Heart to Heart

Dr. Amarsaikhan Bazar, director of the Accelerating Ending Gospel Poverty project in Mongolia, recounts his activities in the fields of healthcare and evangelization.

As the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, awaits the arrival of Pope Francis, a beacon of hope shines brightly in the city - the Verbist Care Center (VCC), which provides a sanctuary for poor and abandoned children and is run by the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Pope Francis’s Apostolic Visit to Mongolia, where less than 2 percent of the population is Christian, highlights his closeness to every single member of the flock, especially the weakest. A missionary priest on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar talks about the joys and challenges of evangelization in a country in which pastors really smell of the sheep.

Fr. Oleksandr Bilskyi, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, serves a hot meal to over 100 people every day from his tiny church in Beryslav, a southern city occupied for nine months by the Russian army and now depopulated.

Spanish journalist, Eva Fernandez, delivers letter to Pope Francis from Pablo, a young Spaniard and Carmelite, who passed away at age 21 in July, from cancer, saying that while he will not be at the World Youth Day, he will accompany from Heaven.

A Missionary Sister of the Immaculate describes her missionary journey in concrete terms, as well as how she came to realize that "life does not have a mission" but "is mission."

Salvatorian Sister Amitha Polimetla has established the Nee Thodu Society, which seeks to provide outreach and acceptance for people pushed to the margins of Indian society.

Two wheeled solidarity with UkraineGiving a smile back to Ukrainian refugees and to all those around the world who are forced to flee their homes because of war, hunger, persecution, and natural disasters caused by climate change. 

The Montfort Institute, run by the Daughters of Wisdom, assists deaf children in Haiti, offering them both a place to study and a refuge where they can dream about a better future.

The president of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas in the Philippines emphasizes the importance of nurturing the environment and spreading Christian education among young people.

In only 30 months, the Global Solidarity Fund pilot project in Ethiopia has changed the lives of more than 1500 migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons. Here are five of their stories.

Franciscan brother Benedict Ayodi is one of the founders of the Laudato Si' Movement. His mission in Kenya is to inspire people to join the cause of the environment not only because the planet is in danger of collapse, but because God's voice still resounds, saying, “Go and repair my Church.” 

The Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul have chosen one of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s poorest and most isolated regions to establish their mission alongside the most vulnerable. Kalehe, where one of their houses is located, was in fact the epicentre of last month’s disastrous floods.

Br. Gale Condit, a Lasallian Christian Brother for 60 years, expresses the need in utilizing the technology for good purposes and calls people to be engaged with education, community service, and the Church.

Sister Esther, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, shares what she has learned and experienced while carrying out her ministry as a midwife in the maternity ward of the hospital in Nsawam, Ghana. Besides assisting with childbirth, Sr Esther offers health care education to mothers to make responsible decisions and change their lives for the better.

Sister Helen Palacay, a Filipina former social communication head of FMIJ in the Philippines, shares the importance of giving service of charity in the lives of people and discusses how Franciscan mission helps the society in strengthening people's faith towards the Church.

Sister Agustiniada Ouano, Filipina councilor for mission-apostolate, invites people to embrace Catholic faith and educate poor children, especially those children who came from broken families and the ones affected by drugs, to deepen their spiritual faith and lead them towards Christ.

The struggle with hunger of migrant worker families on New York’s Long Island has spurred Sister Maria Jess to launch a humanitarian nutrition effort called "Quinoa is Super Food."

Sr. Paras, the local community superior of Missionary Catechists of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus in Intramuros, Philippines, encourages people to let love flow in our words and actions and be engaged with Christ in our daily lives.

Sister Benilda Quimio, a Filipina vocation director of the Congregation of the Sister Ministers of the Infirm of St. Camillus in the Philippines, highlights the vital role of healthcare in the lives of people and explains why nurturing life is important in the communities.

In the initial days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, over 2,000 refugees found refuge and hospitality in the convent of the Little Servants of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Stara Wieś, in Poland.

Korean Brother Andrew Yeongmin Kang invites Catholics in the Philippines to relive the Camillian pledge of sharing God’s merciful love with the sick and to bear witness in serving everyone in the healthcare community.

The protagonist of this story is a Catholic activist in a small town in Catalonia who, deciding to live in poverty like St. Francis, founded a shelter for injured, abused and exploited animals. Having moved away from the Church, two years ago he felt the desire to re-embrace his faith and commit himself to the care of Creation and its creatures.

Two hundred years ago, a little girl was born in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, and her life continues to inspire the empowerment of women in society through education.

Sr. Nellie Lamcis lives by her vocation to include and empower women in society by teaching them and leading them in Church.

Catholic Charities runs a program at a hospital in the US state of West Virginia which effectively reduces repeat hospitalizations, and plans on extending it to two other hospitals.

Pope Francis addresses participants in Plenary Assembly of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and reflects on the meaning of ministeriality in the Church and on the role of laypeople which must be focused on mission and service.

Brother Gregory Cellini shares his views on his college course on "viewing your career in a Franciscan way", reflects on his previous twenty-nine years working in the big pharmaceutical sector, and on his current dream of helping students "see the Good inside themselves to transform the world."

A consecrated religious of the Catechist Sisters of Jesus Crucified recounts the enormous challenges of evangelizing in the Peruvian Amazon region, which is geographically inhospitable but humanly very welcoming.

Sr. Paola Neloumta, the Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret, describes the social crisis among the young people of Gabon, as the African nation grapples with the exploitation of its forests and the need to pursue sustainable economic growth.