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The voices of young people. Some leave and some remain.

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 the Christian community, many young people continue to feel like believers. Robert, a young university student, says: “On a personal level I don’t feel that I have lost my…

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Nigeria. The open wound of kidnapping priests.

Kidnapping for ransom has long become a real industry in Nigeria. Priests and religious are the target. It is a sunny and hot Sunday morning. Father Steven is getting ready to go to celebrate mass in one of the parish chapels where today the community is celebrating the first communions. The previous evening, he had…

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The EU and the “-stan” countries.

Central Asia plays a crucial role in the geopolitical agenda of many countries, including those of the European Union. The region is rich in mineral resources and fossil fuels, as well as being a crossroads for trade routes with the rest of Asia. Central Asia includes a group of five states, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan…

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The Spider, the Elephant and The Hippo.

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 said to his wife: “Here we are, starving, while the elephant and hippo have stored away much grain for these lean times. The big ones have, the little ones…

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Egypt. Pigeons, what a passion.

In the shade of the pyramids and minarets of Cairo, the tradition of pigeon and homing pigeon breeders has been handed down. Cairo is a chaotic, immense and difficult city. The streets are always too crowded and the continuous cacophony of horns denies concentration and quickly exhausts one’s energy. But raise your eyes and you…

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Nike, ambassador of contemporary Nigerian art.

Recycled material reigns supreme in Nike’s modern art galleries in Lagos and Abuja. It brings together, on crowded walls, sculptures, textiles, jewellery, amulets and paintings that lay claim to another Nigeria. It’s not easy to keep up with Nike Okundaye, founder of the Nike Art Gallery art centres in Lagos, Abuja, Òsogbo and Ogídi-Ìjúmi. Known…

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Vietnam, new-found hope.

In a historic step, the Hanoi government has invited Pope Francis to visit the country. We talk with Mons. Nguyen Anh Tuan, bishop of Ha Tinh “New climate, trusting us more.” The Catholic community in Vietnam makes up one of the most vibrant Churches in Asia today, with 7 million faithful in a country of…

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History. Ancient Urbanisation.

Although colonization contributed to its urban development, Africa had already experienced the flourishing of cities from ancient times. Let us look back at some of these cities through what the continent’s first chroniclers said about them. The African shore of the Mediterranean is the region in which the most ancient urbanization developed through the work…

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Yemen. The Houthis and their Own “Brand”.

By opening the Red Sea front, the Houthis have taken the lead of the Palestinian cause and of anti-Americanism in the region. They address now an Islamic audience broader than the axis led by Iran. Doing so, the Houthis are capitalizing on traditional anti-Israel and anti-US slogans and symbols of the Iranian galaxy but this…

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Ecuador. Alexandra Narvaez & Alex Lucitante. “We are people, who care for the earth”.

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 resulted in a historic legal victory in October 2018, when Ecuador’s courts cancelled 52 illegal gold mining concessions, which were illegally granted without the consent of their Cofán community.…

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The Catholic Church. “A laboratory of evangelization in a Buddhist world”.

Under the Pol Pot regime, the Church lost everything: bishops, priests, men and women religious and catechists. Since the 90s it has emerged from the catacombs and is slowly growing in numbers as well as in social commitment. Monday, April 14, 1975, was an overcast afternoon. From his window, Father Joseph Chhmar Salas watched as…

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Israel/Palestine. The Doors of the Desert.

“It is very important to be present and accompany them, especially in this painful and difficult moment,” says Comboni Sister Expedita Perez. Our community of Al Azarieh is very close to Jerusalem, in a place called Bethany in the time of Jesus. From here we usually go out on Saturdays to visit some of the…

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Advocacy

Sister Nelly, a mother for women prisoners.

For more than twenty-five years, Sr. Nelly Leòn Correa from Chile has accompanied inmates in and outside the prison and created the "Mujer, Levántate" (Woman,…

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Baobab

The Mask of Genius.

It was a scorching dawn. Scattered across the vast grassy savannah beyond the rocky mountains, the villages seemed to bleach under the thick blanket of clay…

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Youth & Mission

A ‘Catholic Toolkit for Young Europeans’ ahead of 2024 EU…

As the 2024 European elections approach, COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union) has released the ‘Catholic Toolkit for Young Europeans’. This comprehensive toolkit…

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