When Kisana Baburao Hazare, the leader of India Against Corruption, appeared on TV last year, I at once found the hero I had been looking for. In him, India’s society was massaged in the warmth of the fire-conserving ashes. To heal her wounds, our society needs more of such warm ashes. But where can we [...]

The idea of Christian unity as a “return” of one ecclesial community to another has posed a serious obstacle in the history of ecumenism, especially for those for whom a “return” seems impossible.

Every time I pass that spot, the skeleton recalls the same story—a story that is just the opposite of that of the Good Samaritan. Indeed, it shows the extent of erosion of ubuntu in our cities. We shall return to the scene of the skeleton later.

When we don’t take care of the youth, not only do we deprive the world of future leaders, but we also create a breeding ground for crime. What’s happening in Kinshasa is just one example of the situation in many African cities.

Eastern Churches and some Anglicans are one with the Catholic Church in the belief that Mary was assumed body and soul to heaven, while for many other Christians this is a point of divorce.  The ghost from age-old polemics is yet to be put to rest. However, the choice is ours to really want to [...]

It was still during my early months at St Stephen’s parish, in the township of Kisenso in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. To familiarise myself and to learn where our parishioners live, I made turns to visit the Small Christian Communities (SCCs)—we have 21 of them.

‘What mission are you going to do in Congo?” My friend reacted when I informed him about my appointment as a Missionary for Africa priest. “The Church is well established there!” Though we habitually pull each other’s legs, this time he had thrown me a curve ball.

At the end of the African Synod II in October 2009 the reaction of the participants was like: “Were our hearts not burning?”

Small Christian Communities (SCCs) are one way in which the Church is trying to assume an African face and touch. SCCs are groupings of Catholics in a neighbourhood, who meet regularly to pray, share and support one another as a way of living and witnessing their faith.

Some years ago, I was talking to a friend who was running a project. When he told me that the money for the project came from the local people and business houses of the country in which he was working, I didn’t take him seriously. I didn’t believe him. Perhaps I was too submerged in [...]