Our Lady of Africa, Mother of Hope

In the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we invoke Mary, Mother of Hope. As we go about our daily lives, with its ups and downs, joys and sorrows, happiness and unhappiness, kindness and violence, laughter and suffering, life can quickly lose its taste and meaning without hope.

Contribution to Environmental and Ecological Education

After a seven-month stay here in the province of Haut-Katanga, in the city of Lubumbashi, and more specifically in the commune of Katuba, where our parish of Sainte-Bernadette is located, I observed several things during my walks, visits to local Christian communities and sick people and their families.

Unconditional respect for every person

To talk about human rights in the light of the Gospel, we should first look at the person of Jesus and what the Gospels tell us about him. The first thing that strikes us in many episodes of Jesus’ life is how he welcomes and respects every human being, adult and child alike. He recognises, as we are taught to do, the dignity of every person, created in the image of God.

Human Rights in the Light of the Gospel

When I was asked by the editor of the Petit Echo to write an article about the above topic, my first reaction was to give a negative reply. I am no more in Ghana, and even when I was there, I never had to deal with “problems to do with human rights”. When, reading again the topic, I saw the words “in the light of the Gospel” and having been a lecturer in Scripture in various formation houses, I decided that I could have a try, though it will necessarily be more theoretical than practical.