Over 50 years after the Biafra secession war, situation has become extremely tense in South-Eastern Nigeria. Repression is ongoing and support for secession is growing, while Presidential statements stoke the fire. Main threats such as Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the Northeast, banditry in the Northwest, clashes between farmers and herders in Central Nigeria and…
Read moreIt once happened that a leopard and a dog were very great friends; the leopard was, however, the owner of the house in which they lived; the dog was treated more as a servant than a friend by the leopard. When the rainy season began, the leopard said to the dog, “Let us go and…
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After leading for twenty-six years the Apostolic Vicariate of Esmeraldas, on the north-western coast of Ecuador, Monsignor Eugenio Arellano offered his resignation having reached the age limit. His commitment to environmental protection and education will remain in the hearts of people. We met him. Speaking of Esmeraldas, Bishop Arellano says: “Some say that Esmeraldas is…
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Prior to the Christian missionary movement in the 19th century, the Ankole people’s idea of a Supreme Being was Ruhanga (creator) who was believed to be living in the sky. He was believed to be the maker and giver of all things. However, it was believed that evil persons could use black magic to interfere…
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Climate Change is a perilous turning point in human history. We are beginning to acknowledge this but are still far from achieving the level and intensity of economic change required to meet the threat. The kind of planned, co-ordinated, radical action by governments that is needed is just not happening. As Greta Thunberg put it…
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A young man is killed. The family members arrange the vendetta. The blood of the culture seems to be thicker than the waters of Baptism. Reflections of a missionary who spent fifty years in Africa. It is just a month since the life of my friend James was snuffed out, the umpteenth life cut short…
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The Coronavirus pandemic has hit Brazil’s indigenous people even harder than the rest of the population. To protect themselves, some peoples retreated deep into the rainforest. It’s seven o’clock in the morning when the Capuchin friar Paolo Braghini sits down in a small aluminium boat, starts the outboard and sails up the Igarapé de Belém,…
Read morePope Francis has approved a decree on the heroic virtues of the Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus, who – inspired by the spirituality of St Charles de Foucauld – founded the Little Sisters of Jesus. She used to say: “I am never so close to God as when I am travelling”. Magdeleine Hutin (Little Sister…
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The Ticuna indigenous ethnic group is one of the most numerous in the ‘Amazonian Trapezium’ which includes the triple border of Colombia, Peru and Brazil. The Pelazón ritual, which marks the transition from childhood to adulthood of a girl, is part of the cultural ceremonies of the Amazon community of the Ticuna people. Although some…
Read morePlaces, legends, instruments, dances, to preserve the Ankole’s rich and diverse culture. At a glance some of these sites. Nkokojeru tombs: these are the resting places of the Ankole’s last two kings: Mugabe Edward Solomon Kahaya II buried in 1944 and Omugabe sir Charles Godfrey Rutahaba Gasyonga II, who ruled from 1944, and who died…
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The UN Food Systems Summit was set out to review food systems to see if they ensure that the goal well defined by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, is achieved: “Build a world in which healthy and nutritious food is available and affordable for everyone, everywhere. But this should not be at the expense…
Read moreThe great climate migration has already begun. The number of people fleeing their birth country is expected to grow over the next thirty years, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Experts warn: governments and the international community must act now. By 2050, at least 216 million people could be forced from their homes by the impacts of climate…
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The Colombian environmental and peace activist has played a key role in establishing a protected area in the Amazon, providing small farmers with access to…
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One day, two friends named Ebopp and Mbaw went off in search of a good site to establish a farm with fine fields of grain and…
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Young people will play an important role at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. This will give young people a greater voice in climate action and policy-making at…
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