Poverty

When one hears about South Sudan in the news, one is most likely hears news about the civil war or sad news from the many refugee camps where the South Sudanese people live. That is only one part of the story. There are other positive stories coming out of South Sudan which need to be told.

The Integral Sport Program –PEI(ProgramaEsporteIntegral) isone ofthe social projects of theCitizenship and Social ActionJesuit Network.Itisaprogram locatedatUniversidade do ValedoRiodosSinos–UNISINOS,a JesuitUniversityinsouthofBrazil.

For the past decade, the US has experienced a crisis about border security and immigration policy – with a particular question about what to do with the 11 million immigrants who live and work in the shadows of the U.S.

Being a young, optimistic, enthusiastic and charismatic catholic, I am strongly moved by ecology and how people behave on matters to do with ecology. The environment is a gift given to us by God.

For a long time Africa has been considered as a “hopeless” continent, a continent whose story is that of wars, violence, injustice, dictators, poverty, disease and a lot of other misfortunes. However, there are clear signs across Africa that this ‘story’ is about to change as we witness a new generation of young Africans taking action.

My arrival in Paraguay in 1986, shortly after my ordination in Dublin, coincided with the release of ‘The Mission’, a film about the Jesuit Reductions, in which Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons heroically confront the injustices inflicted on the indigenous Guaraní people.

I am deeply concerned about the way the International Criminal Court (ICC) has so far handled the Kenya case in which the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his Deputy, William Ruto, together with a journalist Joseph Sang, stand accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for the Kenya 2007-08 post-election violence.

In the social justice nest I am a cuckoo that leaves its egg and flies away. My ministry has been to teach theology, and more lately to write for Jesuit publications and for Jesuit Social Services.

It is Saturday night, a night for PEACE PRAYER OUTREACH. We are on a prayerful night-walk through the lanes where migrants and trafficked women await customers at Geylang, Singapore. This is an initiative of the Franciscan Missionary of Mary, endorsed by the Association of Major Superiors of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, to respond to the burning issues of migration and illegal human trafficking, a modern form of slavery.

I work in Camden, New Jersey. It is America's poorest and most violent city of its size and this year we are on course to set a new homicide record. Put in perspective, if New York City were to have the murder rate of Camden this year, it would mean that close to 6000 people would have been killed already.