Category: In Focus

In Focus

A Saint and His Family

Unshakable faith in the Lord, devotion to Mary, the spirit of sacrifice, and the commitment to one’s neighbor, even at the risk of one’s own life–Karol Wojtyła encountered all those characteristics in his own family that were then developed in his own life, and in an extraordinary way, in his Pontificate.

In Focus

Mission in the Hidden Amazon

A Comboni Missionary living in the US, Father Joseph Bragotti, worked in San Luis Petén mission in Guatemala. He went back for a visit and took a pilgrimage to Tikal, the ruins of an ancient city, in a rainforest in Guatemala.

In Focus

The Most Catholic Country

Pope Francis intends to visit Timor-Leste later this year turning the spotlight on a young country still struggling from its violent past that has nevertheless preserved a vigorous faith.

In Focus

Missionaries at the Border

The convent of the Comboni Sisters in the West Bank is surrounded on three sides by the Israeli separation wall, but the missionary nuns are trying to build bridges of peace rather than walls.

In Focus

A Priest Held Hostage by ISIS

Father Jacques Mourad is a Syrian-Catholic priest. In 2015, he spent five months as a hostage of jihadist terrorists in Syria. He describes it as a spiritual experience and says it was praying the Rosary that gave him peace and strength.

In Focus

The Miracle of Flores

In Indonesia, with its mainly Muslim population, seminaries are overcrowded with candidates. On the island of Flores lies the world’s largest seminary. More than 1,000 students study at Ledalero, and at least 600 of them are candidates for the priesthood.

In Focus

“We Live with People and Suffer with Them”

Pope Francis endeavored to make great gestures at the peace meeting for South Sudan in the Vatican. But the two counterparts, Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, have little control over the struggles in the country, says Comboni missionary Gregor Schmidt.

In Focus

Press Freedom Declining in Asia

More incidents of attacks, intimidation and harassment have raised the level of fear among journalists across the region. Asian Church leaders have voiced alarm over press freedom’s decline.

In Focus

Promoters of Unity

Founded by a young Italian woman, Chiara Lubich, during World War II, this lay movement constitutes possibly the most original initiative in the scenario of contemporary Catholic Church. With members belonging also to other Christian denominations and even non-Christian religions, it now champions the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood.

In Focus

A New Pentecost

Many new movements have emerged in the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council. They represent the awakening of the laity, the people of God. They came into the open on Pentecost Day in 1998 in the presence of Pope John Paul II to the surprise and amazement of the world.

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