Benin. The Artists of Abomey. ‘The Oral Historians’
Between 1600 and 1900 the city of Abomey was the pride of the kingdom of Dahomey (today’s Benin). Court art developed there, in which genius, talent, and inspiration served above all to exalt the figure of the king. Dahomey, also known as the kingdom of Abomey, after the capital, occupied the south-central part of what […]
Ghana: Sacred Golden Stool
The most important and sacred Asante stool is the ‘Golden Stool’. It represents the authority of the Asantehene (king), enshrines the soul of the nation, and symbolizes the kingdom’s unity. Among the Asante and other Akan peoples, stools play an important role in each person’s life. When children learn to crawl, they receive stools as […]
Kenya. A Social Enterprise, a Comboni Missionary Proposal
The project has taken its first steps and has a triple objective: to enhance local potential, finance missionary activities, and open new pastoral spaces. In the African context, a new experience of social enterprises is also emerging, thanks to the initiative and research of the Institute for Social Transformation (Tangaza University College, Nairobi), founded and […]
Bible & Mission. The problem of the means
You are the Son of God. Read Luke 4:1-13 Human Beings are made to become like God. Their evil doesn’t come from the fact of wanting to be like God, but from the false image they have of Him. God is not the supreme egoist, master of everything and everybody, but the supreme Love, servant […]
Oral Literature. Koba, the Hunter who stopped Hunting
There was once a man called Koba, a hunter. One day he left his house and went off to hunt in a place that was far away. When Koba reached a certain locust-bean tree, he made his camp under it. Every day he went out hunting, and every night also, resting only for necessity, to […]
India. Kantha, An Artistic Stitch craft
Kanthas are essentially made from layers of old materials, sarees etc and embroidered in running stitches. It has a number of traditional patterns based on religious symbols, tales from epics, scenes from villages, flowers, birds, animals and plants in enchanting colour schemes. Since ages hand embroidery has been used to decorate textiles and garments. Excavations […]
Eritrea. Kunama. The Celebration of Marriage
The Kunama, an Eritrean ethnic group living in the remote and isolated area between the Gash and Setit rivers near the border with Ethiopia. We look at the celebration of marriage. After the initiation ceremony (Anfura-la) or the passage from adolescence to youth, the young Kunama sets out to find a girl to marry. This […]
Saudi Arabia. A Church of Migrants
This coming month of July, Monsignor Paolo Martinelli celebrates one year since the beginning of his ministry as a bishop in the Vicariate of Southern Arabia. “The Arabian Peninsula challenges the Church to live her mission authentically, supporting the faith of migrants, so that in this complex society they may be witnesses of the joy […]
Bible & Mission. If only you knew the gift of God. (Jn 4: 1–42)
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman takes place in solitude. Jesus speaking to her arouses wonderment in her, as well as in the disciples (cf. Jn 4: 9, 27). In Jesus’ culture, a teacher would not talk to a woman in the street; even a husband would only address his wife in the […]
Oral Literature: The Lion, the Hare and the Hyena
A lion once lived alone in a cave. In his younger days the solitude had not worried him, but not long before this tale begins, he had hurt his leg so badly that he had been unable to provide food for himself, and he had begun to realise that companionship had its advantages. Things would […]