With only 2.6 million inhabitants and an area of 824,292 square kilometres, Namibia presents a particularly complicated ethnic and cultural geography. Low population density and the absence of large urban centres of development (Windhoek, the political capital and the main city of the country, has little more than 300,000 inhabitants) deprive Namibia of the powerful…
Read moreThe world is afire again, the flames heartbreakingly consume shrubs, trees and forests in Australia, Portugal, Brazil, and recently in California and Siberia and elsewhere too. The world community has reacted in protest to the hundreds of fires burning the Amazon rainforest. These are destroying the habitat of thousands of endangered species and the communities…
Read moreShe lives and works in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has dedicated all her life to her mission to welcome and care for the worst cases, those who need her as an experienced surgeon and as one who has unfailing faith in divine providence. “In the Congo, it is the missionaries who are really…
Read moreMore than a half century after a group of bishops at the Second Vatican Council made a solemn pledge “to live a simple lifestyle close to their people”, a group of participants from the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon signed a new pact in the Catacombs of Domitilla. On 16 November 1965, just a…
Read moreThe SWAPO movement succeeded in bringing on board the different ethnic groups, even co-opting some of the tribal leaders. In Namibia too, as in the rest of Africa, ethnic diversity is a difficult problem to manage. It may be said that the political fortunes of SWAPO were due, leaving aside the fidelity of the Ovambo…
Read moreIn the Chadian region bordering with Libya, an area rich in gold, we find a crossroads of illegal trading, ethnic disputes and military positioning. The Tibesti region is a triangle of mountains and desert in the north west of Chad, confined between the Libyan and Niger borders. It is an impenetrable territory accessible only by…
Read moreAmong all the natural resources that Africa possesses, minerals are the most coveted by developed countries including the European Union (EU). In fact, in 2017 the European Commission published a Communication updating the list of certain minerals that are essential for maintaining economic growth in Europe. The number of critical raw materials has been growing…
Read morePresident Trump’s statements concerning a proposal to purchase Greenland from Denmark were met with derision throughout the Western world, especially in diplomatic and journalistic circles. Other pundits even described such plan as a sign of his supposed ‘megalomania.’ Trump’s peculiar style is certainly unorthodox: his inflammatory tweets, his frequent disdain for some traditional American allies,…
Read moreXenophobic attacks against immigrants are causing a lot of damage to South Africa’s image across the continent. Local politicians are partly to blame for their populists rethorics. On the 2 and 3 September, 12 people were killed in anti-foreign riots in Pretoria and in Johannesburg townships. Mobs looted shops and torched vehicles owned by foreigners.…
Read moreOn his 31st international journey (4 – 10 September), Pope Francis visited Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius. It was a journey that showed his concerns in the fields of peace and poverty as well has his great desire for justice. The streets of Maputo are particularly dark at night, especially in the outskirts. But the poor…
Read moreAnts are the busiest creatures in the world. Every ant has a full time job, with no holidays and no half-days off Ants like to work, and they don’t like much else. The biggest and strongest ants build whole cities for themselves, complete with compartments like deep shelters to which they can retreat if any…
Read moreTension between Pakistan and India in the disputed region of Kashmir. Against the background of the recent suspension of the autonomy of the region by the New Delhi government. But the causes go much deeper and are imbedded in the formation of Kashmir. A glance at history. When, in August 1947, ‘British India’ was divided…
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When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79,…
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Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He…
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On 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, on the occasion of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches, in St. Peter's Basilica the traditional…
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