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October 2007
The message which carries the meaningful title of “All the Churches for All the World,” invites the local Churches of every continent “to a shared awareness of the urgent need to relaunch missionary action in the face of the many serious challenges of our time.”
Bombay archdiocese in western India plans to launch a campaign against tax evasion. Father Anthony Charanghat, the archdiocesan spokesperson, said the world’s “socially unjust” tax havens, along with tax evasion by wealthy firms and individuals, directly affect the welfare of the poor.
“In some of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, there are no toilets – private or public” said the London-based NGO End Water Poverty, after a survey and the world campaign ‘Water and Sanitation for Everyone’.
The environmental magazine Grist has rated Pope Benedict, who rides an electric popemobile and has installed solar power at the Vatican, as among the world’s top religious leaders on “green” issues.
Benedict XVI said, in a meeting with volunteers that closed his trip to Austria, that human societies need volunteerism. “Love of neighbor is not something that can be delegated,” the Pontiff said. “The state and the political order, properly concerned with the relief of the needy and the provision of social services, cannot take its place.”
For his pivotal role in the integral growth of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), the Ateneo de Manila conferred the Bukas Palad Award upon Fr. Edward F. Malone, a Maryknoll Missionary.
The therapeutic potential of spirituality has always been a point of discussion. It emerged from the results of a recent survey published in ‘Archives of Internal Medicine’ magazine that one third of Americans turn to prayer as a source of good health.
In a 13-page report, the Fides news agency of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples takes a look at the death penalty, calling it “cruel and unnecessary.”
To supply modern lighting to over 250 million Sub-Saharan Africans by 2030 in an ecological and inexpensive manner without the use of fossil fuel is the goal of a ‘Lighting Africa’ initiative launched with the contribution of the World Bank.
St. Jude Thaddeus, the intercessor for desperate situations, forgotten causes, hospital workers, is called the Patron of Hopeless and Desperate Cases. A young devotion in the Philippines, is becoming more and more popular. His countless devotees attest that he truly is the Saint of Last Resort.
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino has been President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace since the end of 2002. From the very beginning of his mandate, which coincided with the preparation and outbreak of the war in Iraq, he has had to deal primarily with subjects concerning “peace” in the world. Convinced “that Africa is a forgotten continent,”
he intends particularly “to work for Africa, to make noise for Africa.”
The mission to the peoples of Africa is changing. The local Churches need to explore new areas where evangelization is needed. In my opinion, these are culture, economy and politics.
The perspective of “mission-as-gift” contains several insights on the approach or manner of mission in Asia, which is necessarily the mode of dialogue. Christianstreasure the gift of their Trinitarian faith, offering it freely, even enthusiastically, to others. The gift is offered with a sincere heart; yet, they know that the other person is free to accept or reject the gift. The dialogue partner – Muslim, Buddhist – also has a gift to offer; thus, a wonderful “exchange of gifts” can result.
A decade after Blessed Teresa’s death, her dream of sending her Missionaries of Charity nuns to work in mainland China remains unfulfilled. But her successor, Sister Nirmala Joshi, a Hindu convert, says that dream will be fulfilled in its own time.
In Africa, I have learned the Christian sense of life. I have learned that failures are more important than successes.
Once, I was exhausted from my journey to reach a far village in Idam parish. However, when the people noticed my arrival, they warmly greeted me with flowers, smiles, and handshakes. Then the village chief declared: “We are not beasts here in the bush; we are also human beings like you and we want to hear the Word of God and be saved.” Instantly, all my frustrations and disappointments disappeared and I felt so much joy and fulfillment!
Fr. Ruben Dario Oquendo, associated with PIME, is the first priest of his Colombian diocese to make his way to the Asian continent. He talks about the difficulties met in preparation and of the change, but also of his wonder in the discovery that by loving and caring for the poor, “it is God who wants me in this land.”
One hundred years ago, in the Basque region of Spain, a man was born who was destined to renew the legacy of his great countryman, Ignatius of Loyola. For Pedro Arrupe, being the General of the Jesuits, brought to fruition his extraordinary life experiences. It also crucified him in a wheelchair for the last ten years of his life.
When I first went to Calcutta to work in the houses for the dying of Mother Teresa, among the lepers and with the hungry street kids that populated the railway stations, I was a temporary chaplain to the Brothers of Charity founded by Mother Teresa.
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