Extremist and criminal violence is on the rise across Northern Africa from Somalia to Nigeria as local security forces face off against gangs and insurgencies they are often ill-equipped to contain.

In an article on thanksgiving the Australian Jesuit poet Peter Steele reminisces about how he discovered the American writer SJ Perelman While on holiday as a boy he picked up a copy of Perelman rsquo s Acres and Pains at a kerbside shop in Western Australia He describes the reading of it as thoug

General Intention Respect for Children That children may be respected loved and never exploited in any way nbsp I used to think of child labour as something Dickensian something that happened in the Victorian phase of the Industrial Revolution However it seems that industrial revolutions in t

Not long ago the debate was whether it was happening at all Today the question is whether global warming and consequent climate disruption will destroy industrial civilization as we know it and if so how quickly A sense of just how far we have moved can be found in the debate between environment-

Shortly after the watershed democratic election of 1994 I was involved in the organisation of the annual meeting of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Southern Africa To help us reflect on the recent bitter past we had the good fortune to have emeritus Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town

Missionary Intention Christians in Laos Cambodia and Myanmar That by placing their trust in the strength of the Holy Spirit Christians in Laos Cambodia and Myanmar who often confront great difficulties will not lose the courage to proclaim the Gospel to their brothers and sisters It is gene

General Intention Word of God be better known That the Word of God may be better known accepted and lived as the one true source of freedom and joy There are some Christians who know the Bible backwards and yet are unhappy They can give you chapter and verse and quote long passages by heart and

General Intention Refugees and Displaced Peoples That public opinion may address the problems of the millions who have been displaced or become refugees in order to find real solutions to their often tragic conditions nbsp Public opinion normally wants refugees and displaced people just to go aw

Praying with the Pope -- nbsp June 2009 -- Missionary Intention nbsp That local Church communities serving areas torn by violence may be supported through the love and concrete signs of nearness offered by Catholics from around the world The generally peaceful elections this year underlined how Sou

Praying with the Pope June 2009 nbsp nbsp nbsp General Intention Foreign Debt Relief That international efforts to help poorer nations may bring prompt concrete results especially to relieve the crushing burden of foreign debt nbsp With the crash of the Western banking system we have seen