Heart to Heart

Suffering, personal difficulties, and distance from their families could not break the dreams of Martial and Saleha. These two foreign-born young people have fought tenaciously to build a future in Spain, where, with the help of Catholic Church organizations, they are realizing those dreams.

Sister Nelly León has dedicated the last 25 years of her life to accompanying female inmates inside and outside prison facilities, creating a foundation that helps women reintegrate into society after serving time. Her testimony and dedication are now recognised worldwide with the 2024 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.

Mohamed, at just 9 years old, fled his home in Morocco to seek a future in Europe. After passing through various centers for the protection of minors, a community of nuns welcomed him, gave stability to his life, and accompanied him in a human process that today sees him working toward a university master's degree and...

In Sicily, Paola Gurrieri, together with her brothers, heads La Mediterranea, a leader in the cultivation of chrysanthemums. The company is the first in Italy to adopt water vapor soil sterilization and to have adopted environmental and social sustainability strategies such as free preventative health screenings for employees and providing housing for foreign workers who, like Italians, are hired on an equal-opportunity basis.

In the mountain town of Alausí, in Ecuador, the Oblate Sisters of Saint Francis de Sales run a school, though everything has changed since a landslide on 26 March, with Austrian Sr. Klara-Maria Falzberger regularly visiting the town to bring essential goods and hope.

Religious sisters brought voices of the local communities and marginalised to the COP28. The conclusion of the UN conference opens complex questions like the one on the fossil fuel lobby, but it also shows determination for planet protection, they say in a statement issued by UISG.

While new legislation simplifies the issuing of residence permits for those embarking in formation for work, an enormous Detention Center for undocumented foreigners is under construction in Algeciras. Civil and Church organizations warn that this infrastructure could become a prison for individuals who have committed no crime.

Italian computer engineer Lorenzo Di Ciaccio left his job at a big company and used his severance pay to found “Ridaje”. The organization helps poor people care for themselves through work in reclaiming abandoned green areas of Rome. “Nobody can save themselves, but our mission is to save and change the world one garden at a time.”

In our most recent Laudato si' story, we explore a business in Mexico run by indigenous women that combines care for Creation, empowerment of women, and respect for indigenous traditions.

In the southern part of Brazil, the Carmelite Sisters Messengers of the Holy Spirit welcome at-risk pregnant women into a group home, offering them “the heart of God that welcomes those society does not want.”

“Anna’s House” is celebrating 25 years since it was founded by Italian missionary, Fr. Vincenzo Bordo, OMI, also known as “God’s Chef”, who has served over 30 million meals and saved hundreds of children from the streets.

In Africa, in general, while most widows enjoy the protection, provision and support of their families, many still experience hardships and ill-treatment from their relatives upon the death of their husbands. Some of them are abandoned and ostracised. Others have their properties unjustly confiscated by relatives of the deceased husband.

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."