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Latin America

Guatemala. A Failed State.

Drug trafficking, corruption, the danger of fraud in the next presidential elections. The Church’s commitment to defending the poor following the example of the martyrs of Quiché. We talk about it with Monsignor Rosolino Bianchetti Boffelli, Bishop of Quiché. It was a day in August 1995. A farmer was working in his field. The hoe…

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Mexico. A Sound that Calls for a Missionary Commitment.

The Comboni magazine ‘Esquila Misional’ celebrates 70 years of life. At the service of the people and of the Mexican church open to the world. It was a mild Thursday afternoon of January 22, 1948, when the first five Comboni missionaries landed at the Tijuana airport in Baja California. Waiting for them was Msgr. Felipe…

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Ch’alla. Rite of Thanksgiving to Mother Earth.

It is a rite of gratitude of the native Andean peoples towards Pachamama (Mother Earth), an obligatory gesture towards nature to obtain better crops, health, and prosperity in all activities of daily life. In Bolivia, the ceremony stands out for its picturesque authenticity, with an outpouring of gifts to Mother Earth, while at the same…

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Latin America. Liturgical Art at the Service of the Poor.

A Spanish Claretian, for 35 years a missionary in Latin America, Fr. Maximino Cerezo Barredo, now ninety years old, is nicknamed ‘the painter of liberation’ because his artistic work has renewed the sacred iconography of the continent starting from the preferential option for the poor. The murals and works of Fr. Maximino have decorated many…

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Cuba. The Old Saint Lazarus. The Devotion of a People.

Every year thousands of people go to pay homage to Saint Lazarus in El Rincón, a few kilometres from the capital Havana. “Only Cubans know the mysteries that Saint Lazarus hides”. Pilgrims arrive breathless crawling on their knees along the path that leads to the National Sanctuary dedicated to Saint Lazarus in El Rincón. The…

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Mexico. Between Art and Popular Religiosity.

Mexican folk art is present in all aspects of community life. During the civil (and Christian liturgical) year, no less than 120 traditional religious feasts are celebrated. The greatest of all is the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Almost all the religious festivals that take place throughout the year provide a theme and a…

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Bolivia. The Amerindian Dance that Welcomes The Child Jesus.

In Bolivia, it is the Chuntunqui musical rhythm that leads the celebration of Christmas Eve. A way to help Mary’s birth, to express joy, and to reflect on the difficulties of life. Christmas is a feast where the joy of the people and the gospel meet. It is God made a man-child; embodied in the…

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Towards the 2023 Synod. The Church Walking Towards the Peripheries.

“It is not enough to say that the Church is missionary. It is necessary to understand well what this mission consists of ”. Going out means ‘going towards suffering humanity to live fraternity, heal its wounds, help its needs, participate in its struggles for rights”. The 1st Ecclesial Assembly of Latin America and the Caribbean…

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Peru. The Asheninka Minga.

The Asheninka, are an indigenous ethnic group that lives in the centre of the forest in the district of Ucayali in the province of Atalaya in the northern part of Peru. Minga: not only communal work but also small informal tasks for the family. The term minga comes from the Quechua culture mink’a meaning ‘asking…

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Mexico. Missionary Dimension, Taking Off Your Sandals.

 The diocese of Ciudad Guzmán in the Mexican state of Jalisco has recently celebrated 50 years of its existence. Father Juan Manuel Hurtado López, a Mexican theologian, who spent 17 years in the diocese accompanying the indigenous communities of Tseltal, Tsotsil and Mestizo in southeastern Mexico at the Church of San Cristóbal de Las Casas,…

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Peru. The Ayahuasca Ritual: the Gateway to the World of Plants and Natural Medicine.

The ancestral Andean Amazonian wisdom is transmitted through songs, mythological stories, and the narratives of the wise men and women, whose message is the importance of generating, preserving, and caring for life in its entirety. The Ayahuasca ritual in the Peruvian Amazon and the preparation process of the aspiring Amazonian shaman. The name ayahuasca is…

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Brazil.The Struggle of the Piquià Community Against the Mining Giants.

Carajàs is considered the largest open cast iron mine in the world, in the heart of the Brazilian eastern Amazon. After more than twenty years of battles, the first families of Piquiá de Baixo, a suburb of Açailandia, in the state of Maranhã will be able to settle in a new territory, safe from toxic…

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Advocacy

Ecuador. Alexandra Narvaez & Alex Lucitante. “We are people, who…

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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Baobab

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…

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Youth & Mission

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…

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