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Former Superior General and missionary in the Philippines, Fr. David Glenday, shares some thoughts on the significance of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Comboni Institute. For him, more than looking back to the past, this celebration points forward to the future.
Founder of the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries, Comboni is a missionary saint who can inspire our path of life in so many ways. Universal salvation, communion and service are the three pillars that make up the spirituality of the “Apostle of Africa.”
Filipino ladies, Hidilyn Diaz – Olympic weightlifter – and Ana Arce – deaf professor – walked the arduous path to achieve excellence and distinction. Looked upon as role models by the society, their faith and willpower emboldened them to get where they are now.
A 16-year-old girl in South Sudan recounts how she nearly died during labor because of her young age and physical inability to mother her child. She was forced to marry without her consent after a man paid her family a dowry in cattle and cash.
At least one in five women has been physically or sexually abused by a man at some time in her life, according to the World Health Organization. There is need to implement the existing legislation that protects the rights of women and promotes their welfare.
Prayer is a powerful resource in human life, yet many do not know how to practice it, even finding it burdensome and only turning to it as a last resort. A sincere longing of the heart for God lies at the origin of prayer that must be accompanied by daily perseverance and self-discipline.
In a country ravaged by war, forgiveness is the contribution Christians can offer to a society divided along ethnic lines and rivalries. A missionary in South Sudan shares a couple of stories on how his teaching brought about pardon, mutual acceptance and peace.
A Comboni community is inserted in the troubled city of Tumaco, in the western part of Colombia, where the impact of armed conflict is deeply felt. It provides pastoral care to the black population. One of the missionaries recounts his mission experience of living in the area for the past five years.
The theory of “just war” was intended to promote peace and set very strict conditions for a war to be considered just. Unfortunately, it has been used to endorse rather than prevent or limit war. Christian thinkers are putting it into question and calling for a new teaching on nonviolence.
After four decades of one-child policy in China, 400 million pregnancies have been terminated, men now outnumber women and the old are becoming more numerous than the young. Recently, a two-child policy has been put in place to correct these effects but it remains to be seen if balance and harmony will ever be restored.
