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Every Saturday, after breakfast, I would take my backpack and go to the Alto de Cazuca, located at the southwest outskirts of the capital Bogota, to carry out some activities, which I had organized for the children of that area.
It began as an ordinary evening of sharing food and conversation with friends on the street. However, quietly standing among them was a woman whose presence would offer a powerful testimony of friendship. This is the story of an encounter between Comboni missionaries and homeless people.
The 131st Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 2026 foregrounded an unusually candid theme: care for bishops. This focus was not an exercise in clerical self-concern but an implicit acknowledgment of a deeper pastoral burden.
Our year-long reflection on the virtue of hope reveals numerous insights from diverse sources. In this issue, we hear marvelous wisdom from three Carmelite women saints.
In a society, a key tool for providing economic livelihood for its community members is a solid educational foundation. Born with basic human rights, people deserve access to the opportunities they are destined to experience.
While other religious organizations in the Philippines, such as various Protestant denominations or the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), possess significant and loyal followings, none can match the CBCP’s specific combination of historical legitimacy, nationwide institutional presence, and broad-based authority.
These nuns have chosen an uncommon path. For five decades in the Philippines, their core charism is to be “contemplative in the middle of the world,” living a deeply prayerful life while remaining immersed in the daily realities of ordinary people, especially the poor and marginalized.
On the mountain of the transfiguration, Peter, James, and John witnessed Christ’s face shining like the sun and heard the Father’s voice affirming Jesus as beloved Son; such God Encounter Moments (GEMs) invite us to recognize and share divine presence.
The Christian remedy to narrow-minded nationalism is global solidarity. As an important principle of Catholic Social Teaching, solidarity calls us to remember that we–all people and all nations–are children of the one God who is father of all, thus making us brothers and sisters.
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Br. Fabio is bidding farewell to the Philippines, where he has worked for eight years as delegate bursar and administrator of World Mission magazine. As he embraces this “change of horizon,” he recounts his vocation story and what inspired him to become a Comboni Missionary Brother.
Mary, the Lady of Yes, the Mother of Jesus, of the Church, and of all Humanity, is the Great Missionary of the Kingdom because her whole life was one of perseverance and faithfulness. She trusted in God and in His plan of salvation.
Captured and spent a year in prison, died in poor health, and executed by guillotine are sufferings that the three “Francis” experienced in their respective eras. Francis of Assisi, Francis Xavier, and Franz Jägerstätter, grasped the hands of fate and left marks of wisdom and hope.
When Pope Francis visited the Philippines in 2015, he declared that people must say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality, warning that “such an economy kills” (Evangelii Gaudium, 53). His message was not abstract theology but a direct indictment of Philippine reality.
Amid checkpoints and surveillance cameras, the Comboni sisters run “Threads of Peace,” a grassroots initiative teaching embroidery, soap‑making, and hope to Bedouin women whose lives have been shattered by walls and displacement. The nuns’ presence acts as a bridge in a divided Holy Land.
Raised by farmer parents, Dr. Lourdes Sarmiento recalls the hardships of pursuing education before. In her village, she was the first to become a doctor. Now, she serves as a volunteer physician, offering her services as a thanksgiving for the grace she has received.
The Supreme Court needs to establish a special children’s court that would deal with child abuse cases with haste. The children involved in these cases have bravely come forward at great risk and filed complaints against their rapists and traffickers.
One of the most important events in the modern history of the Catholic Church is the closing of the Second Vatican Council–popularly known as the Vatican II. In this worldwide ecumenical council, Bishops urged the Church not to show any bias in protecting the lives and dignity of human beings.
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… This content is from the latest issue, which is viewable by paying Subscribers only....
Please mark the correct answer with an ‘x’ and submit your responses to the editor via email at wm.editor@gmail.com. The winner will be selected from those who have submitted all correct answers and will receive a six-month subscription to World Mission.
From a simple life in the Philippines to missionary work in Africa and Brazil, Fr. Marnecio’s vocation journey is a testament to God’s love, guidance, and purpose shaping him to realize that things do not happen by chance. It is God’s will.
John the Baptist, known as the last prophet of the Old Testament, is for us Christians a unique witness of faith and love for God. His mission, lived faithfully to the end, was to be the precursor and messenger of Jesus, the Messiah.
Those who are less privileged are in daily need of water to quench their thirst, while those who can afford water waste it. As the saying goes, “You can survive without having food, but you would not last long if you don’t have water.”
As the Jubilee Year of Hope draws to a close, our hearts overflow with gratitude for this marvelous opportunity to reflect on the pivotal role of hope in human life.
As flood-control mess and other corruption scandals engulf the nation, the Church’s response must rise from charity to prophecy and justice. The Church’s moral voice rings clear like a bell tolling against the flood.
In the relationship between inter-religious dialogue and proclamation of the Gospel, “dialogue is not a threat to proclamation” but intimately linked with it. In her work of evangelization, the Church remains committed to both dialogue and proclamation.
The Philippine-based Rafaelito and Fe Barino Foundation has been helping individuals with mild to moderate addiction recover and heal. Rooted in the belief that true transformation begins with surrendering to God, the recovery program offers support to persons who wish to start afresh.
The Philippines has been battered by devastating storms throughout last year. We endure around 20 powerful typhoons a year, and occasionally experience earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It is urgent an “ecological conversion” and a radical change in lifestyles.
As the gap between rich and poor continues to widen, the Church underscores the hardships suffered by countless brothers and sisters due to the many injustices inflicted by economic systems that favor the rich while throwing crumbs to the poor.
