solidarity Tag

ALBANIA/VATICAN, Press Release of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development • On the night of 25 November last, a major earthquake struck the northern coast of Albania, in the area of the city of Durres. To date, dozens of people have been killed and at least 600 injured, but there are still many people under the rubble. The earthquake has caused enormous damage – buildings have collapsed and hundreds of people have been left homeless – and it was felt in other areas of Albania and on the AdriaticRead More
MEXICO, Brenda Rocamontes • After months of preparation, the day finally arrived to begin the mission. Youth from Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Guadalajara, Chuihuahua, Monterrey, and Iguala responded to the Blessed Mother’s call to live Holy Week in “Mexico: Mary’s Light” Missions. More than 500 young people gathered at St. Michael the Archangel parish in Tancanhuitz de Santos, San Luis Potosí and thus began the National Day.—   In this encounter, where as Schoenstatt Youth from Mexico, we lived and experienced workshops, activities, and we celebrated the Eucharist together. ItRead More
PARAGUAY, Cristy Santa Cruz • Another Saturday of prison ministry. Each Saturday is unlike another, but for me, this Saturday was particularly strange. We were told there were two jailbreaks during the week on different days. Everyone who visits each Saturday knows what that means: many missing faces, many transfers, and many changes. — It was impossible for us not to feel like we were left hanging— worried about who will not show up, who is there, who left. The care we give all the boys is immense; it doesn’tRead More
COVENANT SOLIDARITY, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • A terrible cyclone that swept through parts of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe has left a wake of destruction. The worst hit area, according to media reports, is Beira, Mozambique’s fourth largest city with a population of over 500,000 people.— The authorities fear that over 1,000 people were killed and that initial footage suggests that 90% of the city has been destroyed. Roads and bridges have been swept away. Buildings were destroyed, and a dam burst, further inundating the town. They have been without electricity forRead More
Sarah-Leah Pimentel, South Africa • In a country facing severe food and medicine food shortages due to rampant hyperinflation and poor governance, humanitarian aid is a necessity. It is a crime against humanity to burn that food which could save thousands of lives.— There is not enough food in Venezuela to meet the basic daily needs of more than half of the population. Countless people have died of preventable diseases because the hospitals have run out of medical supplies and medicines. For a moment let us put aside the politicsRead More
VATICAN/COLOMBIA, Maria Fischer with material from AICA and ACIprensa • “The Holy Father once again condemns blind violence, which is a very grave offense to the Creator, and raises his prayer to the Lord to help persevere in the construction of harmony and peace in that country and throughout the world,” reads a telegram sent to the Archbishop of Bogotá, Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez, expressing his deepest pain for the victims of an attack at a police cadet school in Colombia. – Pope Francis expressed his “deepest condolences to theRead More
SPAIN, edited with material from the archdiocese of Madrid and www.behakuna.com Last October 12th at the Vatican, Pope Francis received a gift:  the last project of Hakuna— a youth-led Movement within the Catholic Church born at 2013 World Youth Day in Brazil that has spread throughout all of Spain, accompanied by people from Opus Dei – called Hakuna Nativity Caravans: a project where Hakuna committed to accompanying refugees and immigrants during the Christmas season.— Hakuna Nativity Caravans has no other goal than accompanying those most in need.  As Pope FrancisRead More
PARAGUAY, Maria Fischer with material from www.dequeni.org.py • The scholarship campaign “Help them shape their future” is Dequení’s fundraising initiative seeking to join forces, supporting children’s education at the beginning of the school cycle. It consists in contributing only 500.000 Guaraníes (75,00 € / 85.00 USD) that can be made by credit card at the website of Dequeni  or via Fundraisingbox. — “Jefferson had the opportunity that my other children did not have, and now I understand the value of early stimulation, because my son has changed,” Felipa related how she accompaniedRead More
COLOMBIA, Walter Sanchez Silva in ACIprensa • Juan Felipe Escobar is a Colombian priest who has served the street people from Medellín since 2005. His quiet labor of solidarity now reaches more people through the “Tent of Encounter,” a chapel on wheels, which has been in use for more than a year. — Fr. Escobar has been the pastor of the Blessed Federico Ozanam Parish in the Enciso neighborhood for several months. Every Tuesday, he goes out with his chapel on wheels to the center of Medellín to announce theRead More
SPAIN, Juan Zaforas • It was November of 2014, shortly after the Schoenstatt Movement celebrated its Jubilee, when a group of Schoenstatters from Spain decided to seal a Covenant with Pope Francis, a Covenant we had been preparing for months. — Some were able to travel to Rome in October 2014, and read the prayer we had prepared at St. Peter’s.  Afterwards on November 1st of that same year, we celebrated the Covenant with the Pope at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Madrid.  Altogether we wrote a letter to Francis explainingRead More