refugee Tag

Nakivale visit
UGANDA, Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa / Maria Fischer • It was a real Christmas surprise in the parish of Nakivale, the parish of the Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda. The young and enthusiastic Schoenstatt Family, founded by a refugee from Burundi, received a visit from Burundi. Father Alain Amani, a Congolese priest, arrived after the second Christmas Mass and met with about 60 Schoenstatters, some of them from the Pilgrim Mother Campaign. — Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa was in the parish of Buhungiro for Christmas preparations, and when he returnedRead More
Schoenstatt Uganda Nakivale
UGANDA, Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa • The Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement in Uganda, at Nakivale parish, Diocese of Mbarara, welcomed new members in a beautiful celebration on Sunday, July 16. The parish is part of the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, one of the biggest in Africa. Schoenstatt began here a couple of years ago when Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa, a Schoenstatt member from Burundi, arrived here as refugee. — Most refugees in the settlement are Congolese although the population is heterogeneous with many cultures and groups from different nationalities: Burundi,Read More
Nakivale Pilgrim Mother
UGANDA, Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa/Maria Fischer • Despite of the pandemic and the difficult situation in the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda, the 8th largest refugee camp in the world, one single Pilgrim Mother is visiting there since 2019, uniting families in prayer and hope. — On 18th January 2021 Schoenstatt members and families who receive the Pilgrim Mother once again met together at Nakivale parish to renew the Covenant of Love. In Uganda we have a culture of giving thanks whenever we are happy about something; so, on thatRead More
UGANDA, Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa/Maria Fischer • Nakivale refugee camp is a settlement located in the Isingiro District of Southwestern Uganda, and it hosts more than 100,000 refugees From Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and so-called “mixed people”… It is here, where Jean de Dieu Ntisumbwa, a Schoenstatt member, a refugee from Burundi who left his country but not his Covenant, founded Schoenstatt in Uganda. On March 3rd, a Pilgrim Mother picture coming from Argentina, blessed in the National Shrine in FlorencioRead More
WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES • During the Mass he celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica on 14 January on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis called on society to forget preconceived ideas, to not raise barriers and to be open to the “enriching” encounter with the other. The Holy Father presided over the celebration at which several immigrants and refugees were present, saying that the “true encounter with the other does not end with welcome, but involves us all in the three further actions which IRead More
GERMANY, Project: Trust in God  (GOTTvertrauen), by Maria Fischer • Wonderful and profound experiences were had by the colourful group that set off from Cologne on Sunday 31 July under the banner and with the intention: Trust in God. Rain – “usually not too bad, but more at times” – tired feet, good conversations, many photos, completely new experiences, such as the open round of thanksgiving in the evening during which the participants opened their hearts and related personal experiences, small but intensive with hosts at the wayside stops. OnceRead More
From Archbishop Emeritus Robert Zollitsch DD, Freiburg, Member of the Institute of Schoenstatt Diocesan Priests • When I watch the news about the wave of refugees and their camps in Greece on TV; when I read the press reports on the number of asylum seekers or even the arson attacks on homes for asylum seekers, I sometimes think: How would it be if I was one of them and had to experience personally what they are going through? So it is one of my greatest aims to make the peopleRead More
Francis week by week (5) • This week’s quotation is from the Holy Father’s Mass in the fairgrounds of Ciudad Juárez, just 80 metres from the United States border on 17 February 2016. (Full text) This week, let us read and listen to the message to the Mexicans as if spoken to us, a Movement that with holy pride experiences the grace of inner transformation in its shrines and in its missionary, educational and pastoral actions, works for the transformation of men and society “from within.” Acting as living shrines,Read More
Editorial • “Finally Marciana was seen. The municipality intervened. The Blessed Mother blesses her,” Rafael Vera from the Youth Ministry of the Pilgrim Mother Campaign in Paraguay relates with emotion. But long before she received medical attention, this old, blind, sick woman who lived in abject poverty and complete abandonment, received a visit from one of the young people who brought her clothes, food, the Pilgrim Mother for the blind and her presence, their songs, their love, their time. A work of mercy, making it visible and tangible in theRead More
POPE FRANCIS IN AFRICA, by Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Pope Francis arrived in Uganda late on Friday, 27 November. According to Ugandan newspaper, The Observer, the Pontiff received a “rousing welcome from Ugandans who thronged Entebbe International Airport to receive him.” According to the report, he also received a 21-gun salute and a dance group “provided entertainment in performing several cultural dances including the Kiganda dance, Runyege, Kinywarwanda and playing all sorts of local music instruments from makondele, madinda among others.” Pope commends Uganda for receiving refugees Shortly after his arrival,Read More