Oral Literature: Wanjiru – Sacrificed By Her Family
The sun beat down mercilessly and there was no sign of any rain. This happened one year, and it happened again a second year, and even a third year, so … Continua a leggere
Oral Literature: Where Stories Come From, A Traditional Zulu Story – South Africa
Once, a very long time ago, so long ago that it must have been close to the time when the First Man and the First Woman walked upon the earth, there lived a woman named Manzandaba and her husband Zenzele.
Africa: Traditional Healers
In Central and East Africa, the term most commonly used for a traditional healer is ng’anga. No one can doubt the fundamental role that this occupation still has in the field of health and health services in African societies.
Kenya: Turkana – Akuj, The Supreme Being
The Turkana are a monotheistic people. They believe in one God, known as Akuj, the creator of the universe. “All things belong to Akuj”, they say. They call upon him in times of great need, through prayers and chants and through animal sacrifices.
Peru: It Is Impossible To Remain Silent
On both sides of the border between Ecuador and Peru, there are oil and gas operations. The consequences are disastrous for the environment and for the indigenous peoples who live there. Two Augustinian missionaries living in Iquitos (Peru) talked about the challenges for the church and for the indigenous people.
Kenya: Pökot Marriage
The Pökot people live in West Pökot County and Baringo County in Kenya and in the Pökot District of the eastern Karamoja region in Uganda. They are estimated to be around 700,000. Like many other people they are going through a profound transformation.
African Myths: A Door To The Mysteries Of Creation
In Africa, there are thousands of myths to explain what reason cannot explain. In a lot of them, God made man from clay, as in the Bible. In some, life and death are brought to men by animals. Myth always has something mysterious, hidden like the seed within a fruit, and somehow offers the explanation, the interpretation.
Colombia: “We Are The Guardians Of Our Land”
In the centre of the Colombian Amazonia, we find the Vicariate of Puerto Leguízamo-Solano, created in 2013. A Christian community that wants to take care of the environment and its people. We discuss the peace accord, the cocoa growers and the indigenous people with the Bishop of the Vicariate.
Climate change and drought in Africa
When I was growing up in South Africa, we would sometimes be shown pictures of emaciated children in Ethiopia or Bangladesh… In those days, the problem was far away, and the worry was someone else’s. Nowadays we are much more aware of the reality of global climate change, and we know that nobody is unaffected.
DR. Congo: A Time Bomb!
“We appeal to the Congolese people to pay particular attention to the implementation of important milestones in the electoral calendar, including the convening of the electorate on the 23rd June 2018 and the beginning of the reception and preparation of candidacies on the 24th June 2018, and to ensure respect for the peaceful nature of public events”.
Towards a Europe of Hope
The crisis in Europe is a favourite subject in media commentaries, and it is true there is no shortage of difficulties. These are manifested in a widespread defiance that features in public opinions expressed about the European construction.
Reflection: Social Justice – Africa taken for a ride
Despite the disastrous experiences of neoliberal polices, especially in Latin American and African countries, the international institutions are still imposing these policies on the developing countries. Few lessons have been learned from the past.
Comboni Priest witnesses Church attack – at least 19 killed
Father Moses Otii, Comboni missionary and parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in the country’s capital Bangui, told that about 120 parishioners were injured during the violence, which included grenade attacks, on Tuesday (1st May).
The worst news: A video inspiring thoughts and action
It blatantly states that the United States federal military budget goes towards lobbyists and corporations, not troops. Instead of pouring a trillion dollars into nuclear weapons let’s pour that trillions of dollars into our communities.
The news of the month: War to plastic
It is the world’s first machine to clean up the planet’s largest mass of ocean plastic. The system, originally dreamed up by a teenager, will be shipped out this summer to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, between Hawaii and California, and which contains an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic.
Indigenous Peoples’ Cosmo-vision advocacies for nature
Indigenous peoples’ views of nature are incompatible with the extractive model, which is based on excess and limitless profit-seeking that drives to prey on natural resources and threatens the future of all human kind.
Syrian prelate says airstrikes based on ‘lies’ and ‘Satan’s language’
If “we have to choose between being killed by those men from ISIS or have a strong man who we call a dictator leading us, there’s no choice.” The alternative to al-Assad, he deadpans, is death.
Reflection: Syria – The Little Boy In The Suitcase
Nobody knows where the man with the leather suitcase is headed to but we all know that he carries the most precious thing he still has: hope. That child is the hope and the deep yearning for peace in Syria.
Arms Transfer Increase
In its latest report the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said that, globally the volume of international transfers of major weapons in 2013–17 was 10% higher than in 2008–12, a continuation of the upward trend that began in the early 2000s.
Latin America: “Taking On The Missionary Discipleship Of The Gospel Implies Guarding Creation”
A new pastoral letter from the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), entitled “Missionary Disciples, custodians of the common home”.
A History Made Of Names
The work we are doing as Comboni Missionaries and Comboni Lay Missionaries in the concrete situation of migration is essentially accomplished by networking with associations, organisations and movements, both ecclesial and social, involved in this area in recognising and defending the rights of immigrants and refugees.
U.N. Warns Humanitarian Disaster In Southeast Congo
According to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, an upsurge of violence in south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is set to cause a “humanitarian disaster of extraordinary proportions”.
Huge taxes, land expropriated: Archbishop Welby, Cardinal Nichols denounce Israeli ‘threats’ to Christian community
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Catholic archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, have expressed their deep concern to the Israeli government over threats to church lands which caused the closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
South Sudanese Bishop Paride Taban Wins Prestigious Four Freedoms Award
South Sudanese Bishop, Paride Taban, will receive the Freedom of Worship Award, one of the Four Freedoms Awards presented every other year in Middelburg, the Netherlands. This year’s awards will be presented in Middelburg on the 16th May.
Book of Exodus (4) Where Real Freedom Begins
Empires have always tried to use work to black out the dreams of freedom, gratuitousness and celebration in the souls of the workers. Exactly for it being the number one friend of man, work lends itself to be manipulated and used against workers
Eritrea: a “North Korea of Africa”
«Eritrea is the country with less freedom in the world ». These words come not from someone who opposes president Isayas Afeworki or from the hated government of Ethiopia, instead they come from an official United Nations paper.
Book of Exodus (3) Thorn Bushes and Liberations
Factories, offices, classrooms, fields and houses can be and are the site of the fundamental type of meetings in life, even of theophanies. The decisive events reach us in the places of our ordinary life, that is, while we are at work (work is also important because of this).
“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.
Book of Exodus (2) Enriching Cries
The first prayer that we find in the Bible is a cry, a cry that rises into the sky by an oppressed people. To have an experience of liberation one must first feel the need to be liberated, and then cry, believing or hoping that there, or up there, is someone to pick up the cry
Book of Exodus (1) Love does not give in to power
In this Lenten season let us meditate on the book of Exodus. Lent invites us to follow Jesus in the desert, led by the Spirit: ” I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart” (Hosea 2:16)
DR Congo: The Catholic Church For The Poor And With The Poor
The Christians of Congo are writing a new page in the history of African Christianity. They refuse to be an accomplice of politics breaking the silence. A Christianity that claims to be prophetic, while remaining for the poor and with the poor.
INDIA – Civil society: “The government must stop hate crimes against minorities”
“Deep concern for the continuous episodes of senseless violence in the country, especially those that target minorities”, and also “for the weak response of law enforcement agencies and institutions”
Togo – “When People Take Destiny In Their Hands, There Is Hope”
In the last months, Togo has been shaken by strong popular protests that claim a limitation on the number of presidential mandates. Women are at the forefront of the popular protest against the power of President Faure Gnassingbe.
Bangladesh: at the roots of Islamist extremism
“Here in Bangladesh the factors which drive Jihadist recruitment and mobilisation are multiple. The processes of Islamist radicalisation have historical roots which must be taken into consideration and which exceed the connection poverty-extremism
2021-2030: The ‘Decade of Ocean Science’
The United Nations has designated the years 2021 to 2030 as the “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development” to boost international coordination and cooperation in research and scientific programmes for better management of ocean and coastal zone resources and reducing maritime risks.
Why the Vatican is using milk to paint its buildings
The Belvedere Palace, which dates back to 1484 and houses precious art of the Vatican Museums, is currently being re-painted with milk. It’s an ancient recipe that has proven more lasting than any modern synthetic paints: “We’re not nostalgic for the past,” said the Vatican’s chief architect, Vitale Zanchettin.
Saudi Arabia: Religion Textbooks Promote Intolerance
Textbooks Disparage Sufi, Shia; Label Jews, Christians ‘Unbelievers’ (Beirut) – Saudi Arabia’s school religious studies curriculum contains hateful and incendiary language toward religions and Islamic traditions that do not adhere … Continua a leggere
Australians have ‘lost trust completely’ in the Church
Australians have ‘lost trust completely’ in the Church, says member of Pope’s Commission for the Protection of Minors. In the days after the Commissioner’s address, General Synod approved rules to … Continua a leggere
