It’s official: the deep Amazonas is more remote than Siberia. In all of the visits I have made to provinces of the Congregation of Jesus (CJ) all over the world, never have I been without a signal for my BlackBerry… until I visited one of our sisters living and working in a community along the Read more
Pope Francis has delivered a message to organisers, players and fans of the soccer World Cup, promoting the sport’s values. The Pontiff, who is a soccer fan himself, delivered the video message in Portuguese before the tournament started last week. He promoted the sport’s values of bringing people together, teamwork and opposing racism. The Pope Read more
Brazil’s Catholic bishops have given a red card to the organisers of the World Cup Soccer tournament in their nation. The bishops are critical that billions of dollars were spent on stadiums, but Brazil’s public services are still poor. In a red card-shaped brochure distributed in churches, the Brazilian bishops’ conference urged their government to Read more
As Brazil counts down to the opening of the World Cup on June 12, churches in cities hosting the international soccer tournament are not content to sit on the sidelines and cheer. They’ve launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the hundreds of vulnerable children at risk of sexual exploitation during the monthlong competition. Read more
Where once an event like the Olympics or the World Cup may have been seen as a triumph of corporate and athletic enterprise, today’s world counts the cost of games much more carefully. Previous events have left countries with decaying venues and huge bills that take years to pay off. Local communities are increasingly unhappy Read more
Since 2012, about 900 workers have died while working on infrastructure in Qatar, in a building boom anticipating the World Cup. Last month, the Guardian reported that over 400 Nepalese migrant workers had already died at building sites. Between 2010 and 2012 more than 700 workers from India lost their lives working on construction sites in Qatar, too. A report by the International Trade Union Read more