately live my missionary vocation.” Sr Sarah Laker, a Comboni Missionary from Uganda, shares her experience with us. Egypt is my first mission country. I took my first vows in 2019 as a Comboni missionary and came here to study […]
Chad. Restoring Dignity
In the southern region of Chad, in Bodo, to be exact, an African fashion project is coming to life to offer women the opportunity to earn a living by working in a sewing atelier. Sister Paola Letizia who heads the project, tells us about it. Their names are Paterne, Brigitte, Priscilla, Janette, and Eliane and […]
France. Sowing Hope in the Suburbs of Marseille
In the northern districts of Marseille, a drug trafficking stronghold, people grow up surrounded by marginalization and violence. Here, some Catholic groups have chosen to share life with the residents, almost all of whom are Muslim, to create a brotherhood and promote development. To access the city of Campagne-Lévêque, with its ochre public housing blocks, […]
Universal Fraternity Can Change the World
At last year’s World Youth Day, more than a million young people found social friendship among themselves. Pope Francis calls this universal fraternity, proving a new fraternal order and world social experience possible. Universal fraternity refers to the unity and solidarity amongst all human beings, regardless of their differences. It is a vision aiming at […]
Oral Literature. Thieving Frog
Why does the frog croak? Why are its eyes always bulging out of their sockets? And why does it live only in ponds? This story from the ethnic group of the Birrwa-Limba (Sierra Leone) will explain it all to us. The sun was setting and all the animals had gathered around the pond to drink. […]
The Philippines. Why the Rosary in Jeepneys?
Jeepney drivers often hang rosaries and display religious images on their dashboards. Why is this devotion to religious items in the jeepneys? We went to find out. Riding a jeepney in the Philippines, you will be accustomed to seeing a hanging rosary in the rear-view mirror of the jeepney. Sometimes, the image of the Santo […]
Mission Diary. Hoping for a better future
Sister Ana Julio Ramujane shares her experience in Nampula, Mozambique, of helping young women make life choices that make them feel part of God’s great plan. I am Mozambican, and I come from the province of Zambezia, in the centre of the country. I grew up there, I met the Comboni Missionaries and I decided […]