Drought, famine, floods and contaminated water are the topics of our lead stories in this issue of Maryknoll magazine. We write of flooding in Peru, where Maryknoll Father Kyungsu Son helps the Diocese of Lurín respond to deadly deluges, but our thoughts and prayers are global. In the first months of this year raging waters have destroyed lives and property from South America to Asia, Africa, the Pacific, Europe and in the U.S. heartland.
Likewise, while we focus on drought and famine in East Africa—specifically South Sudan and northern Kenya—we know hunger recognizes no boundaries.
Yet we find blessings, too. From Cambodia we have an update on two mentally ill brothers who, thanks to another Maryknoll effort, are free after years of living in chains. Other stories highlight efforts to build peace in gang-ravaged El Salvador and find grace in a Chicago prayer vigil for refugees and immigrants.
On a final note, we’re changing the name of our Members’ Memos page to Readers’ Responses. This reflects the inclusion of comments from readers of our online magazine and those following our articles posted to social media.
This renaming is in keeping with the changing ways that people today are generating, distributing and consuming information. We believe the integration of our print, web and social media is an essential step in Maryknoll magazine’s 110-year history of telling the story of mission around the globe from the perspective of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Lynn F. Monahan
Editor-in-Chief
