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Latin America

Towards the 2023 Synod. The Spirit Shows the Paths to Follow.

From the diocese of Pando in the Bolivian Amazon region, Monsignor Eugenio Coter explains the horizons that the synodal journey is opening up to the Church.  “The synodal path is not a motorway. It is like one of the great rivers of the Amazon that I sail on when I go to visit the communities.…

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Frontier’s Story. In the Shade of the Mango Trees.

For thirty years, Yeyo wandered from plantation to plantation in southern Mexico. Undocumented, humiliated, and oppressed, he decides with his brothers to return home. Yeyo grew up looking at the deep scars on his father’s back from carrying bunches of bananas during the hellish tropical days in Chiapas and his mother’s arms scorched from making…

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Persecuted Church. “Someday, God will dry our tears”.

Death, kidnapping, extortion, and intimidation have become a daily reality for many priests and religious, particularly in Nigeria, Mexico and Haiti. Father John Mark Cheitnum was found dead after he was kidnapped with another priest, Donatus Cleopas, on the afternoon of July 15 as they were on their way to celebrate a mass in the…

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Ecuador. The Galapagos Islands. A Maritime Sanctuary.

Designing the ‘Common House’. Overall pastoral care. The Synod: ‘Live the experience of the pilgrims of Emmaus’. We talk about it with Mons. Patrizio Bonilla, Bishop and Apostolic Vicar of the Galapagos. The archipelago of about 50 volcanic islands is located in the Pacific Ocean 1000 km from the west coast of South America. They…

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New political openings.

Suriname is a unitary Republic with executive power vested in the President of the Republic, who is elected by the members of parliament for a five-year term; while the Chamber, composed of 51 seats, has legislative power. The 51 members of the assembly are chosen from the ten electoral districts into which the country is…

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Suriname. A Multi-coloured Country.

It is the smallest country in South America with a population of just over 600,000 inhabitants and a population rate that has been steadily decreasing since 1970.  About 245,000 people live in Paramaribo, the capital.  Located near the mouth of the 480 km  long Suriname River that crosses the country from south to east, colonial…

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Reflection. Daily Marys.

In the Central Latin-American tradition, devotion is strong to Our Lady with the child Jesus in her arms. The people have made it their duty in their daily life. The image of Our Lady among the people leads us to contemplate how motherhood is lived-in working-class quarters inhabited by people with indigenous cultures or other…

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Ethnic Variety.

The period of Dutch colonization made the country one of the main crossroads of both the slave trade and the migration of labour to be employed in plantations and mines, leaving as a legacy the multi-ethnicity dictated by the mixing of cultures, languages, and religions. This, however, has had little effect on the divisions between…

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Immense Natural Resources.

Suriname is a country rich in natural resources in terms of biodiversity, fresh water, raw materials, and cultural heritage. The mining sector is linked to the extraction of bauxite, gold (which is extracted from the alluvial deposits of Saramacca and Lawa), silver, nickel, and crude oil (which is extracted from an offshore field off the…

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Latin America. ‘The Good Living Mystique’, in Daily Life.

The ‘Good Living’ is an integral way of perceiving and living life: everything is interconnected, and interdependence is the key to ensuring that everyone lives a full life. The mystique of good living is rooted in community myths that narrate the interdependence of all beings who are part of the common home. It invites us…

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Peru. Birth among the Asheninka. An Offer to the Big River.

The Asheninka live in the central forest of the Ucayali district in the Atalaya province, in eastern Peru. Their culture is characterised by their coexistence with nature where life develops in its integrity.  The sorala, the Asheninka’s birth rites. The Asheninka future mothers follow a special diet during pregnancy. They do not eat some foods…

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Guatemala. Tana’s Sandals.

She never once bought an ice cream. She never had a day off. She has always worked. But she wants to celebrate her birthday. A Guatemalan migrant struggles to live and survive. She looks at her fingers and hands chapped by 24 years spent cleaning restaurants and shopping malls with chemical cleaners. Originally from Camotán,…

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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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