Women with women – victims of human trafficking
After many years spent in Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Mozambique) Sr. Begoña Iñarra Spanish was sent for mission to Paris where she is working with Aux Captifs, la Libération, an organization helping women get out of prostitution. Sister is also a member of RENATE, Religious in Europe Networking Against Trafficking and Exploitation. A beautiful dream of a good job often becomes a nightmare All together, you have spent more than 20 years in Africa. When you see the growing number of Africans now trying to come to Europe, and when you see how many women end up as traffic victims, what do you think about this? Poor people have always left their countries in search of a better future. But the Africans who leave now are not the poorest. They must have some money to pay the traffickers who organize the migrations. They have to be able to borrow…
Beatification of the martyrs of Algeria
The celebration of the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions and martyrs on Algerian soil took place on Saturday 8th December 2018 at the Shrine of Notre Dame de Santa Cruz in Oran, Algeria. Among the beatified, we find Fathers Charles Deckers, Jean Chevillard, Alain Dieulangard et Christian Chessel – our four brothers, Missionaries of Africa, who were assassinated in Tizi Ouzou in 1994, and the monks of Thiberine, who were kidnapped and assassinated in 1996. “They all died because they had chosen, by grace, to remain faithful to those with whom they lived and shared services, and had become neighbors. Their deaths revealed that their life was at the service of all: the poor, women in difficulty, disabled, young, all of them Muslims. (…)These beatifications say that hatred is not the right answer to hate, that there is no inevitable spiral of violence. They want…
A special experience in Tunis
A special experience beyond cultural and religious differences Testimony of Sylvie: I responded with enthusiasm to the invitation of the “White Sisters” of Tunis to set out to discover the Church of Tunisia. A Living Church: During our stay, I discovered a living Church thanks to our different encounters: with catholics from sub-Saharan Africa studying in Tunis, Christian expatriates lay or not who lived all their lives in Tunisia and Tunisian catholics. We left with my brothers and sisters from Poland in the footsteps of the first Christians: Saints Perpetua and Felicite martyred in Tunis; Saint Cyprian, Saint Augustine, Saint Louis and Saint Vincent de Paul who left their mark on the city as we have observed through our visits. Breaking down prejudices: Nowadays, when the fear of Islam can become a terrible constraint on dialogue, Tunisian Muslim families in the city of Kef have opened their doors to…
Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, an Imam sings the Sura “Mériem”
A highly symbolic gesture of fraternity, peace and sharing of common values: at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa an Imam sings the Sura “Mériem”. 30 April 2017 READ MORE : The Basilica of Our Lady of Africa Prayer to Our Lady of Africa Why not Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa?
Wonders of the Lord in Senoufo land!
René met Jesus. In 1971 I became acquainted with René and with his wife Adele and their children. They were the only baptized people in this Senoufo village. In the evenings in front of the door of their house, a group of children would rush to listen to Bible stories which Rene joyfully recounted with conviction. It was during his training in agricultural school that René first learned about Jesus. Since then, great was his faith in his Lord! Everything became an opportunity for him to praise him and make him known! Yet there were threats on the part of the villagers: “René, do not send your children to school without having offered the customary sacrifices!” “René, the custom of our village forbids you to start a new culture!” Yet René sent his children to school and he planted onions in the land of his…
World Migrant and Refugee Day
Pope Francis chose as his theme of reflection and prayer: “Migrant minors, vulnerable and voiceless.”. Prayer proposed by the Conference of the Bishops of France: Lord, God of the universe You are the Father of all the children of the earth. You know each one. You look at us not as nameless beings But as persons, with a face, a story. Each one is for you a beloved child! Teach us to look at one another as you look at us. Teach us to dare to look into another’s eyes. Open our eyes to meet You in our brothers and sisters. You have a preference for the little ones. Like Jesus, you turn toward children and youth. We give thanks for their energy And for the hope which they bear. They remind us that the future lies ahead of us: A future to be built together, in…
The senoufo language and the wisdom of Nyanyogo
Sister Nicole Robion : What I have learned from the wisdom of a woman of the traditional religion : While learning the Sénoufo language one day this woman Nyanyogo, came to the dispensary. As I had noticed her speaking clearly, I followed her to her home. For years, we had a beautiful friendship and this is what I can share of her wisdom. Welcome : God does not like someone to be sad. If your eye is bitter, your heart is also bitter and everything in you is sad. If people come to you, receive them with both hands. If we honor one another, God will honor us. An Enemy: Someone might hate me but since God who gave me life does not hate her, I cannot make that person my enemy. I laughed with her and she said: “What? You want us to fight? No, laugh…
Beauty and feminine identity by Lucienne Brousse
“The art of tattooing as an attribute of feminine beauty was once the prerogative of North African women. As in all millennial civilizations, this pageantry which embellished the features of the face, the limbs or certain parts of the body formed the adornment of the woman following the example of its current practice in European countries with piercing, a new contemporary form inherited Hindo-Asian civilizations which today attracts casual and rebellious young people. The work which has just been published by Dar El Khattab editions looks with a corpus of signs, symbols drawn on the origins of Berber female tattoos in the regions of Biskra and Touggourt, spreading a little more in the regions of Kabylie, to provide a modest study that attempts an ethnographic understanding of the original symbolism of tattoos, often referring to testimonies of women who practiced it: “It is…
Sister Madeleine Allain and her passion for the study of language Kabyle
Sister Madeleine Allain She was a friend of Algeria who left there after having given much to the culture, especially the Berber language. She not only studied the language, but developed a Kabyle-French dictionary which was published in1982 by the SELAF Editions in Paris. The study of language Kabyle Sister Madeleine Allain arrived in 1939 in Algeria as a “White Sister” with her religious name: Sister Louis de Vincennes. From that date, she began with passion and method to study the Kabyle language in Ain El Hammam (Michelet) and Tizi-Ouzou. In 1953 she founded in Tizi-Ouzou a house of studies for young sisters (Center for Feminine Berber studies). The center later moved to Larbâa Nath Iraten (Fort National). In 1946 she helped found the FDB (Berber documentation file) that was set up with Fathers Dallet and Lanfry to collect Berber texts. In 1947 Sister Madeleine obtained…
World Day of Prayer for Creation
An initiative of Pope Francis It was Pope Francis who took the initiative in his message of August 6, 2015, to establish this world day in line with his recent encyclical Laudato Sì. “I wish to communicate to you my decision to also establish in the Catholic Church a “World Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation. Starting this year, the day will be celebrated on September 1, as already happens in the Orthodox Church. Our common vocation, guardians of creation The annual World Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation offers each believer and every community a valuable opportunity to renew their personal commitment to their vocation as stewards of creation, giving thanks to God for the wonderful work that He entrusted to our care and invoking his help in the protection of creation and mercy for the sins committed against the world…