Advocacy is concerned with values, awareness and knowledge of problems to promote actions, policies and changes in the issues that interest people. Advocacy does not always aim, right from the start, at concrete results. Sometimes the right or desire of a person or a group involves too many values and too many instances to offer…
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The Shuar are an Amazonian indigenous people whose culture, life, and spirituality are based on water. The Shuar people live in the foothills of the Andes, Cutucú and Condor mountain ranges in the Amazonian provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe in Ecuador. This is an area characterized by abundant rivers that form wonderful waterfalls,…
Read moreThere was once a herd of elephants who went to gather honey to take to their in-laws. As they were walking along, they came upon Hare who was just about to cross the river. She said to one of them: “Father, please help me get across the river.” The elephant agreed to this request and…
Read moreIn the Bay of Manila, north of the Philippine capital, it is already possible to see what awaits the inhabitants of the coastal regions of the world: entire areas being swallowed up by the sea. Perhaps hardest hit is Sitio Pariahan in the province of Bulakan – once a flourishing village but now accessible…
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Just over a century after he died as a martyr, Blessed Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), who brought the Gospel to Islamic lands and lived among the Tuareg people in the Algerian desert, will be proclaimed a saint later this year. Charles called himself a “missionary monk” and came to establish his hermitage in the desert…
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With a new Apostolic Letter Antiquum Ministerium (Ancient Ministry), Pope Francis establishes the lay ministry of catechist. In Africa catechists have been the cornerstone of the church. We present three stories of the catechists in South Sudan, where they have been important actors in the work of evangelisation. The beginning of the Catholic Church in…
Read moreAmong the waci (a name that means ‘the souls of our ancestors dwell here’) of southern Togo, the birth of a child is seen as a precious gift, a sign of divine blessings. We now consider the breech delivery. Unusual births, ones that are so difficult that they endanger the life of the mother or…
Read moreIn April and May 2021, two groups of French officers (both retired and serving) from different branches of the armed forces wrote open letters to politicians to denounce the degrading of French institutions and society. In their opinion, this is due mainly to the growth of identity politics and groups that challenge French culture and…
Read moreThere are at least eighteen countries, where children are recruited and used in armed conflicts. From regular army to rebels, from guerrilla movements to drug cartels. The phenomenon has assumed the status of a humanitarian disaster. Dahara was 15 and had never used a weapon until he arrived in Libya, together with his eighteen-year-old cousin…
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Despite challenges of unemployment, corruption, entrenched political leadership, and political violence, many African youth have found constructive avenues to promote peace, effective governance and reform. Africa remains the world’s youngest continent with a median age of 19.7 years. By 2050, one in three young people will live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Still, 80-90 percent of African…
Read moreIt is estimated that there are 152 million children in the world who are compelled to work with 72.1 million of these in the African continent alone. Out of these, 31.5 million are engaged in heavy and dangerous work. Covid-19 has aggravated the situation. Before sunrise, Jean Pierre sets out on the rough path that…
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As the security continues to deteriorate in Eastern Congo, President Tshisekedi declared a “State of Siege” on the 6 May and considers to expand it indefinitely as long as the situation does not improve. Eighteen years after the official end of the war in Eastern Congo, and the presence since 1999 of over 20,000 UN…
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Two young leaders from the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe in Ecuador led a movement to protect their people’s ancestral territory from gold mining. Their leadership…
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Because there was a famine in the land, the spider and his family grew thinner and thinner and hungrier and hungrier. In his desperation, the spider…
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Leaving the Church does not mean abandoning the faith; moving away from the faith does not mean giving up one's spirituality. Even though they are leaving…
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